LAWYER PROFILE
Stephen Pincus

Stephen Pincus

Canada 2026

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Ranked in 3 practice areas

About

Provided by Goodmans LLP

Practice Areas

Stephen Pincus is head of the Capital Markets Practice at Goodmans.

Widely recognised as one of Canada’s leading lawyers, and honoured as the first recipient ever of Canada’s “Capital Markets Lawyer of the Year” award by IFLR1000 Canada, Stephen has played a key role in developing Canada’s capital markets, including:

IPOs: Stephen has led the legal team on many significant IPOs - examples include VM Hotel Acquisition, Subversive REIT, Andlauer, Bespoke Capital, Mercer Brand, Minto, Kew Media, Canaccord Genuity Acquisition, BSR, Acasta, Milestone, WPT Industrial, Agellan, Northwest Healthcare, HealthLease, Leisureworld, Tricon Capital, Northstar, Crombie, Keystone, Futuremed, Student Transportation, Atlantic Power, Great Lakes Carbon, The Brick Group, Countryside Power, Yellow Pages, Medical Facilities Corp, Holloway, RRR, Central Park Lodges and Cineplex.

Lexology Index - Capital Markets has cited the comment: “It’s difficult to think of anyone better than him for IPOs in Canada.”

M&A: Stephen has led the legal team on many significant public and private M&A transactions - examples include Subversive’s merger with Intercure, Canaccord Genuity Growth II’s acquisition of Taiga, Northview’s acquisition by Starlight and KingSett. Tricon’s acquisition of Starlight US, Milestone’s buyout by Starwood, Welltower & Revera’s buyout of Regal, Milestone’s acquisition from Landmark, Northwest Healthcare’s merger with Northwest International, Canadian Pacific’s JV with Dream Unlimited, HealthLease’s buyout by HCN, Revera’s JV with HCN, Canaccord’s acquisition of Collins Stewart Hawkpoint, Revera’s acquisition of Sunrise, Canaccord’s merger with Genuity, Versa Capital’s buyout of Allen-Vanguard, Scanfield & Fairfax’s taking private of Arbor, Futuremed’s buyout by Cardinal, Senior Care’s sale to Ventas, CI Financial’s acquisition of Rockwater, Revera’s buyout by PSP, and CPL’s merger with RRR.

Cross-border: Stephen has led many Canadian “firsts,” including its first cross-border income fund, first cross-border REIT, first offering of income participating securities, first cross-border high dividend common share IPO, first non-US IPO in the world of a US REIT, and first cross-border SPAC.

REITs: According to Lexpert, Bay Street dubs Stephen “Canada’s King of REITs.”

SPACs: A pioneer of several highly innovative SPAC structures, Stephen has been lead counsel on the majority of Canada’s SPAC transactions to date.

Governance: Stephen advises boards of directors and activist shareholders on corporate governance and proxy fights. He was retained by Industry Canada to lead a major governance study.

Career

Stephen is repeatedly recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers Global, Chambers Canada, Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, The Lexpert 500, the Lexpert Special Edition: Finance and M&A, Lexpert Special Edition: Technology and Health Sciences, The Legal 500 Canada, Best Lawyers in Canada, IFLR1000, Lexology Index and Euromoney's Banking, finance and transaction Expert Guide.

Professional Memberships

Stephen is founding Chair of The Canada Africa Chamber of Business; a member of the Canadian General Counsel Awards Advisory Board; and a member of the Corporate and Securities Advisory Board of Practical Law – Canada.

Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Chambers Canada Guide

REITs - Nationwide - Canada

Band 1
Band 1

Individual Editorial

Toronto-based Stephen Pincus is a top-ranked practitioner with impressive experience advising REITs on a variety of novel matters.

Capital Markets: Debt & Equity - Nationwide - Canada

Band 3
Band 3

Individual Editorial

Stephen Pincus is a respected lawyer and the head of Goodmans' capital markets team. He frequently assists with equity transactions, including acting on deals involving SPACs and REITs.

Corporate/Commercial - Ontario

Band 4
Band 4

Individual Editorial
Stephen Pincus heads the firm's capital markets group. Based in Toronto, he regularly advises a broad range of clients on M&A and securities matters, including REIT transactions.

Strengths

Provided by Chambers

  • He is incredibly smart and experienced. He is the godfather of REITs.

    REITsChambers Canada Guide
  • Stephen is creative, strong, commercial, extremely responsive and provides good insights and strong advice and views.

    Capital Markets: Debt & EquityChambers Canada Guide
  • Stephen is a terrific lawyer.

    Corporate/CommercialChambers Canada Guide

Ranked Individuals at Goodmans LLP (72)

Nationwide - Canada

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