About Christopher M. Andree

Chris Andree is an employer's lawyer. Businesses ranging from owner-managed companies to multinational organizations turn to Chris for help with their workforce, and the practice centres on employment law and equalities, which is to say human rights. Chris is a partner at Gowling WLG, co-leads the firm's US Initiative in the Northeastern States, and brings more than 30 years of experience to the work.

Admission to the bar came first in Alberta in 1992 and then in Ontario in 1994, after an LLB with distinction from the University of Saskatchewan. By 1999 Chris was practising at Crawford Chondon & Andree LLP, and in 2007 became a partner at Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP. Leadership roles followed: employment and labour practice group leader in Waterloo in 2009, national leader of that group in 2011, then in 2015 head of the Waterloo advocacy department and co-leader of Employment, Labour & Equalities. These days Chris is past co-leader of the group and a former head of litigation for the Waterloo Region office.

In court, Chris appears in the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Divisional Court and the Superior Court of Justice, and in front of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and the Ontario Labour Relations Board. Chris's employer-side employment work has been ranked in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and Best Lawyers in Canada, and Chris has discussed new developments in the field on radio and television. In a March 2025 Canadian HR Reporter story about a worker who lost a pre-maternity-leave position, Chris's advice to employers was to talk honestly with someone coming back from leave instead of making the workplace hostile in the hope the person quits.

Away from the office, Chris volunteers, coaches, sits on not-for-profit boards and gives guest lectures on employment law at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Practice areas

Employment & Labour Law

Employment contracts and workplace policies

Chris drafts employment agreements and workplace policies for employers, and advises on absenteeism, performance management and restrictive covenants. One recent matter was negotiating and drafting the employment agreement for the CEO of a public company in the technology industry.

Human rights and accommodation

Human rights questions such as disability accommodation are a core part of Chris's practice. Before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, Chris acted for a large not-for-profit health care agency in a case where the tribunal threw out, at an early stage, an application claiming the agency had discriminated based on age, race and colour.

Wrongful dismissal and workplace disputes

Chris handles wrongful dismissal claims and other workplace disputes through both litigation and mediation. In one matter, Chris acted for a temporary employment agency in the Ontario Divisional Court as it worked to resist a union's bid to certify employees placed with the agency's customer.

Canada and US employment law

Chris is a regular adviser to a sporting goods company that makes and sells products worldwide, guiding it on how Canadian employment and labour law differs from American rules, and how employment standards change from one province to the next. Chris has also given multiple presentations on those differences to US-based in-house counsel and HR professionals.

Our guide: Severance Pay in Ontario: What a Calculator Can and Can't Tell You

Education & credentials

  • LLB (with distinction), College of Law, University of Saskatchewan (1991)
  • Called to the bar of Alberta (1992)
  • Called to the bar of Ontario (1994)

Awards & recognition

Publications & speaking

  • Employment Contracts Re-Cast (panel chair), CACE Annual Conference (2018)
  • Detecting Impairment: Stoned or Just Sleepy? (webinar chair), Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers (2018)
  • The Right of Non-Unionized Employers to Obtain Medical Information to Justify Short-Term Absences: Lessons Learned, Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers 9th Annual Conference, St. John's (2012)
  • Impact of Bill 139 on Businesses Using Temporary Workers, HR Professional Magazine (2010)
  • Written Employment Contracts: Preferred Terms and Potential Pitfalls, Ontario Bar Association, Current Issues in Employment Law: 2006 (2006)

Memberships & affiliations

In the community

  • Chris was on the slate of nominees for the 2022-2023 board of the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce presented at its September 2023 annual general meeting.
  • In 2017 Chris was part of the United Way Waterloo Region Communities campaign cabinet.

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