Garrod Pickfield LLP
3 lawyers · Established 1989 · Wellington County (Guelph)
One of 53 law firms listed in Guelph, and one of 7 handling Administrative & Regulatory Law.
Free consultation
Free consultationAbout Garrod Pickfield LLP
Garrod Pickfield LLP is a small Guelph firm that has concentrated on environmental, municipal, and planning law since 1989. It works for municipalities, land developers, conservation authorities, community groups, businesses, and property owners across Southwestern Ontario, from Niagara to Windsor and into the Grey and Bruce area. Ontario municipalities make up more than 60 percent of the client base.
The practice is built around land and the rules that govern how it's used. The firm's lawyers appear regularly before the Ontario Land Tribunal, formerly the Ontario Municipal Board and LPAT, and before the Environmental Review Tribunal, the Normal Farm Practices Protection Board, the Ontario Drainage Tribunal, and federal impact assessment panels. Day to day, that means official plan amendments and zoning appeals, development charges, aggregate and quarry matters, contaminated sites, and waste and landfill approvals. The firm keeps a deliberately narrow focus, and most of its clients come by word of mouth. It takes its name from founding partner Stephen Garrod, now retired, and partner Peter Pickfield. New clients are offered a free 30-minute telephone consultation.
Practice areas
Milestones & recognition
- Founded in 1989 as a firm concentrating on environmental, municipal, and planning law in Southwestern Ontario.
- One of the firm's partners held certification as a specialist in environmental law from the Law Society of Ontario, a designation carried from 1996 to 2025.
- A partner co-authored An Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy in Canada, published by Emond, which reached its fourth edition in 2024.
- The firm's lawyers have appeared on land and environmental matters before the Ontario Land Tribunal, the Environmental Review Tribunal, the Ontario Court of Appeal, and the Superior Court of Justice.
In the community
- Firm lawyers teach graduate courses in planning and environmental law at the University of Guelph, one of them for more than 20 years, and one taught at the University of Waterloo from 1991 to 2016.
- The firm's lawyers write for Municipal World and have presented to the Ontario Bar Association, the Ontario Water Works Association, and Conservation Ontario on source water protection, conservation authorities, and land use planning.
Good to know
Wheelchair accessibleFees & payment
Free consultationLawyers 3
This firm’s lawyers at a glance
- Called to the bar
- 1986–2019 · median 8 years in practice 3 of 3 lawyers
- Law schools
- Queen's University, University of Ottawa, University of Victoria 3 of 3 lawyers
Who handles what
The neighbourhood
The office sits at 9 Norwich Street West, just off Guelph's downtown core. Guelph, long nicknamed the Royal City, is a fitting base for a practice built on land, water, and how communities grow. Source water protection is one of the areas the firm writes and speaks on, and it's a live subject in a region where planning, conservation, and development interests meet on the same maps.
Guelph is also a university town, and the firm's connection to it runs through more than the address. Lawyers here teach graduate planning and environmental law at the University of Guelph, a short drive south, and some of them earned their own degrees there.
Frequently asked questions
- What kinds of law does Garrod Pickfield handle?
- The firm concentrates on three connected fields: environmental law, municipal law, and planning and land development law. In practice that covers official plan and zoning appeals, development charges, aggregate and quarry approvals, contaminated sites, and waste and landfill approvals.
- Does the firm act for municipalities, or for the people dealing with them?
- Both. Ontario municipalities make up more than 60 percent of the client base, and the firm also represents land developers, conservation authorities, businesses, community groups, and individual property owners across Southwestern Ontario.
- We have an application headed to the Ontario Land Tribunal. Can the firm help?
- Yes. The firm appears regularly before the Ontario Land Tribunal, formerly the Ontario Municipal Board and LPAT, on planning and land use appeals, along with the Environmental Review Tribunal and other administrative bodies.
- Can the firm help a farm or rural landowner with a drainage or farm practices dispute?
- The firm handles rural and agricultural land matters and has appeared before the Normal Farm Practices Protection Board, the Ontario Drainage Tribunal, and the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal.
- Is there a charge for a first phone call?
- The firm offers a free 30-minute telephone consultation to new clients. You can reach the Guelph office at 519-837-0500.
- Where is the firm, and how far does it work?
- The office is at 9 Norwich Street West in Guelph. The firm takes on environmental, municipal, and planning matters across Southwestern Ontario, from Niagara to Windsor and into the Grey and Bruce area.
Where to find them
9 Norwich St. W. Guelph, ON, Canada N1H 2G8 · 519-837-0500
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Administrative & Regulatory LawListing compiled from the firm’s public website in July 2026. Verify licence status in the Law Society of Ontario directory ↗