Craig J. Stehr

About Craig J. Stehr

Craig J. Stehr acts for employers across the whole span of employment and labour law, from terminations and wrongful dismissal claims to absenteeism, workplace conflict and human rights accommodation. A partner in the Ottawa office of Gowling WLG and part of its Employment, Labour & Equalities Group, Craig works closely with clients, with the aim of giving them practical and strategic advice.

Sport sets this practice apart. Youth groups, along with national and provincial sports bodies, bring Craig their questions on youth safety, safe sport and how to limit organizational risk. That help can mean developing a policy and training people to apply it, help with complaint investigations and appeals, and litigation over historical abuse claims. Craig has also written on athlete maltreatment and presented on safe sport risk at the Petro-Canada Sport Leadership Conference in Vancouver.

Craig's legal training began with an LL.B. from the University of Windsor, followed by a call to the Ontario bar in 2008 and, in 2021, a call in Nunavut as well. In court, Craig appears in the Superior Court of Justice and the Divisional Court in Ontario and in the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal. Tribunal work includes the Ontario Labour Relations Board and the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.

Beyond client files, Craig has taught employment law to students at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law, and Ontario Bar Association members have elected Craig to the association's Provincial Council. Best Lawyers has recognized Craig for Labour and Employment Law in Ottawa since 2020. When Ontario's Bill 66 proposed changes in 2019, Craig told Canadian HR Reporter the amendments were really about giving employers flexibility, including room to handle sudden demands that call for extra hours in a given week.