Skip Navigation

About Brian

Brian is a Partner and past Chair of the Competition, Antitrust & Foreign Investment group, widely regarded as one of the leading competition law practices in Canada and recently named Competition Regional Firm of the Year – Americas by Global Competition Review. 

Clients note that Brian is "the top competition lawyer in Canada, who would rank among the best antitrust practitioners globally", a "leader" in the market and a "strong advocate with fantastic client skills".

For over 25 years, Brian has advised clients in hundreds of regulatory matters, including multijurisdictional and domestic strategic merger transactions, criminal cartel cases, dominance matters, class actions, and distribution and advertising matters under the Competition Act. Brian has also appeared on behalf of clients before the Competition Bureau, the Competition Tribunal, the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal and various levels of Ontario courts. He is also a leading expert under the Investment Canada Act and is co-author of The Investment Canada Act: Commentary and Annotation (LexisNexis, 2022).

Brian is past chair of the Canadian Bar Association's National Competition Law Section and was an adjunct law professor for more than a decade. His treatises have been cited by all levels of courts in Canada, including the Supreme Court of Canada.

Brian is a member of the Blakes Executive Committee, and Chair, Strategic Business Initiatives.

Select Experience

Recent representative matters in the public domain include:

  • Secure Energy Services Inc. on its C$2.3-billion enterprise value merger with Tervita Corporation before the Competition Bureau, Competition Tribunal and Federal Court of Appeal.

  • Canadian counsel to Intact Financial Corporation on its C$12.3-billion acquisition, together with Tryg A/S, of RSA Insurance Group Plc.

  • The Jim Pattison Group in the sale of Sun-Rype Products Ltd. to Lassonde Industries Inc.

  • Intact Financial Corporation on its C$1-billion acquisition of The Guarantee Company of North America and Frank Cowan Company Limited

  • Elanco Animal Health Incorporated on its US$7.6-billion purchase of Bayer AG's animal health business

  • Suncor Energy Inc. in connection with its C$43.3-billion merger with Petro-Canada

  • Bell Canada in connection with its C$1.3-billion acquisition of an ownership position in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL hockey franchise and the Toronto Raptors NBA basketball franchise

  • Holcim Ltd. in connection with its C$50-billion merger with Lafarge S.A.

  • Praxair Inc. in connection with its US$33.9-billion combination with Linde AG

  • Essilor International S.A. in connection with its €48-billion combination with Luxottica Group S.p.A.

  • Superior Plus Corp. in connection with its C$412-million acquisition of the retail propane business of Gibson Energy Inc.

  • Pembina Pipeline Corporation in connection with its US$9.7-billion acquisition of Veresen Inc.

  • Agrium Inc. in connection with its US$38-billion merger of equals transaction with Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. to form Nutrien Ltd.

  • Nutrien Ltd. in connection with its A$470-million acquisition of Ruralco Holdings Limited

  • Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV in connection with its £71-billion acquisition of SABMiller plc and in connection with the US$12-billion on-sale of the Miller Brands business to Molson Coors

  • Intact Financial Corporation in connection with its acquisition of On Side Developments Ltd.

  • Intact Financial Corporation in connection with its C$2.6-billion acquisition of the Canadian insurance businesses of AXA SA

  • Red Hat, Inc. in connection with its US$34-billion merger with IBM

  • Bell Canada in connection with its C$3.9-billion acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. (MTS) and in its sale of a portion of MTS wireless subscribers and assignment of certain dealer locations to TELUS Corp.

  • Dell Inc. in connection with its US$67-billion acquisition of EMC Corp.

  • Superior Plus Corp. in connection with its C$932-million proposed acquisition of Canexus Corporation

  • GlaxoSmithKline in connection with the Canadian antitrust aspects of its Consumer Healthcare, Vaccines and Oncology transactions with Novartis AG

Awards & Recognition

Brian is continuously recognized as one of Canada's leading lawyers in the following ranking publications and awards:

  • Best Lawyers: "Lawyer of the Year" 2024 (Competition/Antitrust Law, Toronto)

  • The Best Lawyers in Canada 2024 (Competition/Antitrust Law)

  • The 2024 Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada (Competition Law)

  • Chambers Canada: Canada's Leading Lawyers for Business 2024 (Competition/Antitrust – Band 1: Described by sources as "absolutely first-class" and "always responsive and helpful no matter what our needs," and as having "an astute ability to understand how businesspeople think and what their objectives are, so is as good as anybody I have ever met in that business.")

  • Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business 2024 (Competition/Antitrust – Band 1: "Brian Facey remains a leading figure in the Canadian competition law market.")

  • Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyers 2024 – Independently Rated Lawyers (As nominated by senior in-house counsel)

  • The Legal 500 Canada 2024 (Hall of Fame – Competition/Antitrust)

  • The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2023 (Most Frequently Recommended – Competition Law)

  • Who's Who Legal: Canada 2023 (Competition)

  • Who's Who Legal: Thought Leaders – Global Elite 2023 (Competition)

  • Who's Who Legal: Thought Leaders 2023 (Competition)

  • Who's Who Legal: Global 2023 (Global Elite Thought Leader – Competition; Foreign Investment Control)

  • Who’s Who Legal: Competition 2023 (Global Elite Thought Leader)

  • Euromoney LMG's The Best of the Best 2022 (Ranked as one of the top 34 competition and antitrust attorneys in the world and is one of only two lawyers to be ranked in Canada)

  • Canadian Lawyer (Named one of Canada's Top 25 Influential of 2017; comments from voters include: "Outstanding leader in his field and in the community. and "Thoughtful, strategic, relentless ... all on behalf of his clients….")

  • Global Competition Review's GCR Awards 2017 (Nominated as "Dealmaker of the Year")

  • BTI Client Service All-Star Award 2014 (Received this award for delivering exceptional client service in the area of Competition/Antitrust; named one of the top 15 antitrust lawyers globally and is the only Canadian lawyer to receive this distinction)

  • The 2014 Lexpert Zenith Awards: Celebrating Practice Area Excellence (Competition Law – Client quote: "Brian was at the epicentre of many of the country's largest deals.")

Professional Activities

Brian was chair of the Canadian Bar Association's National Competition Law Section, as well as the founder and past co-chair of the Canadian Bar Association's National Competition Law Section's Foreign Investment Review Committee and the Section's International Committee. He is a member of the C.D. Howe Competition Policy Council (2015-present).

Brian is co-author of leading treatises on Canadian regulatory law entitled Competition and Antitrust Laws in Canada: Mergers, Joint Ventures and Competition Collaborations, LexisNexis, 2020 (Third Edition); Competition and Antitrust Law: Canada and the United States, LexisNexis, 2019 (Fifth Edition); Investment Canada Act: Commentary and Annotation, LexisNexis, 2014-2022; Competition Act: Commentary and Annotation, LexisNexis, 2013–2022; and Halsbury's Laws of Canada: Competition and Foreign Investment, LexisNexis, 2019.

Brian has testified before the Canadian Senate and Parliamentary Committees on amendments to the Competition Act and Investment Canada Act and was appointed by the Commissioner of Competition as a consultant to the Competition Bureau in relation to amendments to Canada's competition laws, which are now in force.

Publications
  • Co-author : Competition Act: Commentary and Annotation, 2024 Edition
    LexisNexis Canada, 2023.
  • Co-author : Investment Canada Act: Commentary and Annotation, 2024 Edition
    LexisNexis Canada, 2023.
  • Co-author : Competition Act: Commentary and Annotation, 2023 Edition
    LexisNexis Canada, 2022.
  • Co-author : Competition and Antitrust Laws in Canada: Mergers, Joint Ventures and Competitor Collaborations, 3rd Edition
    LexisNexis Canada, 2020.
  • Co-author : Competition and Antitrust Law – Canada and the United States, 5th Edition
    LexisNexis Canada, 2019.
Education
LLM (Antitrust Economics and Law), Georgetown University – 1997
Admitted to the Ontario Bar – 1993
LLB, University of British Columbia – 1991
BA (Hon., Economics), University of Toronto – 1988
More insights

Save Profile

Select sections to customize your PDF

Cancel