Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Legal Branch
Other form(s) of name
Ontario. Dept. of Highways. Office of the Senior Departmental Solicitor
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Legal Branch of the Ontario Department of Highways was formed in 1957 with the appointment of a senior departmental solicitor. This individual reported directly to the Deputy Minister, and was responsible for supervising the solicitors in each of the regional offices (Kingston, London, North Bay, and Toronto). The structure and organization of the Legal Branch during its first two years is difficult to determine precisely, however, by 1959, the agency was being referred to as the Legal Branch proper and the organizational placement of the branch in the Department of Highways was formalized.
In 1963 the regional solicitors from the Kingston and North Bay regional offices were transferred to the main office in Toronto. In that same year, the Signs and Building Permits Section was transferred to the Operations Branch from the Legal Branch. Except for 1962, when the Legal Branch was placed under the Assistant Deputy Minister of Administration, the Legal Branch reported directly to the Deputy Minister throughout its existence.
The Legal Branch was replaced by the Legal Services Branch in the newly created Ontario Department of Transportation and Communications in 1971.
Places
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
The Legal Branch provided a range of legal services to the Ontario Department of Highways including the provision of legal advice to the various branches in the department, the administration of all issues relating to insurance coverage, and the handling, negotiating, and settling of various types of claims. Between 1957 and 1963, the branch was also responsible for administering signs and building permits.
Address
Internal structures/genealogy
General context
Relationships area
Related entity
Identifier of related entity
Category of relationship
Type of relationship
Dates of relationship
Description of relationship
Related entity
Identifier of related entity
Category of relationship
Type of relationship
Dates of relationship
Description of relationship
Access points area
Subject access points
Place access points
Epithet
Control area
Authority record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
RAD: Rules for Archival Description, 2nd edn (2008)
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Department of Highways Annual Reports, 1957-1971; Public Accounts of Ontario, 1956-1958; Government of Ontario Telephone Directories, 1957-1958.
Maintenance notes
Not found in Canadiana Authorities, 1996-12-24.
Archivist(s):
Lisa Singer, Mark Epp