People

  • Search

  • Practice Area

  • Directory

  • Role

Practice
Browse by Practice
Insight
News
Insight & Events
Firm
Firm
Careers
Contact
Online Payment
Menu
Called to the Bar
  • Ontario (2003)
Education
  • LL.B., Queen's University, Faculty of Law, 2002
  • M. Pl., Queen's University, 2000
  • B.A., Mount Allison University, 1997
Affiliations
  • Ontario Bar Association
  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Lambda Alpha International (Simcoe Chapter)

Denise Baker

Co-Managing Partner
Practice Areas
Arbitration & Mediation
Expropriation
Heritage Properties
Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Municipal
Planning & Land Development

Denise Baker is the Co-Managing Partner at WeirFoulds. Her practice focuses on municipal and land use planning issues and related litigation.

She has acted on behalf of municipalities, private landowners and resident groups. She predominantly advises landowners and municipalities with respect to land use planning and development matters including municipal finance matters, Planning Act applications and appeals and Heritage Act matters.

Denise appears regularly before municipal councils, Committees of Adjustment, the Ontario Land Tribunal, as well as appearing before the Ontario Court of Justice and the Divisional Court. She is actively involved in using mediation and negotiation to effectively resolve disputes between parties.

Denise is a past Chair of the Municipal Law Section of the Ontario Bar Association and speaks at Law Society and Ontario Bar Association seminars. Denise has also taught Land Use Planning Law at the University of Waterloo and regularly teaches Expert Witness seminars to Members of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute.

Denise is also a member of Lambda Alpha International (Simcoe Chapter) and has repeatedly been recognized in Best Lawyers in Canada in the field of Municipal Law.

Read More +
Experience

She has acted on:

Numerous land use planning matters on behalf of the Town of Oakville, including the resolution of numerous appeals and ultimately approval of the Town’s Livable Oakville Official Plan.

Numerous Heritage Act matters including negotiating and preparation of heritage easement agreements.

Appeals to municipal official plan “conformity exercises” in the Regions of Halton, Waterloo and Durham as well as several local municipalities in York and Halton

Reviews of Educations Development Charge By-laws and By-law amendments

Challenges to and approvals of interim control by-law matters in the City of Windsor and the Town of Oakville

Infill residential zoning and subdivision matters in Oakville, Toronto and other GTA municipalities

Employment and Commercial Development applications in Halton, Durham and Peel municipalities

  • Repeatedly recognized in Best Lawyers in Canada as a leading lawyer in Municipal Law
  • Recognized in the Lexpert Special Edition: Infrastructure, 2023
  • Repeatedly recognized in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a leading practitioner in Property Development

Past Chair, Ontario Bar Association, Municipal Law Executive

Sessional Professor, Land Use Planning Law, University of Waterloo

Instructor, Expert Witness seminars, Ontario Professional Planners Institute

She has acted on:

Numerous land use planning matters on behalf of the Town of Oakville, including the resolution of numerous appeals and ultimately approval of the Town’s Livable Oakville Official Plan.

Numerous Heritage Act matters including negotiating and preparation of heritage easement agreements.

Appeals to municipal official plan “conformity exercises” in the Regions of Halton, Waterloo and Durham as well as several local municipalities in York and Halton

Reviews of Educations Development Charge By-laws and By-law amendments

Challenges to and approvals of interim control by-law matters in the City of Windsor and the Town of Oakville

Infill residential zoning and subdivision matters in Oakville, Toronto and other GTA municipalities

Employment and Commercial Development applications in Halton, Durham and Peel municipalities

  • Repeatedly recognized in Best Lawyers in Canada as a leading lawyer in Municipal Law
  • Recognized in the Lexpert Special Edition: Infrastructure, 2023
  • Repeatedly recognized in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a leading practitioner in Property Development

Past Chair, Ontario Bar Association, Municipal Law Executive

Sessional Professor, Land Use Planning Law, University of Waterloo

Instructor, Expert Witness seminars, Ontario Professional Planners Institute

Community Involvement

Oakville Hospital Foundation Board Member

Denise Baker is the Co-Managing Partner at WeirFoulds. Her practice focuses on municipal and land use planning issues and related litigation.

She has acted on behalf of municipalities, private landowners and resident groups. She predominantly advises landowners and municipalities with respect to land use planning and development matters including municipal finance matters, Planning Act applications and appeals and Heritage Act matters.

Denise appears regularly before municipal councils, Committees of Adjustment, the Ontario Land Tribunal, as well as appearing before the Ontario Court of Justice and the Divisional Court. She is actively involved in using mediation and negotiation to effectively resolve disputes between parties.

Denise is a past Chair of the Municipal Law Section of the Ontario Bar Association and speaks at Law Society and Ontario Bar Association seminars. Denise has also taught Land Use Planning Law at the University of Waterloo and regularly teaches Expert Witness seminars to Members of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute.

Denise is also a member of Lambda Alpha International (Simcoe Chapter) and has repeatedly been recognized in Best Lawyers in Canada in the field of Municipal Law.

Read More +
Experience

She has acted on:

Numerous land use planning matters on behalf of the Town of Oakville, including the resolution of numerous appeals and ultimately approval of the Town’s Livable Oakville Official Plan.

Numerous Heritage Act matters including negotiating and preparation of heritage easement agreements.

Appeals to municipal official plan “conformity exercises” in the Regions of Halton, Waterloo and Durham as well as several local municipalities in York and Halton

Reviews of Educations Development Charge By-laws and By-law amendments

Challenges to and approvals of interim control by-law matters in the City of Windsor and the Town of Oakville

Infill residential zoning and subdivision matters in Oakville, Toronto and other GTA municipalities

Employment and Commercial Development applications in Halton, Durham and Peel municipalities

  • Repeatedly recognized in Best Lawyers in Canada as a leading lawyer in Municipal Law
  • Recognized in the Lexpert Special Edition: Infrastructure, 2023
  • Repeatedly recognized in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a leading practitioner in Property Development

Past Chair, Ontario Bar Association, Municipal Law Executive

Sessional Professor, Land Use Planning Law, University of Waterloo

Instructor, Expert Witness seminars, Ontario Professional Planners Institute

She has acted on:

Numerous land use planning matters on behalf of the Town of Oakville, including the resolution of numerous appeals and ultimately approval of the Town’s Livable Oakville Official Plan.

Numerous Heritage Act matters including negotiating and preparation of heritage easement agreements.

Appeals to municipal official plan “conformity exercises” in the Regions of Halton, Waterloo and Durham as well as several local municipalities in York and Halton

Reviews of Educations Development Charge By-laws and By-law amendments

Challenges to and approvals of interim control by-law matters in the City of Windsor and the Town of Oakville

Infill residential zoning and subdivision matters in Oakville, Toronto and other GTA municipalities

Employment and Commercial Development applications in Halton, Durham and Peel municipalities

  • Repeatedly recognized in Best Lawyers in Canada as a leading lawyer in Municipal Law
  • Recognized in the Lexpert Special Edition: Infrastructure, 2023
  • Repeatedly recognized in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a leading practitioner in Property Development

Past Chair, Ontario Bar Association, Municipal Law Executive

Sessional Professor, Land Use Planning Law, University of Waterloo

Instructor, Expert Witness seminars, Ontario Professional Planners Institute

Community Involvement

Oakville Hospital Foundation Board Member

Called to the Bar
  • Ontario (2003)
Education
  • LL.B., Queen's University, Faculty of Law, 2002
  • M. Pl., Queen's University, 2000
  • B.A., Mount Allison University, 1997
Affiliations
  • Ontario Bar Association
  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Lambda Alpha International (Simcoe Chapter)
Speaking Engagements
  • Speaker, “The Six-Minute Advocacy Lawyer 2023”, Law Society of Ontario, Webinar, May 30, 2023
  • Speaker, “Plenary: Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022”, Ontario Legal Conference – Municipal, Planning & Environmental Law, Toronto, February 10, 2023
  • Moderator, “Bill 23 Explained”, Building Industry and Land Development Association, Online, February 23, 2023
  • Speaker, “Making Sense of Changing Growth Funding Tools”, ” ULI Toronto, Online, March 11, 2022
  • Speaker, “Amendments to the Planning Act and Development Charges Act, and updates on the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT)”, Bill 189: The Coronavirus Support and Protection Act, 2020 and LPAT Update, OPPI, Webinar, April 24, 2020
  • Speaker, “Bill 108, the More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019”, OPPI19: Beyond25, OPPI, Conference, October 1, 2019
  • Speaker, “Bill 108 – More Homes, More Choice, 2019”, OPPI & WeirFoulds LLP, Client Seminar, June 26, 2019
  • Speaker, “Planning to be a better Planner under Bill 139: the impact of LPAT and changes to the Planning Act”, 2018 OPPI Symposium, Sudbury, ON, October 11, 2018
  • Speaker, “The Planning Justification Report and Municipal Staff Report: What Will They Look Like Under Bill 139”, WeirFoulds LLP Municipal and Planning Law Practice 2018 Seminar, April 12, 2018
  • Speaker, “5 Minute Advocacy for Municipal & Planning Lawyers”, Canadian Bar Association, Toronto, ON, March 6, 2018
  • Speaker, “What Would Thomas Adams Do*? An Interactive Discussion about OPPI’s Professional Code of Practice and OPPI’s Complaint Process”, Ontario Professional Planning Institute Conference, Collingwood, ON, October 3, 2017
  • Speaker, “Review of Proposed Changes to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe”, WeirFoulds LLP Municipal and Planning Law Practice 2016 Private Sector Seminar, May 18, 2016
  • Speaker, “Site Plan Approval Process”, WeirFoulds LLP Municipal and Planning Law Practice 2016 Private Sector Seminar, May 18, 2016
  • Speaker, “Proposed Revisions to the Development Charges Act, 1997“, The Six-Minute Municipal Lawyer 2015, Law Society of Upper Canada, May 28, 2015
  • Speaker, “Education Development Charge”, BILD, Mississauga, September, 2014
  • Panel Member & Chair, “Navigating the Municipal and Planning Law Landscape”, Ontario Bar Association Institute, Toronto, February 7, 2014
  • Speaker, “Municipalities and Solicitor-Client Privilege”, Ontario Bar Association Institute, 2011
  • Speaker, “Municipal Agreements on Title-Practice Gems-Title and Off-Title Searching”, Law Society of Upper Canada, 2011
Read More +
Latest Insight & News
View All +
Share this page
Close
Twitter Linkedin Youtube
Contact us
Online Payment
Twitter Linkedin Youtube
Find a Professional

  • Search

  • Practice Area

  • Directory

  • Role

Browse by Practice
Insight
Firm
Careers
Close