The Canadian College of Construction Lawyers Inc. – Collège Canadien des avocats en droit de la construction inc. was incorporated in 1998 as non-profit corporation under the Canada Business Corporations Act.  The College initially brought together fifty-nine original charter Fellows “distinguished for their skill, experience and high standards of professional and ethical conduct in the practice or teaching of construction law and who are dedicated to excellence in the specialized practice of construction law”.  As a national organization, membership criteria were carefully designed to allow qualified representation from all Provinces and Territories.   Fellowship in the College is extended by invitation and determined by a nomination process of the Fellows.  The College has grown over the years – yet not to a point where collegiality is sacrificed for size.

The College was modeled upon the American College of Construction Lawyers, founded nine years earlier.  A close relationship and many interchanges exist between the CCCL and ACCL.  Several Fellows of our College are also Fellows of the ACCL and a number of ACCL Fellows are also Honorary Fellows of our College.  To date, the Colleges have held two joint conferences.

Our College organizes a major conference each year for its membership with significant substantive content relating to the practice of construction law and the construction industry.  Since 2006, our College has published annually a volume of the Journal of the Canadian College of Construction Lawyers (Carswell, Thomson Reuters) containing scholarly articles on construction law authored by our Fellows and others.  The College is involved in outreach initiatives to the construction industry, both domestically and internationally with various construction law societies.  Internally, Fellows benefit from relationships with peers, judges and jurists who are Honorary Fellows of our College, and from deskbook and lien publications that are valuable tools for everyday practice.  The College has published (Thomson Reuters) two books on its history, the first in 2003 covering the initial five years of the College and the second in 2018, on the 20th anniversary of our College. 

David H. Kauffman

College Historian

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Past Presidents