About Belinda A. Bain

Belinda A. Bain is a Toronto partner at Gowling WLG and the national leader of its Insurance & Professional Liability Practice Group. Canadian, American and British insurers turn to Belinda for defence and coverage advice, and the rest of the practice spans municipal, product and professional liability, InsurTech and employment matters, class actions included.

Belinda earned an LLB at Dalhousie University in 1996 and was called to the Ontario bar two years later. Advocacy is the core of the work. Belinda has argued at every level of the Ontario Superior Court and at the Court of Appeal, and has also appeared before the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, the Ministry of Labour and the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Belinda works closely with clients, aiming for practical, efficient outcomes.

Belinda advises on cyber insurance and the management of cyber risks and has written and spoken widely on both. In a 2016 Canadian Lawyer story on cyber coverage, Belinda, then co-head of the firm's Toronto insurance group, pointed to U.S. rulings as early signals of which questions Canadian courts would be asked to decide, and said there was a good chance insureds here would bring similar claims after a major cyber loss.

Teaching and speaking are a steady thread too. Belinda has been on the faculty of the University of Toronto Law School's Trial Advocacy Course and taught civil litigation in the Law Society of Upper Canada's Bar Admission Course, and has presented to audiences at The Advocates' Society, the Insurance Institute of Ontario, the Metropolitan Toronto Lawyers Association and Osgoode Hall Law School.

Practice areas

Insurance Law Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Insurance defence and coverage

Belinda handles defence and coverage files for insurers on commercial general liability, directors and officers, errors and omissions and employment practices liability policies, as well as property and motor vehicle claims. Belinda was among the Gowling WLG counsel for TD Insurance in Dorman v. Economical Mutual Insurance Company, where the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the application for leave to appeal, with costs to the respondents, on January 20, 2022.

Class action defence and fund counsel

Belinda has defended class actions brought against physicians and against financial advisers. Belinda and John Callaghan were appointed Fund Counsel in the Ontario Hepatitis C class actions by order of the Superior Court of Justice, a role Belinda continues to fill for the settlement fund.

Liability trials and regulatory counsel

Belinda's trial record includes the defence of a professional liability case that ran six weeks and a vaccine injury case that ran eight, each followed by an appeal. Belinda has also acted as counsel to the Discipline Committee of the Ontario College of Pharmacists.

Our guide: Litigation and Dispute Resolution in Toronto

Education & credentials

  • LLB, Dalhousie University (1996)
  • Called to the bar of Ontario (1998)

Notable cases

  • Healey v. Lakeridge Health Corporation, 2011 ONCA 55

    Belinda A. Bain and Mary Thomson acted for the two physicians, David J. Ross and Hak Ming Chiu, in a pair of class actions over hospital exposures to tuberculosis, where many people had been in contact with two infected patients. The central question was whether notified class members' distress, which fell short of a recognizable psychiatric illness, was compensable in negligence, and the court dismissed the appeals.

Decisions where Belinda A. Bain appeared as counsel, from public court records. Past cases don't predict future results.

Publications & speaking

  • All dressed up and no duty to defend: Intentional tort claim "dressed up" as negligence does not trigger duty to defend, Gowling WLG Insights (2023)
  • Automotive OEMs take note: BC tunes up approach to vehicle service contracts, Gowling WLG Insights (2024)
  • "Crossing the Line": presumption of negligence for drivers crossing centre line (with Delna Contractor), Municipal World (2014)
  • Recreational Trail Liability in Ontario (with Emily Heersink), Canadian Institute seminar on Provincial and Municipal Liability (2014)
  • Liability arising from Bicycle Accidents, Canadian Underwriter (2011)

Memberships & affiliations

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This listing was generated by AI from public sources in October 2026. It may contain errors, and we can’t guarantee it’s accurate or complete. Before you rely on anything here, verify it on their firm’s website. Confirm Belinda A. Bain’s licence and standing in the Law Society of Ontario directory ↗

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