Pierre Langlois is a counsel in McCarthy Tétrault's Business Law Group. Since obtaining his LLD, he has become one of Canada's foremost authorities on the mining, natural resources and energy industries, and on environmental matters.

Mr. Langlois has worked on a variety of significant national and international files. His experience includes the acquisition, development and exploitation of natural resources (including mining deposits, surface mineral substances, petroleum and natural gas), at all stages (prospecting, exploration, development, pre-production and production).

Mr. Langlois has extensive experience negotiating and drafting memorandums of understanding, exploration agreements, pre-production agreements, and mining project impact and benefit agreements with First Nations communities.

In the area of environmental law, he has played a role in the rehabilitation and restoration of mining sites, preparing and implementing environmental management systems and reviewing environmental compliance. He has also participated in public hearings on the assessment and review of environmental impacts, and is experienced in mining and environmental litigation (civil, administrative and penal). In the area of pipeline operations, Mr. Langlois has been involved in aspects such as negotiating and drafting agreements for the acquisition of lands, easements and leases.

As a popular author and speaker, Mr. Langlois gives talks and teaches upgrade courses to legal professionals and business people. Between 2007 and 2019, Mr. Langlois taught mining law as part of the Université de Montréal’s Master of Business Law program.

Mr. Langlois’ major engagements include the following:

Troilus project. Legal counsel to the mining company responsible for restarting the Troilus mine (gold and copper), located 120 km north of Chibougamau in the territory covered by the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, which is subject to the environmental and social impact assessment and review procedure applicable in this territory. The mandate included the review of existing mining titles, the acquisition of surrounding mining properties, the financing of the project and the signing of an impact and benefit agreement with the James Bay Crees.

Othmer mine. Legal counsel to the company operating the Othmer mine (feldspar), located in the Outaouais region of Quebec. The mandate included the acquisition of exploration and extraction rights (claims and mining lease), the negotiation and drafting of agreements with the surface owners, obtaining authorizations from the Agricultural Board (CPTAQ), obtaining and renewing environmental compliance approvals, the approval and revision of the rehabilitation and restoration plans, and the oversight of compliance of mining activities with the applicable legislative framework.

Bloom Lake iron mine project. Legal counsel to the Canadian mining corporation behind the development and bringing-into-production of the Bloom Lake iron mine project, located in Normanville and Lislois townships and the Moisie River basin, Duplessis County, at the Québec-Labrador border. The project was subject to the environmental assessment and review procedures under Québec and Canadian environmental legislation. Public hearings were held by the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE), and an impact and benefit agreement was signed by the corporation and Innu communities.

Mining operations and exploration properties. Legal counsel to a major Canadian gold mining company with mine operations and exploration properties in Canada, Finland, Mexico and the United States. Drafting and negotiation of exploration property, joint venture, mine property acquisition and royalty agreements, mining title work, public and bank financings, and determination of the applicable environmental framework for various mine projects.

Doyon mine. Preparation and negotiation of the joint venture agreement between Silverstack Ltd. and Société québécoise d'exploration minière (SOQUEM) for the development of the Doyon mine at Preissac, Québec, a gold mine operated for nearly 30 years by Silverstack Ltd., LAC Minerals Ltd., Barrick Gold Corporation, Cambior Inc. and IAMGold Corp.

Ivory Coast mine. Legal counsel to a major Canadian mining corporation in the development and exploitation of a nickel/cobalt deposit in Ivory Coast. Drafted contracts and negotiated the terms of the project with the national mining development authority (SODEMI) and the government of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire.

Restructuring of the mining sector in Panama. Drafted the terms of reference for the reform of Panama's mining sector (land, environmental and tax aspects). The project involved an analysis of the mining legislation in force in Panama and other Latin American countries, and identification of the underlying principles of the reform.

Reform of the Malian mining code. Review of the draft mining code of the Republic of Mali at the request of the Malian Ministère des Mines (Ministry of Mines). This new Mining Code was adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Mali in 2012 (Loi 2012-015 du 27　février 2012 portant Code minier).

Reform of the Nigerian mining code. Drafting of a new Mining Code (including Mining Act, Application Decree of the Mining Act and Mining Agreements for the exploration and exploitation phases) for the Republic of Niger (2014), a project led by the European Delegation in the Republic of Niger.

Pipelines. Determination of the types of rights required to operate pipeline networks, preparation of mutual agreements for the acquisition of rights (easements, surface rights, leases) for pipeline operations, expropriation, and real estate and tax litigation (appeal of property and business taxes imposed on pipeline networks and easements).

Trailbreaker pipeline project. Determination of the legal framework applicable to the Québec portion of the reversal of the direction of flow of crude oil between Sarnia, Ontario, and Montréal, Québec, on behalf of a major Canadian company operating pipelines across Canada.

Coker project. Determination of the federal, Québec and municipal legal environmental framework applicable to the construction and operation of a coker project.

James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement (1975) and Northeastern Québec Agreement (1978). Participation in the negotiations leading up to these agreements, which settled the territorial claims of the James Bay Crees and the Northern Québec Inuit and Naskapis. As part of these negotiations, participated in the definition of the land regime and environmental and mining regimes applicable in the James Bay and Northern Québec territories. Participated in the preparation of the federal and Québec legislation implementing these agreements, particularly concerning the land regimes, and the environmental and mining regimes.

Centre de recherche en droit public (Public Law Research Centre), Université de Montréal (1976-1977). Participation in research commissioned by the Québec Department of Natural Resources, entitled Le droit québécois de l'eau. Worked on chapters II and VII, regarding navigability and buoyancy criteria and public rights with respect to water.

Conseil de la conservation et de l'environnement (Conservancy and Environment Council of Québec) (1988-1990). Member of a council responsible for providing the Minister of the Environment of Québec with advice regarding the planning of objectives, policies and strategies concerning environmental legislation and regulations. 

The main assignments of the council in 1988-1990 included:

• drafting of proposals regarding Québec's conservation strategy for achieving sustainable development, submitted to the Minister of the Environment in the spring of 1990
• drafting of a general opinion on these proposals and nine sectorial opinions (agriculture, environmental education, energy, green spaces, flora and fauna, forests, industry, recreation and tourism, and urban environments), integrated into Canada's submission to the United Nations World Conference on the Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992

Environmental management systems for financial institutions. Design, drafting and deployment of environmental management systems for financial institutions (Banque Nationale de Paris (Canada), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec), to assist them in identifying and assessing the environmental risks associated with their clients' activities.

Environmental management systems for natural resources and aeronautics sectors. Design, drafting and deployment of environmental management systems for industries active in the natural resources (mining and forestry) and aeronautics sectors. Analysis and review of federal and Québec legislation, policies, guides and municipal by-laws applicable to the activities of these industries. The systems provide companies with tools to identify and assess the environmental risks inherent to their operations, and to factor these risks into their business decisions and management of their activities.

ANACS, Senegal. Conducted an environmental audit in the framework of responsible environmental management for the Senegal airports, which are under the authority of the Agence Nationale de l'Aviation Civile du Sénégal (ANACS), including:

• review of the applicable internal and international laws and regulations
• diagnosis of the standard operations of ANACS and identification of the main environmental impacts related to air transport infrastructures and activities
• identification of ANACS's existing environmental management tools, including the existing environmental databases
• review and analysis of the current environmental emergency plan and existing safety measures
• inventory and qualitative assessment of the environmental management system for standard risks (transportation of hazardous products, residential neighbourhoods, special ecosystems, storage of hydrocarbons and fuel)
• development of an environmental action plan, including prioritizing certain initiatives and evaluating the related budget

Mr. Langlois holds a BA (1964) and an LLL (1968) from Université Laval. He was awarded his LLD by Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II) in 1972.