Bio

Ryan co-leads the firm’s construction labour law practice group.

Ryan’s practice areas include labour relations and construction law. He has specific expertise in certification applications, defending against displacement/raid applications and certification-related unfair labour practice complaints, including applications for interim relief during organizing campaigns and applications for remedial certification.

Ryan’s notable cases include acting on behalf of an organizing campaign to unionize gig workers. Ryan routinely delivers presentations on topics including the gig economy, human rights accommodation and new developments in labour law. Ryan regularly provides educational presentations to clients, including recent presentations on the internal review of grievances, notetaking for labour relations matters, and training for organizers involved in OLRB proceedings.

Ryan has been a partner with the firm since 2017 and first joined Cavalluzzo as an associate in 2009 after summering and articling with the firm.

Ryan graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School where he received several academic awards, including class prizes in Torts, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Studies, and the Nick McCombie prize for the best paper on the subject of workers’ rights. While at Osgoode Hall, Ryan spent time in the Workers’ Rights Division at Parkdale Community Legal Services and worked as a research assistant in the areas of access to justice and Aboriginal sovereignty. Ryan brings to his law practice a strong background and commitment to workers’ rights and organizing, social justice advocacy and social movement lawyering

Ryan has more than 150 reported labour board and arbitration decisions on CanLII including more than 20 decisions deemed by the Ontario Labour Relations Board to be "significant" and worthy of inclusion in its Monthly Highlights Newsletter, including:

  1. FOODORA INC. DBA FOODORA; OLRB File No.: 1346-19-R; Dated February 25, 2020; – represented the CUPW in certifying the first bargaining unit of "gig workers" in North America
  2. FAIRMONT ROYAL YORK HOTEL; OLRB Board No. 1006-18-IO; Dated August 7, 2018, - successfully defeated a request from Unifor to overturn a ratification vote in the context of a complex displacement application
  3. HONEYWELL LIMITED; OLRB File No. 0132-15-JD & 0353-15-JD; Dated January 18, 2016; successfully defended the jurisdiction of a public sector union following the merger of a large public hospital in London.
  4. COTTON INC.; OLRB File No. 3254-13-U & 3255-13-R; (Court File No. 554/15); Dated: May 30, 2016 – obtained remedial certification of industrial bargaining unit following repeated attempts to dismiss a key inside organizer. Remedial certification upheld upon judicial review.
  5. MOFFAT EXCAVATING AND UTILITIES LTD.; OLRB File No. 2581-14-R; Dated August 17, 2015 – successfully defended a trade union accused of intimidating and misleading card signers.
  6. 2220742 ONTARIO LTD. OPERATING AS BRONTE LANDSCAPE AND CONSTRUCTION; OLRB Case No: 1167-14-M; Dated: September 30, 2014; -- obtained interim reinstatement of workers during an organizing campaign
  7. SYSCO FINE MEATS OF TORONTO, A DIVISION OF SYSCO CANADA, INC.; OLRB File No. 3484-11-R; 3662-11-U; 3815-11-U; Dated February 25, 2013 – successfully certified industrial unit, including convincing the OLRB that trade union's bargaining unit, which excluded temporary agency employees, was appropriate.
  8. JENNMAR CANADA; OLRB File No. 2172-13-M; Dated November 14, 2013; obtained interim reinstatement of workers during an organizing campaign
  9. BAYSHORE HOME HEALTH; OLRB File No. 0144-09-PS; Dated August 30, 2012 – decision under PSLRTA determining that contracting out of homecare nurses was a transaction covered by PSLRTA and ordering vote.
Best Lawyers Award Badge

Education

  • Call to the Bar, 2009
  • Osgoode Hall Law School, LL.B.

Memberships

  • Osgoode Hall’s Student Caucus, Member
  • University of Guelph’s Central Student Association (CSA), Executive Member
  • University of Guelph’s student union, Executive Member
  • York University Senate, Member

Accolades

  • Torts and Bankruptcy and Insolvency Studies Prize, Osgoode Hall Law School
  • Nick McCombie Prize (for the best paper on the subject of workers’ rights), Osgoode Hall Law School

Best Lawyers Award Badge

Best Lawyers Award Badge

Related News

News/1 February 2024

Ryan White Comments on Gig Workers Amidst Employment Rate Drop in Toronto Star

"Gig work model gives the illusion of flexibility"

News/24 May 2022

How Uber Got Almost Everything It Wanted in Ontario's Working for Workers Act

Ryan White discusses how Bill 88 negatively impacts gig workers while helping employers

Related Events

Event/May 16, 2022

Ryan White Speaks at the Ontario Bar Association's Labour and Employment Law Program

Ryan White speaks at the Ontario Bar Association's Labour and Employment Law Program.  He will be discussing Ontario's Working for Workers A...
Event/Nov 11, 2021

Ryan White and Veromi Arsiradam Guest Lecture at Windsor Law

Key topics discussed around workplace privacy

Ryan White and articling student Veromi Arsiradam guest lectured at Windsor Law on the topic of workplace privacy. They discussed the history of priva...
Event/Jun 11, 2021

Ryan White Speaks at 2021 CALL Conference

"The Gig is Up: Precarious Workers from Organizing within the Law, to Changes to the Law" Panel

Ryan White speaks at 2021 CALL Conference on the gig economy, taking stock of worker victories, surveying current challenges facing the platform eco...
Event/Mar 12, 2021

Ryan White speaks at Workplace Democracy, Migrant Lawyering, and Movement Lawyering Event

Ryan White speaks at Workplace Democracy, Migrant Labour, and Movement Lawyering event sponsored by the University of Toronto Law Union. Ryan will add...

Related Publications

Publication/8 July 2010

New Battle Lines Emerge in Fight to Enforce Pay Equity Rights

With women comprising nearly half of Canada’s paid workforce and performing work crucial to the nation’s economic recovery, employers and ...

Related Blogs

Blog/17 July 2024

Parliament’s Federal “Anti-Scab” Bill: A Step Forward for Organized Labour

A Summary of Bill C-58

On May 27, 2024, the House of Commons passed Bill C-58, a bill banning federally regulated employers from using replacement workers during strikes/loc...