Jacques J.M. Shore, C.M.

Jacques Shore is a partner in Gowling WLG's Ottawa office, a senior member of the firm's Advocacy Group, and past leader of the firm's National Government Affairs Group. Jacques was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2022 "for his numerous professional and volunteer contributions as a distinguished lawyer and negotiator."

With extensive experience in both the private and public sectors, Jacques was recognized in the individual rankings as a Best Lawyer in Canada (2025), in the Administrative and public law category. He practises in the fields of administrative law, federal regulatory affairs and negotiations focusing on trade and procurement issues, nuclear energy and environmental issues, national security matters, aviation and aerospace, and cultural policy, as well as government relations and government advisory work. In addition to his law practice, Jacques has also served on the firm's national external management committee.

Jacques is an adviser to numerous Canadian and international companies and business interests on legal, government and public law issues. Listed in Who’s Who Legal – Government, Jacques has also acted as lead negotiator on many business and government-related initiatives. In addition, he has extensive experience dealing with and advising not-for-profit corporations and non-governmental organizations. Jacques has worked actively on behalf of the federal government of Canada and provincial governments on a broad range of legal and public policy matters.

Prior to joining Gowling WLG, Jacques was the first director of research of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, Parliament's watchdog body reviewing the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and a senior staff member of the Macdonald Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada. His responsibilities included legal/constitutional work and co-ordinating the research effort on the Northern Territories. As well, Jacques assisted in research and writing initiatives for portions of the Royal Commission's final report.

Actively involved in the community, Jacques is President of the Ottawa Titans Field of Dreams Foundation. He is a past chair of Carleton University's board of governors and its executive committee and served as a board governor for thirteen years. Jacques served as chair of the Council of Advisors of the Canadian Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies of Carleton University, as well as chair of the Distinguished Council of Advisors of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. Jacques was the Founding Chair and currently serves as the Past-Chair of the Library Archives Canada (LAC) Foundation. Jacques is also co-founder and active member of Operation Abraham, a group which assisted victims of the Taliban escape Afghanistan.

Furthermore, Jacques is a founder of the Law Society of Upper Canada's bar admission advisory committee and a founder and former director of the Québec Society of Medicine and Law. He is a past member of the board of governors at Ashbury College and a past chair of the National Arts Centre Youth and Education Trust Gala Committee.

Jacques has played an active role in developing professional legal activities internationally and, specifically, in the U.S. and Central and Eastern Europe. He speaks English, French and Polish, and has a functional knowledge of German. Jacques is a published author of many articles on law and public policy, as well as three children's books. He is also one of the owners of the Ottawa Titans Baseball Club.

Representative work

Among his clients, Jacques is counsel to Amazon, Simon & Schuster, and Ferrero, providing legal, government relations, and strategic advice to the company. His areas of work have included foreign investment review, the opening of its fulfilment and web services centres in Canada, and acting on behalf of the company before federal and provincial officials on a range of public policy and regulatory matters across Canada.

Jacques has also worked on several government commissions of inquiry, including his mandate as co-lead counsel to the Air India Victims Families Association before the Federal Commission of Inquiry into the Bombing of Air India Flight 182. He served for five years as Canada's chief negotiator on the Algonquins of Golden Lake land claim, and led a team of lawyers in providing legal counsel to the Office of the Interim Commissioner for Nunavut during the final phase leading up to the division of the Northwest Territories.

Jacques continued to be legal counsel to the Security Intelligence Review Committee (now National Security Intelligence Review Agency) until 2016 and also served as legal counsel to the Canadian Judicial Council. As well, since its inception in 2002 until 2015, Jacques acted as general counsel to the General Insurance OmbudService (GIO), a national body organized by federal regulators and the insurance industry to address consumer complaints. He and the firm continue to provide general advice to GIO. Jacques had also been appointed by a provincial government to serve for two years as an expert on a panel on national security matters.

Starting his professional career in Ottawa in 1980, Jacques spent two years advising on criminal justice issues at the Secretariat of the Ministry of the Solicitor General (now the Department of Public Safety) and assisted in the co-ordination of the Federal-Provincial Ministers' conferences on criminal justice.

Articles, papers & presentations

A published writer, Jacques has authored many articles on legal issues and public policy. He recently authored "Interjurisdictional Information Sharing and National Security: A Constitutional and Legislative Analysis," published in the September 2016 edition of the McGill Law Journal, and "An Obligation to Act: Holding Government Accountable for Critical Infrastructure Cyber Security," published in the summer 2015 edition of the International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence.

Jacques has also written many commentaries and op-ed articles for a variety of newspapers and journals, including The Globe and Mail, the Ottawa Citizen, Le Devoir and The Hill Times. He is the author of two children's books, one of which received an "Our Choice" Award from the Canadian Children's Book Centre in 2004. An artist who enjoys painting and drawing, Jacques most recently illustrated a published book of short stories. He is a member of the Writers' Union of Canada.

Community Engagement

Jacques has been, and continues to be, actively engaged in charitable and numerous community activities as noted above.

Jacques received the Welcoming Ottawa Ambassador Award (2024), issued by the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership (OLIP), further to his work as co-founder of Operation Abraham.

Jacques was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada in June 2022, "for his numerous professional and volunteer contributions as a distinguished lawyer and negotiator."

Jacques received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for Dedicated Service to Canada in July 2012.

In June of 2015 Jacques was awarded the Ontario Volunteer Service Award.