Stephen Torscher

Practice Areas

Employment & Labour Law and Commercial Litigation.

Publications

Canadian Employment Safety and Health Guide, LexisNexis (April, 2025) – Article: “Changes to Workplace Violence and Harassment Prevention Plans Are Now in Effect in Alberta – Are Your Policies Compliant?”

Personal

Stephen is passionate about sharing legal insights, whether in writing or in person. He regularly speaks at client seminars, the firm’s quarterly employment sessions, lunch-and-learns, podcasts, webinars, and other events, delivering insight in his characteristically witty style. Attendees consistently praise his presentations as “equal parts informative and quietly hilarious,” or, in less formal terms, “10/10 banter."

Fun fact:

During his studies at the U of C, he worked summers and part-time for Citizenship and Immigration Canada at the border crossings of Coutts, Alberta and the Calgary International Airport. He also worked for the Federal Department of Justice assisting prosecutors with large drug prosecutions.

Experience

Stephen is a partner and co-chair of the Employment Practice Group at Carbert Waite LLP, providing trusted counsel to both employers and employees on a wide range of labour and employment matters. He advises on employment contracts, workplace policies, grievances, arbitrations, employee discipline, terminations, and transactional employee issues, and has represented clients in litigation concerning wrongful dismissal, human rights, and employment standards.

Additionally, Stephen’s labour law expertise spans all stages of labour relations, including certification applications, voluntary recognition, unfair labour practice complaints, collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, and duty of fair representation complaints. He regularly provides insights and commentary during impactful labour disputes in Canada.

Stephen serves a diverse client base—from individuals and small businesses to large national corporations—and also brings experience in health law, creditor’s rights, and commercial litigation, appearing before all levels of court in Alberta, the Federal Court of Canada, and the Alberta Labour Relations Board.

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Alberta.

Work Highlights

Successfully represented a pipeline construction company in a high-stakes certification application before the Alberta Relations Board, where four building trade unions sought to replace the incumbent union as the certified bargaining agent for employees across two worksites. The matter also involved multiple unfair labour practice complaints filed by the unions on behalf of individual employees. The complex, multi-day, bifurcated hearing was decided in favour of the employer and incumbent union.

Education