Maya Stano

Maya Stano is a Vancouver-based partner, whose practice focuses on environmental, Indigenous, natural resource, and construction law. Maya is a member of the Environmental, Indigenous, Business, Nuclear, Mining, and Construction Law practice groups, and a member of Gowling WLG's Hydrogen and ESG leadership teams.

Maya provides strategic regulatory advice and representation on a wide range of matters, including environmental impact assessments, carbon credit regimes (including renewable and low carbon fuel requirements and environmental attributes), natural resource development, major infrastructure projects, regulatory compliance, and ESG.

Maya helps clients take their projects from concept to completion. She provides timely and effective advice at all stages of a project's lifecycle, from early planning and tenure applications through construction, operations and final closure, decommissioning, and reclamation. Maya represents the interests of numerous parties, including companies and Indigenous Nations, within a variety of industries including mining, forestry, energy, oil and gas, nuclear, and hydrogen.

Maya's services cover due diligence matters, permitting, land rights (including leases and other land access and tenure agreements), and regulatory compliance. She also assists in agreement negotiations between Indigenous Nations, provincial and federal governments, and proponents on natural resource projects and other activities. In addition, she actively assists Indigenous Nations in various government-related matters, including drafting laws and bylaws, managing land use and rights on reserve, and working with land codes and other governance matters.

Prior to practising law, Maya worked as a professional geological engineer on resource projects, both domestically and abroad, as well as on environmental and contaminated sites projects across British Columbia. That experience gave her a deep understanding of resources projects, related socio-economic interests, and underlying business needs, allowing her to deliver straightforward advice
that her clients can understand and implement to protect and successfully advance their interests.

Maya studied law at the University of British Columbia, graduating with a specialization in environmental and natural resource law. After graduation, she clerked at the Federal Court of Canada and completed an LLM at the University of Ottawa, focusing on the legal implications associated with lifecycle management of metals. Maya has since been frequently recognized in The Best Lawyers in Canada.  

Maya's leadership extends well beyond Gowling WLG. She is actively engaged on numerous boards and committees, including the Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia's Division of Environmental Professionals, as well as multi-stakeholder committees such as the Mine Environmental Neutral Drainage committee and Mining Association of Canada's Towards Sustainable Mining Community of Interest Panel.