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Counsel

Dennis has been listed in the "Most Frequently Recommended" category of Leading Practitioners in Toronto in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, and has also been included in the American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, in each year that they have been published. He is also included in the inaugural 2006 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada. He has been qualified in court as an expert in commercial landlord and tenant law.

Since 1978, his practice has focused on commercial leasing, development law and construction law. He has extensive experience in all aspects of large and complex commercial, retail, office and industrial leasing transactions across Canada and the United States and is recognized as a leading expert in telecommunication and access matters.

He was called to the bar in 1974. Until 1978, he practiced commercial real estate law with a law firm that eventually merged with the Toronto firm of Cassels, Brock, Blackwell. He joined The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited as legal counsel in 1978 and as Vice-President and General Counsel of Cadillac Fairview Shopping Centres, Canada, he supervised all legal aspects of Shopping Centre operations. In 1986, he assumed responsibility for all aspects of legal services for Cadillac Fairview's U.S. Shopping Centres. In 1988, he joined the leasing department of a large Toronto law firm and became a partner there in 1989. In 1995, he co-founded the firm of Daoust Vukovich LLP.

Dennis has written and lectured on topics such as landlord and tenant remedies, ground leases, the use of commercial leases as a creative financing technique, lease negotiation strategies, income tax aspects of commercial lease transactions, restrictive covenants, leasehold improvement construction problems, insurance risk management, GST and commercial leases, construction contracts, architect's agreements, telecommunications license agreements, and a variety of other topics.

Recognition & Awards

  • Listed in the "Most Frequently Recommended" category of Leading Practitioners in Toronto in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory
  • Included in the American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada
  • Listed in The Best Lawyers in Canada and recognized as the, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2024 "Lawyer of the Year" for Commercial Leasing Law in the Toronto area
  • Listed in the “Top 100 Lawyers” list as “Lawyer of the Year 2024”

Insights

RealTea Episode 1: Dennis Daoust - 5G and the New Era of Building Telecom

Mar 31, 2023 | RealTea

In this instalment, Dennis Daoust "spills the tea" on 5G and a new era in building telecom.

Cannabis in Ontario - The Landlord and Tenant Perspective

Apr 03, 2019 | Presentation

This paper served as the background to the comments of Dennis Daoust (a partner in the law firm of Daoust Vukovich LLP) presented at the P.M. Sprin...

Choosing and Retaining Construction Consultants

Mar 01, 2019 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust and Brian Parker (ICSC Law Conference 2019) INTRODUCTION Having a good consultant for your construction project is critica...

Ontario Superior Court clarifies the limitation period under the Construction Act

Feb 27, 2019 | Blawg

The Ontario Superior Court has once again confirmed that time limits under the Construction Lien Act (now the Construction Act)

Indepth Workshop on Permitted Assignment and Transfer Provisions

Apr 21, 2016 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust (ICSC Canadian Law Conference), 2016 Commercial leases contain restrictions on assignment, subleasing and parting with or ...

Landlord Additional Services To Premises

Jan 30, 2014 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust (The Six-Minute Commercial Leasing Lawyer 2014) This topic deals with the kinds of ongoing services that tenants might req...

BOMA 2010 Office Standard and New BOMA 2010 Retail Standard

Feb 16, 2011 | Article

Written by Natalie Vukovich (The Six-Minute Commercial Leasing Lawyer 2011) Renewal rights in commercial leases are often limited by a provision st...

Practical Guide to Drafting an Effective Commercial Lease: Utilizing and Protecting Your commercial Property - Types of Commercial Leases

Jan 28, 2010 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust (The Canadian Institute, Pre-Conference Workshop) This paper describes the broad categories of commercial lease. By way of...

Green Commercial Real Estate: Staying on Top of the Latest Trends and Requirements

Jan 28, 2010 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust (The Canadian Institute) This paper deals with government and industry concerns related to greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs)...

Environmental Issues and Clauses for Commercial Leases - New Concerns - Toxic Mould

Nov 27, 2002 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust (The Six-Minute Real Estate Lawyers 2002) In the program, Checklists and Systems in Commercial Leasing. A Step Toward Sani...

Insurance For Commercial Building Tenants

Sep 02, 2002 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust Nothing that you learn in law school or in business school prepares you adequately for dealing with risk management and in...

Landlords, Tenants and Technology

Apr 17, 2002 | Article

Written by J.E. Dennis Daoust (Real Estate and Technology- Federated Press) Technology's impact on business requires an enhanced awareness of the c...

When a Sublease is Really an Assignment

Nov 01, 2001 | Article

Written by J.E. Dennis Daoust (Shopping Centre Newsletter, Vol. 21, No. 11) An assignment of lease and a sublease are similar because in both of th...

Telecommunications

Mar 01, 2001 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust (Canadian Shopping Centre Law Conference, BOMEX 2000 - Building Owners and Managers Association National Conference,&...

Technology and Tenants: The Flexibility Imperative, and The Fifth Dimension

Mar 01, 2001 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust (Canadian Shopping Centre Law Conference, BOMEX 200- Building Owners and Managers Association National Conference,&nb...

System Five: Default and Cure

Dec 07, 2000 | Article

Written by J.E. Dennis Daoust (Lexpert Seminar) Each commercial lease will contain a system of clauses dealing with the rights of the landlord and ...

Perpetuities and Leases

Nov 28, 2000 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust (Return of the Six-Minute Real Estate Lawyer When dealing with leases, the common law rule against perpetuities (the "Rule...

The Latest Word on the Law Affecting Controversial Rent Recoveries

Jun 21, 2000 | Article

Written by J.E. Dennis Daoust and Ken Beallor ​(for Lorman Education Services) The majority of commercial leases are stated to be "net" leases. Whe...

Options and Rights of First Refusal in Real Estate Transactions Leasehold Issues

Jun 08, 2000 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust (Canadian Bar Association, Ontario) This paper deals with the judicially developed rules pertaining to options to purchase...

A Closer Look at the New Opportunities and Challenges of Communication and Other Service Access Agreements

Jun 08, 2000 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust ICSC Shopping Centre Legal Update, Vol. 20, Issue 2 Building owners are discovering a new source of revenue that involves ...

Telecommunication License Agreements in Multi-Unit Commercial Buildings

Feb 15, 2000 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust (Law Society of Upper Canada 2000) There was very little competition in the telephone business in Canada until 1992 when l...

New Opportunities and Challenges: Communication and Other Services Access Agreements

Feb 01, 2000 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust (Commercial Leasing 2000) Building owners are discovering a new source of revenue that involves virtually no capital outla...

Strange But True Tenancy Law - A Dilettante's Nightmare

Aug 01, 1999 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust (Shopping Centre Newsletter, Vol. 19, No. 8) Commercial tenancy law is full of idiosyncrasies. Leases are a hybrid form of...

Curing or Killing the Sick Real Estate Deal: Litigation and Real Estate Strategies

Apr 22, 1999 | Article

Written by J.E. Dennis Daoust with Wolfgang Kaufmann & Eric K. Gillespie (Canadian Bar Association (ON)) The law of commercial leasing is part ...

Use Restrictions in Commercial Leases

Feb 07, 1999 | Article

Written by J. E. Dennis Daoust Shopping Centre Newsletter, Vol. 16, No. 11 Facing competition in the confines of a shopping centre can be overwhelm...

Releases and Indemnities (Shields and Swords)

Mar 26, 1998 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust (ICSC- Canadian Law Conference 1998) A risk manager has three basic goals: the transfer of risk in contracts such as ...

Exclusive Predicaments

Nov 01, 1996 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust (Shopping Centre Newsletter, vol. 16, No. 11) Facing competition in the confines of a shopping centre can be overwhelming...

Use(less) Clauses

Aug 01, 1996 | Article

Written by J. E. Dennis Daoust Shopping Centre Newsletter, Vol. 16, No. 8 Leasing persons often draft "use clauses" describing the business that th...

Understanding Insurance for Shopping Centre Tenants

Aug 15, 1990 | Article

Written by Dennis Daoust (Shopping Centre Newsletter, Vol. 10, No. 16) This is the first in a series of articles which will deal with insurance mat...

Involvement

Dennis has co-chaired Canadian Bar Association (Ontario) seminars and has lectured at conferences held by the Law Society of Upper Canada on commercial lease related topics. He taught the "Leasehold Issues" portion of the part-time LLM Programme of Osgood Hall Law School in March, 1999 and lectured on the topic of Commercial Landlord and Tenant Law reform in the "Contemporary Issues in Real Property" component of that programme in May, 2000. Dennis has also taken the initiative in establishing construction and telecom access forums for developers and mangers of commercial properties. He is also a frequent contributor to periodic legal and industry publications.

Dennis J.E. Daoust


P: 416-597-9339

Annemarie Burgess
Legal Assistant
P: 416-479-4354


Memberships


  • Member | Canadian Bar Association
  • Member | Ontario Bar Association
  • Member | Law Society of Ontario