Garrod Pickfield LLP
Automatically compiled listing. Details may contain errors.3 lawyers · Established 1989 · Wellington County (Guelph)
One of 50 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 Guelph law firm that's worked in environmental, municipal and planning law since 1989. Its clients include municipalities, conservation authorities, developers, businesses, community groups and individuals, spread from Niagara to Windsor and taking in Mississauga, Guelph and the Grey/Bruce Peninsula. Ontario municipalities account for more than 60 percent of its client base.
That municipal work comes in two shapes. Garrod Pickfield provides ongoing general legal counsel to municipalities, and plenty of the smaller ones it works with don't have lawyers on staff, so the firm handles the full range of their municipal legal work. Bigger ones bring the firm in for specialized environmental and planning matters, including hearings at the Ontario Land Tribunal. Most new clients find it through word of mouth.
Partner Peter Pickfield was called to the Bar in 1986 and has practised nothing but environmental, municipal and planning law ever since. Alex Ciccone and Colin Léger are the firm's other partners. Founding partner Stephen Garrod retired from practice in 2024 and stays on as a part-time advisor to the lawyers.
Garrod Pickfield's lawyers will travel to meet clients across Southwestern Ontario. A first conversation is easy to arrange: the firm offers a free 30-minute consultation by phone, and there's a toll-free line at 1 (866) 532-3559.
Practice areas
Tribunal and appellate advocacy
Garrod Pickfield regularly acts as lead counsel at the Ontario Land Tribunal and before federal impact assessment hearing panels, along with farm and rural bodies such as the Normal Farm Practices Protection Board, the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal and the Ontario Drainage Tribunal. That lead-counsel work also reaches the Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Appeal.
Municipal law
Its municipal clients range from urban governments such as Hamilton, Peel Region, Oakville and Guelph to many rural municipalities, and it both advises and represents them. The work covers conflict of interest questions, drafting by-laws and policies, and negotiating municipal agreements with developers and others, plus expropriation hearings on necessity and compensation.
Planning and land development
On the planning side, the firm handles official plans and zoning by-laws, development charges, brownfield redevelopment, and subdivision agreements and site plans. Its approvals have covered housing and commercial projects, infrastructure and energy, and rural residential uses like cottages, campgrounds and mobile home parks.
Environmental orders and approvals
Garrod Pickfield helps landowners, municipalities and companies named in orders from the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks or other regulators, on issues such as waste, septic systems, spills and contaminated property. It also guides environmental approvals for waste management and energy facilities, air and noise compliance approvals, sewage and water works, and industrial stormwater. The firm has been retained to oversee an annual scientific and legal peer review of a large Canadian landfill operation.
Rural land and resources
For rural clients, the work includes aggregate resource approvals, forest management and municipal tree by-laws, conservation authority requirements, and Fisheries Act and Endangered Species Act issues.
Good to know
Wheelchair accessibleFees & payment
Free consultationHow Garrod Pickfield LLP works
Garrod Pickfield runs its approvals work around results. It aims to skip false starts and duplicated effort, find the most direct route to the approval a client needs, and keep to targets and deadlines. With municipal clients, the lawyers don't hand over an opinion and walk away; they work alongside staff so the legal side is understood and disputes are headed off early.
The firm puts a priority on cooperative working relationships with key regulators, as a way to keep clients out of costly litigation with public bodies. When a file needs several disciplines, it can connect clients with consultants and specialist advisers it's worked with for years.
Reported cases
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Dufferin Aggregates v Puslinch (Township), 2019 CanLII 32418 (ON LPAT)
The tribunal allowed the appeal in part and approved a County of Wellington official plan amendment and a Township of Puslinch zoning amendment for an expansion of the Mill Creek Pit onto land owned by the University of Guelph, after the applicant agreed to berms and ecological work that satisfied the County, the Township and the reviewing agencies. Peter Pickfield was counsel for both the County and the Township.
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Loerts v Petrolia (Town), 2022 CanLII 63794 (ON LT)
The tribunal allowed the appeals and refused to approve a Town of Petrolia official plan amendment and zoning by-law amendment that sought to remove a woodlot's Significant Woodlot status, finding the applicant's studies didn't address all the parts of an environmental impact study. C. Léger was counsel for the appellants, Racher Farms Ltd. and William Loerts.
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Wiens v Cambridge (City), 2024 CanLII 23432 (ON LT)
The tribunal dismissed an appeal and approved, as amended, a City of Cambridge zoning by-law for land that Habitat for Humanity bought to build affordable housing. Alex Ciccone was counsel for Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region Inc.
Decisions where the firm's lawyers appeared as counsel, from public court records. Past cases don't predict future results.
Milestones & recognition
- Stephen Garrod taught environmental, municipal and planning law part time at the University of Waterloo's School of Urban and Regional Planning from 1979 to 2009, as an Adjunct Associate Professor.
- Peter Pickfield held certification from the Law Society of Ontario as a specialist in environmental law from 1996 to 2025.
- Peter Pickfield served as an associate editor of the Canadian Environmental Law Reports from 1993 to 2008.
- Peter Pickfield co-authored the third edition of An Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy in Canada (Emond-Montgomery Press, 2020), and Alex Ciccone contributed to the 2020 and 2024 editions.
- Colin Léger started practising law at Garrod Pickfield and articled there, after working on species at risk and toxic substances issues at the Ecojustice Environmental Law Clinic during law school.
In the community
- Peter Pickfield spent 25 years as an adjunct professor at the University of Waterloo, from 1991 to 2016.
- Peter Pickfield and Colin Léger co-wrote a February 2020 Ontario Bar Association seminar paper on conservation authorities and land use planning, and Peter Pickfield briefed the Ontario Water Works Association in March 2020 on the legal challenges of putting source water protection in place.
- Alex Ciccone wrote about Bill 108 and Ontario's planning regime for Municipal World in December 2019.
Affiliations & connections
- University of Guelph: Two Garrod Pickfield partners teach graduate law courses at the University of Guelph.
Lawyers 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
Garrod Pickfield works from 9 Norwich Street West in Guelph, part of the Barclay Terrace. The terrace began as separate buildings at 7 and 9 Norwich, the rest followed quickly, and the whole complex was finished by 1875. Today it spans several lots, one addressed on Woolwich Street and five facing Norwich.
It's named for James Barclay, a Scottish immigrant and building contractor whose work includes Guelph's Drill Hall. In November 2025, Guelph City Council passed By-law (2025)-21172, designating portions of 9 Norwich Street West under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Garrod Pickfield prosecute by-law offences for municipalities and conservation authorities?
- Garrod Pickfield helps municipalities with by-law compliance, from prosecuting offences to drafting, amending and interpreting by-laws. Alex Ciccone is the lead prosecutor for several conservation authorities and municipalities.
- Can a farmer get help from Garrod Pickfield with the Normal Farm Practices Protection Board?
- Garrod Pickfield helps farming clients deal with the Normal Farm Practices Protection Board and other agencies on issues like nutrient management, pesticide rules, minimum separation distances and municipal drains.
- Is a lawyer at Garrod Pickfield available to mediate an environmental or planning dispute?
- Peter Pickfield has trained as a mediator and is available to mediate environmental, planning and municipal law cases.
Where to find them
9 Norwich St. W. Guelph, ON, Canada N1H 2G8 · 519-837-0500
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Employment & Labour LawThis 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 the firm’s own website. Verify licence status in the Law Society of Ontario directory ↗
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