Melanie Simon

Melanie Simon

Partner, Employment and Labour

Toronto

(416) 862-6835 

[email protected]

Bar Admission: Ontario, 2017

Home People

Areas of Expertise

Power and Utilities
Manufacturing
Technology
Retail and Consumer Products
Food and Beverage
Employment and Labour
Emerging and High Growth Companies

Melanie advises and represents employers and management on a wide range of issues in labour relations and employment law, including employment contracts, individual and mass employee terminations, employment standards, grievance arbitration, collective bargaining, human rights, workplace accommodation, workplace harassment investigations, occupational health and safety, and workers’ compensation.

She provides strategic advice on business closures, employment policies, outsourcing, compensation plans, and special employee programs. She routinely represents clients in employment litigation and proceedings in a variety of forums, including civil court, provincial offences court (including for occupational health and safety charges), the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, the Ministry of Labour, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal, and the Ministry of the Solicitor General.

Melanie joined the firm as an associate in 2017. She articled at a large global law firm, where she worked on a variety of labour and employment litigation matters.

Areas of Expertise

Emerging and High Growth CompaniesEmployment and LabourFood and BeverageManufacturingPower and UtilitiesRetail and Consumer ProductsTechnology

Representative Work

Select Reported Cases:

Agilysys in its US$25 million acquisition of ResortSuite

Higher Logic in its acquisition of Vanilla

The Board of Trustees of the WSIB Pension Plan Fund in the conversion of WSIB’s defined benefit, single employer pension plan to a jointly sponsored pension plan

Yellow Pages Digital & Media Solutions Ltd. and 411 Local Search Corp. as counsel in various employment litigation matters.

Foot Locker Canada Co. in various employment matters.

MindBeacon Software Inc. in its Series A Financing Round.

Inversago Pharma Inc. in its Series A Financing round of $7 million.

Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited in various grievance arbitrations.

 

CCAA Proceedings:

  • Sears Canada Inc. and related restructuring efforts, including the enactment of a unique Employee Hardship fund.
  • Hollander Sleep Products and related restructuring efforts.
  • SFP Canada Ltd. and related restructuring efforts.
View all Representative Work

Awards and Recognition

  • Recognized as “Ones to Watch” in Labour and Employment Law

    —Best Lawyers in Canada

Media Mentions

  • Osler News February 19, 2026

    Osler welcomes 11 new partners and three new counsel in 2026

    Congratulations to our 11 new partners and three new counsel from our offices in Toronto and Montréal.

    Read more
    Osler welcomes 11 new partners and three new counsel in 2026

Credentials

Education

  • Queen’s University, J.D.
  • Queen’s University, B.A. (hons.)

Languages

  • English

Professional Affiliations

  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Ontario Bar Association
  • Law Society of Ontario
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada 2021 Champion
  • Dean’s Honour List, Queen’s University (B.A. (hons.) and J.D.)
  • Tory’s Public Interest Summer Internship Award
  • Course Prize in Collective Agreement and Arbitration
  • Course Prize in Occupational Safety, Health & Workers’ Compensation Law

Osler is a leading business law firm practising internationally from offices across Canada and in New York. Our clients include industry and business leaders in all segments of the market and at various stages in the growth of their businesses. We have built our reputation on our commitment to our clients' success and the experience, expertise and collaborative approach for which we are recognized. We believe that our success is a reflection of our clients' success.