Sidonia J. Tomasella

First Year of Call
Ontario, 2009

Areas of Practice
Estate Planning

Description
Sidonia offers her municipal and land use planning clients a unique value proposition. In addition to her legal experience, her previous career as a land use planner gives her clients the added benefit of understanding the technical aspects of land development which, along with her time at the City of Toronto’s Legal Division and at the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, also provides excellent insight to the decision-making process. She is dedicated and passionate about making a meaningful contribution not only to her clients’ files, but to the development of communities.

Sidonia is a member of the firm’s Municipal & Land Use Planning Group and Chair of the firm’s Associates Committee. She assists private and public sector clients through the development and application process, from pre-consultation with various city departments to representation before the courts and various municipal authorities and administrative tribunals, including the Ontario Land Tribunal (formerly the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal).

Early in her career at the firm, Sidonia was seconded to the City of Toronto’s Legal Division (Planning and Administrative Tribunal Law section). Before beginning her legal practice, she was a senior land use planner and a municipal policy advisor for the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, where she was involved in a number of government initiatives related to land use planning, municipal governance and housing. Sidonia also lectures on land use planning matters at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) to students of the university’s Urban and Regional Planning Undergraduate Program.