Solving Problems Differently

The Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision Rahman v. Cannon Design Architecture Inc., 2022 ONCA 451 (“Rahman”) re-affirms the general rule that a contract, including an employment contract, must be interpreted objectively without considering the parties’ subjective understanding of its terms[…]

When a person receives money or property without giving something in return, the law presumes he or she has an obligation to return it to the person from whom he or she received it. This presumption, known as the presumption of “resulting trust”, may be rebutted by showing that the money or property was intended[…]

Spurred by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Ontario courts have rapidly introduced new technologies to enable court hearings to proceed virtually[…]

In Emeny v. Tomaszewski, 2019 ONSC 3298, Justice Sossin considered what level of damages were warranted where an individual was subjected to serious defamation on social media[…]

The legal maxim of caveat emptor, roughly translated as “buyer beware”, is a well-entrenched principle of Ontario real property law. According to this general principle, a buyer of land assumes the cost of any defects[…]

Online defamation is an unfortunate reality for many businesses and individuals. Negative online reviews can deter customers away from a business; undermine employee morale; and divert resources to respond to defamatory commentary.[…]

Court delays made headlines again recently, after Justice Peter Daley addressed the “facilities crisis” facing the Ontario Superior Court in Brampton, where it can take up to eight months to hear a civil or family matter […]

Trial courts continue to iron out the practicalities of the “culture shift” called for by the Supreme Court of Canada in Hryniak v Mauldin, 2014 SCC 7 to apply summary resolution procedures that are shorter and less expensive than trials when doing so is fair and […]

As the new recreational cannabis laws have rolled out over the past month, there’s been a lot of discussion over how difficult it is to determine whether someone is impaired by the drug. This is […]

What can a group do if it is denied official recognition by a governing association? What can a member do if they are expelled from a group? What happens when there is a dispute between members? In what […]

In Sataur v. Starbucks Coffee Canada Inc., 2017 ONCA 1017 (“Sataur”), the appellant, Abigail Sataur, pleaded that she was injured when a barista at a Starbucks in Brampton poured scalding hot water on her hands. Ms. Sataur sued […]

In December 2017, Justice Emery of the Ontario Superior Court awarded Gail Galea approximately $1.6 million in damages for her wrongful dismissal by Wal-Mart Canada. What is truly remarkable about this decision, is Justice Emery’s award of $750,000 in […]

In Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v. University of Calgary, 2016 SCC 53, the Supreme Court protected documents subject to solicitor-client privilege from being released under Section 53 of Alberta’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. In their decision the Supreme Court held that legislation cannot nullify solicitor client privilege without […]

In the 2016 decision in Heritage Capital Corp. v. Equitable Trust 2016 SCC 19, the Supreme Court of Canada (‘SCC’) held that Equitable Trust was not entitled to payments under the Historical Resources Act (HRA) as part of an incentive agreement the City of Calgary had with the land’s previous owner. […]

The Ontario Court Of Appeal held in its recent decision of 2260695 Ontario Inc. v. Invecom Associates Limited 2017 ONCA 70 that Invecom had violated the terms of their Agreement of Purchase and Sale and therefore had to forfeit its deposit. […]

In a 2016 decision, the ONCA overturned the trial judge’s decision in Awan v. Levant ONCA 2016 970. Khurrum Awan brought a defamation suit against Ezra Levant relating to nine blog posts that accused the plaintiff of being a “liar” and “anti-Semite,” among other libelous statements. […]

Under the Rules of Civil Procedure 29.1, all parties to an action must agree to a discovery plan if they intend to obtain evidence through documents, oral examination, inspection of property, medical examination or examination for discovery by written […]

The Ontario Court of Appeal recently held in Paquette v. TeraGo Networks Inc., 2016 ONCA 618 that the appellant was entitled to bonus payments despite a clause in his contract requiring the employee to […]

In May of 2017, the Ontario Government announced a proposal to eliminate the Ontario Municipal Board. Under the new proposal, disputes with municipal land planning decisions will instead be appealed to the Local […]

Under the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure 21.1, civil litigation trials in Toronto, Ottawa and Windsor are subject to the Mandatory Mediation Program. Under this program, actions that are subject to case management must be mediated by a private sector mediator whose goal is […]

In a September 2016 decision, The Supreme Court of Canada held that Northbridge Indemnity Insurance Co. would have to pay for damages caused during window cleaning despite a clause excepting, “the cost of making good faulty workmanship.” In so doing the Court clarified that the standard of review for standard form contracts was “correctness.” This standard allows courts to make determinations without deference to […]

The Ontario Court of Appeal (ONCA), in Goldhar v. Haaretz.com, 2016 ONCA 515 recently confirmed that a libel suit over an article written and published in Israel could be heard in Ontario if some of the readership resided in the Province. Specifically, the ONCA concluded that there was reputational damage that had occurred in Ontario and there were judicial advantages to holding the trial domestically. […]

The Ontario Court of Appeal recently used evidence from email negotiations to interpret the meaning of a lease agreement in 1079268 Ontario Inc. v. Goodlife Fitness Centers Inc. The disagreement between the parties over the amount of rent was the result of an unclear contract that had contradictory clauses referring to the total area leased and the formula which would be used to calculate rent. […]

The Ontario Court of Appeal recently confirmed that the contractual requirement for employees to be “actively employed” to receive their regular bonus payments or other employment benefits is not enough to displace an employee’s right to common law damages for breach of contract in wrongful termination cases. […]

Last year, we blogged about the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision in Wilson v Atomic Energy here, and specifically its determination that a dismissal without cause under the Canada Labour Code (“Code”) was not an unjust dismissal pursuant to sections 240 to 246 of the Code. In July 2016, the Supreme Court weighed in (2016 SCC 29), reversing the Federal Court of Appeal in a landmark decision. […]

There has been a debate over the past years regarding the legality of a termination provision in an employment contract which is compliant with the Employment Standards Act, 2000, [ESA] at the time of termination but which has the potential to violate the law in the future. In a recent case, Garreton v Complete Innovations Inc., 2016 ONSC 1178 (CanLII), the Court found that a termination provision in an employment contract was unenforceable if it would eventually lead to a breach of the ESA in the future. […]

In August, Justice Belobaba handed down his decision in Johar v. Best Buy Canada Ltd., 2016 ONSC 5287. This judgment serves as a stark reminder to employers: if you assert just cause for terminating an employee when no cause exists, you may ultimately end up on the hook for a longer notice period. […]

A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court has indicated that employers may in breach of their contractual duty of good faith if they fail to provide employees with due process rights in workplace investigations. […]

While the standard of proof in criminal law is to establish facts beyond a reasonable doubt, civil courts and administrative tribunals generally require that claims be proven on a balance of probabilities. Thanks to a recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, we now know that the standard of proof in police discipline hearings lies somewhere in between. […]

The Ontario Superior Court’s recent decision in Antunes v Limen Structures Ltd is an important caution to employers who embellish the attributes of their company or a particular position when courting future employees. […]

A recent case of the Federal Court of Appeal, Bernard v Canada (Customs and Revenue Agency), 2015 FCA 263, is a cautionary tale on the importance of collecting all necessary evidence and putting it before an administrative decision maker in the first instance, and not before a Court on judicial review. […]

From time to time we meet with employees who have been given notice of termination by their employer and want to know what happens to their severance pay if they decide to resign during the working notice period. Are they still entitled to it? […]

The issue of an employer’s right to itsemployees’ medical information is a fiercely contested one in the Ontario workplace. Ontario law provides employees with a degree of security that their employment will be protected while on medical leave. […]

In a recent decision released in August 2015, an Ontario Court held that a plaintiff could bring a defamation action in Ontario over allegedly defamatory statements made in a foreign based news publication which were posted online. The plaintiff is a Canadian billionaire owner of a soccer club […]

The Ontario Government has begun the roll-out of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (“Retirement Pension Plan”) which is intended to provide a predictable source of retirement income for Ontarians. The costs associated with the Retirement Pension Plan may come as a sudden shock to employers and […]

Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court refused to grant leave to appeal from the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision of InStorage Limited Partnership and InStorage Trustee Corp. v. Matthew Brady Self Storage Corporation. In refusing to grant leave, the Supreme Court implicitly approved the Court of Appeal’s holding that specific performance is an appropriate remedy for vendors of commercial properties when buyers back out of a deal. […]

Distinguishing at law between a dependent contractor and an independent contractor can be challenging at the best of times. This issue is important to businesses and organizations because like employees, dependent contractors are owed reasonable notice upon termination, while independent contractors are not. […]

In his decision in Khaper v. Air Canada, 2015 FCA 99, Justice Webb states the principle that the duty to accommodate does not survive the termination of employment if the employer legitimately had no knowledge of the employee’s disability at the time of termination. […]

The recent termination of a Hydro One employee following an incident at a Toronto FC soccer match earlier this month has been the subject of extensive public debate. The employee, Shawn Simoes, was part of a group of men who made obscene comments to a City TV reporter, Shauna Hunt. Following the video of this exchange going viral, Hydro One announced that it had terminated Mr. Simoes for a breach of their employee Code of Conduct. […]