November 25, 2016

CECIL L. ROTENBERG, Q. C.

It is with profound sadness that we announce that my mentor, close friend and Of Counsel to our Firm for many years, Cecil L. Rotenberg Q.C. passed away last week.  We will be paying tribute to Cecil in the weeks to come.

He passed peacefully on Thursday, November 17, 2016 at NorthYork General Hospital, a week shy of his 83rd birthday. Beloved
husband of Miriam. Loving father and father-in-law of Charles, Ira, Marci (Jeff), Ezra (Reiko), Rachel (Timothy), and the late Geoffrey Rotenberg. Dear brother and brother-in-law of Francene and the late Carl Rotenberg, Tony,Lucia, Dominic, Judy, Joseph, and the late Fiona Leung Devoted grandfather of Jason, Jordan, Sarah, Andie, Robin, Leslie, Aaron, Liam, Patrick, and
Ringo. Cecil will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him, including the Canadian legal community where he practised for 57 years, starting with family law and civil litigation. For the last 40 years, he dedicated his indefatigable energy to immigration law. He was affectionately referred to as the Grandfather of Immigration Law, a title he justly deserved and cherished. Countless people owe their new lives in Canada to Cecil’s tenacity, fearlessness, and dedication. He was at his most inspired and passionate in the courtroom. He set many legal precedents with his creative and novel applications of the law, resolving cases that were deemed impossible.

In 2005 Cecil L. Rotenberg Q.C. acted as lead counsel at the Supreme Court of Canada in Hilewitz v. Canada the seminal case on Canadian medical immigration law.