Jean Bédard is a member of the Bar of the Province of Quebec (1975) and of the Law Society of Upper Canada
(1988). He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1992. He graduated from the Law Faculty of Laval University in 1974
and holds an M.B.A. from the same University. He also earned an LL.M. (in International Business Law) from
Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Administrators in the Province of Quebec.
In 2002, he was granted the designation of Accredited Expert in Franchising (EAF) by the Chartered Administrators
in the Province of Quebec. He has also been a Deputy Judge of the Small Claims Court of Ontario (Toronto Region)
since 2002.
He practiced law in Quebec City until 1988, when he moved to Toronto to assume the position of General Counsel of Beneficial Canada Inc. (later Associates Financial Services of Canada Ltd.). He was a Director of Beneficial Canada and a member of its Executive Committee. During his tenure at Beneficial, he acted as General Counsel (International Operations) for the subsidiaries of Beneficial Corporation and was responsible for major files in Canada, Europe and Latin America.
From 2000 to 2005 Jean Bédard practiced law at Sotos LLP, a law firm specializing in Franchising, Licensing and Distribution law. In 2005, he relocated his practice to Kingston, Ontario. He has been a speaker at various seminars on legal and business issues including at the International Bar Association meeting in Durban (South Africa) in 2002. Until 2005, he was an executive committee member of the Ontario Bar Association’s subcommittee on Franchising. He is a member of the Frontenac Law Association, the Ontario Bar Association, the Canadian Bar Association and the International Bar Association.
He is currently a director of the Association canadienne-française de l’Ontario (Mille-Îles) and is a member of the Advisory Committee of Glendon College, in Toronto. In October 2006, he was appointed by the City of Kingston as a member of the Kingston 2006 Election Compliance Audit Committee established under the Municipal Elections Act. He was Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Council of Better Business Bureaus (1985-1988) and in 2000-2001 was a member of the “Investing in Students” task force, appointed by the Ontario Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. In 1998-1999, he was chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Franco-Ontarian Development Fund.He has also served on various committees and on the governing bodies of several community organizations. Prior to his appointment to the Small Claims Court, he was a frequent guest commentator on political and economic affairs on radio and television.
He is married to Michele Bédard, who is the other half of the team both at home and in his professional life.
Born and educated in Kingston, Michele holds a B.A. from Queen’s University and has over 20 years experience as a legal
assistant and a corporate law clerk. She has worked in Nova Scotia, Ottawa, Toronto, and Kingston.
