
Overview
Max Laskin is a partner in the Municipal and Land Development Group at Goodmans. His practice encompasses a wide variety of municipal and land development matters for public and private sector clients across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Max assists clients with complex land development applications and appeals, often involving heritage and environmental issues, as well as other municipal approvals.
Max regularly appears before municipal councils, the Committee of Adjustment and the Ontario Land Tribunal (formerly the Ontario Municipal Board and Local Planning Appeal Tribunal). He has also appeared before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
Max has worked on intensification projects across the GTA, including in King-Spadina, Leslieville, Scarborough Centre, the South of Eastern Employment area, as well as greenfield development in the City of Vaughan and the Town of Richmond Hill among other municipalities. He has significant experience assisting with development approvals in the context of large scale master plans, including East Harbour and Downsview in Toronto, and the Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga.
Expertise
Credentials
Professional Involvement
Max teaches planning law at the University of Toronto as part of its Master’s in Planning program. He has written and presented at conferences on a number of municipal law issues, including inclusionary zoning, various amendments to the Planning Act, and aboriginal consultation in planning matters.
Max volunteers at local high schools through the Urban Land Institute’s UrbanPlan program, which teaches students about the fundamental forces affecting the planning and development of communities.
Credentials
- University of Toronto, J.D., 2014
- McGill University, B.Comm., 2009
Professional Affiliations
- Law Society of Ontario
- Canadian Bar Association
- Ontario Bar Association
- Urban Land Institute
Call to Bar
- 2015 Ontario
Insights
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Municipal and Land Development
Bill 23: Seismic Changes to Ontario’s Land Use Planning Framework Proposed
On October 25, 2022, the day after municipal elections across the province, the Province of Ontario introduced the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, which proposes a host of significant legislative… -
Municipal and Land Development
Toronto’s Growth Funding Exercise: Proposed Community Benefits Charge By-law, Development Charges By-law and Parkland Dedication Planning Instruments Released
On April 12, 2022, the City of Toronto released a series of documents outlining staff’s proposed approach to the City’s first community benefits charge (CBC) by-law, a new development charges (DCs… -
Municipal and Land Development
More Homes For Everyone Act, 2022: A First Step to Address Housing Affordability?
On March 30, 2022, the Ontario government introduced the More Homes For Everyone Act, 2022, also known as Bill 109, intended to implement certain recommendations from the Ontario Housing… -
Municipal and Land Development
Toronto Releases Draft Instruments to Implement Inclusionary Zoning
On Friday October 8, 2021, City of Toronto staff released draft official plan and zoning by-law amendments they intend to recommend to City Council to implement inclusionary zoning. The proposed… -
Municipal and Land Development
Toronto Unveils Proposed Approach to Inclusionary Zoning
On September 22, 2020, the City of Toronto’s Planning and Housing Committee endorsed for consultation purposes draft amendments to the City’s official plan and zoning by-law that would represent the… -
Municipal and Land Development
Ontario Rethinks Proposed Community Benefits Charges and Changes to Parkland Dedication and Development Charges
On July 8, 2020, a little over a year after proposing sweeping changes to the planning regime in Ontario through Bill 108, the provincial government has introduced new legislation that would scale…
News & Events
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Municipal and Land Development
Max Laskin and Anne Benedetti at ULI Toronto's Unpacking Bill 23: Who Does What? - Making Sense of the New Planning and Development Approval Process
Join Max Laskin and Anne Benedetti for a critical and up-to-date understanding of the evolving approvals landscape (immediate and longer-term) in the wake of last fall’s massive reforms impacting the… -
Announcing our New Partners in 2022
Goodmans is delighted to announce that the following lawyers have joined our partnership: Jess Bishop, Dan Block, Emily Hamovitch, Max Laskin, Hari Marcovici and Matt Prager… -
Banking and Financial Services
Goodmans ePresents: Ontario Rethinks Community Benefits Charges and Other Developer Contributions with Bill 197
On July 8, 2020, the provincial government introduced new legislation (known as Bill 197) that would scale back the proposed community benefits charge authority, and related changes to parkland…