Legal Counsel

Working at Telefilm

Telefilm Canada is committed to building a skilled workforce that reflects the diversity of the Canadian population. The organization promotes equity, diversity, and inclusion, and encourages all individuals to voluntarily indicate if they identify as a woman, a member of an Indigenous community, a person with a disability, a member of a racialized group or other.  

Telefilm Canada also strives to respect the principles of accessibility by making our recruitment, assessment and selection processes as accessible as possible. If you have any questions about accessibility or require any accommodation at any point in the application and hiring process, please do not hesitate to contact us at cv@telefilm.ca.  

As a responsible leader in, and champion of, the Canadian audiovisual industry, Telefilm Canada commits to adopting sustainability as a lens through which we work. This commitment is in alignment with the Government of Canada’s target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Telefilm’s flexible work policy requires employees to work from the office once a month. For the rest of the time, you have the choice to work from home or to work from one of the above-mentioned offices.

Summary

Reporting to the Vice President, Legal Services and Access to Information and Secretary to the Board of Directors, the Legal Counsel is a national position responsible for providing legal services to various sectors of the organization. As part of this role, the Legal Counsel will: 

• Provides legal advice on a variety of matters relating to the Corporation, its activities and in contentious situations;  
• Interprets the Telefilm Canada Act, statutes, regulations, and funding agreements; 
• Assists his or her supervisor in the interpretation of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, and responds to requests from stakeholders, clients and the general public within a specified time period; 
• Collaborates in the preparation of official annual reports to Parliament, including those required under the Telefilm Canada Act;  
• Verifies the Canadian status of applicant companies under the Investment Canada Act;   
• Assists the operations team in the analysis of funding requests with potential legal issues (libel, copyright, etc.), assesses risk and insurance needs; 
• Negotiates with various partners any required changes to contracts, guarantees, etc; 
• Participates in the development of national legal standards and policies, drafting and approval of contracts; updates provisions of contracts, loans, bank documents and other documents; 
• Provides legal advice on policy; participates in annual review of program policies; 
• Deals with issues arising from applicant defaults, bankruptcies, and litigation that may impede compliance with their commitments under the funding contract; 
• Provides training to employees and managers on the ethical and legal obligations within a federal organization. 

Qualifications

• Lawyer, member of the Quebec Bar and/or any other Canadian province; 
• Minimum of 3 to 5 years of legal experience; 
• Specific experience in administrative and corporate law as well as in laws related to the entertainment industry;  
• Knowledge of the social and political environment of a federal cultural organization; 
• In-depth knowledge of the laws and regulations governing Telefilm Canada and the industry (feature films, television and new media); 
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in both official languages at CBC level.  

This job description has been simplified for posting purposes and does not necessarily represent an exhaustive list of all tasks, responsibilities and requirements. 

Interested?

Telefilm Canada is committed to employment equity.

Applicants commit to complying with the Conflict of Interest Disclosure Requirements.

We thank all applicants for their interest but only applicants selected for an interview will be contacted.