Andrea C. Akelaitis

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Biography

Andrea Akelaitis provides advice and representation on a full range of environmental and regulatory matters. She was a founding partner of the law firm Letcher Akelaitis LLP in Vancouver, BC.

Ms. Akelaitis has appeared before all levels of British Columbia Courts. She is called to the bar in Alberta. Ms. Akelaitis has successfully represented clients in significant historical multi-party contaminated site matters, both through litigation and through alternate dispute resolution.

Ms. Akelaitis has acted as advisor and counsel on many of British Columbia’s significant contaminated sites matters including before the Environmental Appeal Board on behalf of the successful party (Domtar Inc.) in Seaspan ULC v. Director, Environmental Management Act and Domtar Inc. et al. Ms. Akelaitis also acted for Domtar Inc. in the Alberta Environmental Appeals Board case dealing with brownfield redevelopment, Human Health Risk Assessment and contaminated sites issues, Cherokee Canada Inc. et al v. Director, Red Deer North Saskatchewan Region, Alberta Environment and Parks.

Ms. Akelaitis works in permitting, compliance, defending environmental prosecutions and environmental assessment regulatory and litigation issues. She has also had significant experience working in foreign tort issues concerning environmental law matters. Ms. Akelaitis has acted for a range of Canada’s leading corporations and has acted for the Nisga’a Nation in litigation involving important aboriginal law and environmental law issues, including project environmental assessment and has worked on First Nations contaminated sites matters.

Ms. Akelaitis is a leader in air quality and odour management regulatory issues and in a range of issues related to recycling and waste management, including composting. She acted as co-counsel in the leading Canadian air quality odour management decision, West Coast Reduction Ltd. v. District Director of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (BC Environmental Appeal Board).

Ms. Akelaitis has co-chaired the Pacific Business & Law Institute course on contaminated sites for the last five years. She is a past appointee of the B.C. Ministry of Environment and Parks to the Board of Directors, and for the Contaminated Sites Approved Professional Society (CSAP), serving two terms. She has authored and presented “Provincial Environmental Law, Regulations and Policy” and “Groundwater, Regulation and Quality Control”. She has presented on allocating contaminated sites environmental risk for CLEBC, including co-chairing a CLEBC conference on contaminated sites. She delivered a paper on Expert Evidence at the National CBA Environmental Energy and Resources Summit on Environment in the Courtroom in Calgary. She has presented at the CBA National Environmental, Energy and Resources Law Summit on contaminated sites issues.

In addition to being a leader in the field of environmental law, Ms. Akelaitis has extensive commercial litigation experience and acted as counsel in significant BC Supreme Court cases involving economic force majeure, Directors and Officers liability, product liability and aviation cases.

Year of Call

2000

Legal Industry Recognition

•The Best Lawyers in Canada (2026)
•Chambers Canada Ranked Lawyer (2026)
•Lexpert Leading Lawyers in Canada (2025)
•Who’s Who Legal Canada (2025)

In the News

Presentations

Allison Render Presents at In-House Counsel Bootcamp

March 5, 2026

Articles

Jeff Glasner Discusses Tax Liability for De Facto Directors

March 3, 2026

Sponsorship

Farris Supports Future Litigators

March 3, 2026

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Areas of Practice (2)

  • Environmental Law
  • Administrative & Regulatory Law

Education & Credentials

University Attended:
University of British Columbia, B.A., 1994
Law School Attended:
University of British Columbia, LL.B., 1998
Year of First Admission:
2000
Admission:
2000, British Columbia
Memberships:

Affiliations

•Member of the Law Society of British Columbia
•Member of the Law Society of Alberta
•Member of the Canadian Bar Association

Reported Cases:
Representative Works: Seaspan ULC v. Director, Environmental Management Act et al, EAB Decision No. 2013-EMA-002(c). Acted for Domtar Inc. in this contentious matter involving a remediation order issued by the BC Ministry of Environment to Domtar Inc. and Seaspan. In this decision, Domtar Inc. was successful in presenting its interpretation of the applicable provisions of the Environmental Management Act.; Cherokee Canada Inc. et al. v. Director, Regional Compliance, Red Deer-North Saskatchewan Region, Operations Division, Alberta Environment and Parks; (26 Feb 2019), Appeal Nos. 16-055-056, 17-073-084, and 18-005-010-R (A.E.A.B.)., 2019 ABEAB 1. Successfully represented Domtar Inc., in this significant matter before the Alberta Environmental Appeals Board and overturned emergency pollution abatement orders with respect to a brownfield site in Edmonton, Alberta.; Costs Decision: Cherokee Canada Inc. et al. v. Director, Regional Compliance, Red Deer-North Saskatchewan Region, Operations Division, Alberta Environment and Parks; (18 March 2020), Appeal Nos. 16-055-056, 17-073-084, and 18-005-010-CD (A.E.A.B.), 2020 ABEAB 10. Acted for Domtar Inc. in successfully obtaining a significant costs award with respect to the above appeal.; West Coast Reduction Ltd. v. District Director of the Greater Vancouver Regional District, EAB Decision Nos. 2007-EMA-007(a); 2008-EMA-005(a).; Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd. v. Director of Waste Management et al, EAB Appeal No. 1999-WAS-41(c). Acted for Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd. (now Nexen) in this matter involving remediation of a former Chlor-Alkali plant located in Squamish, British Columbia.; Worthington Mackenzie Inc. and Daniel Alexander White v. Director, Environmental Management Act et al, EAB Appeal No. 2009-EMA-009(b). Acted for Mr. White, the director and owner of the corporate entity, Worthington Mackenzie Inc., in this matter involving a certificate issued by the BC Ministry of Environment under the Environmental Management Act regarding responsibility for costs of spill response actions incurred by the Province of BC at the Mackenzie pulp mill. This was a successful application for a stay of the certificate.
ISLN:
915800931

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Affiliations

Lex Mundi

Location

  • Vancouver, BC
    Pacific Centre South , 25th Floor, 700 W Georgia Street
    Vancouver, BC V7Y 1B3
     Canada

    604-661-1711 Phone
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Contact Andrea C. Akelaitis

Contact Information:

604-689-5177  Fax

https://farris.com

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