The Complete Brief

  • July 24, 2026

    Court orders writ of mandamus, finds 3.5-year study permit delay unjustified

    The Federal Court has ordered Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to decide an Iranian citizen’s long-delayed study permit application, finding that the roughly 3.5-year wait was unjustified and far exceeded the department’s 60-day service standard.

  • July 24, 2026

    Gig workers, beware: Tech platforms now send your income directly to the CRA

    For most of the past decade, the dominant compliance problem in Canada’s digital economy was one of invisibility. Platform income — whether earned through Airbnb, Uber, Etsy, YouTube, or a subscription content service — was self-reported, difficult for the Canada Revenue Agency to verify independently, and largely invisible to the agency’s audit selection algorithms unless the taxpayer’s bank deposits or lifestyle flagged a discrepancy. That environment has changed.

  • July 24, 2026

    From Wallace to Wilsher: Is there still a role for notice period extensions?

    The law governing damages arising from the manner of dismissal appeared to be settled nearly two decades ago. In Honda Canada Inc. v. Keays, 2008 SCC 39 (Honda), the Supreme Court of Canada rejected the approach that had developed under Wallace v. United Grain Growers Ltd., (c.o.b. Public Press), [1997] 3 S.C.R. 701 (Wallace), and replaced it with a framework focused on “actual damages.” Under Honda, damages flowing from an employer’s bad faith conduct in the manner of dismissal were to be assessed according to the same principles and in the same way as moral damages rather than through an extension of the employee’s notice period.

  • July 24, 2026

    Michael Shirreff appointed associate judge of B.C. Supreme Court

    The Government of British Columbia has appointed Michael Shirreff as an associate judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, effective July 23, 2026.

  • July 24, 2026

    Feds launch public consultation to strengthen AI transparency

    On July 23, the federal government launched a public consultation “seeking views on how to strengthen transparency for AI systems and AI-generated outputs.”

  • July 24, 2026

    INTERESTS IN LAND - Ownership

    Appeal by appellant from a judgment of the Quebec Court of Appeal which set aside a judgment of the Superior Court. Years ago, the respondents or their predecessors in title each purchased from the appellant a lot bounded by a large navigable lake.

  • July 24, 2026

    Spouses, estate law and the principal residence exemption

    This is the scenario: John and Jane each purchase a real property in Ontario in 2003, to which they take title in their names alone. John purchases a residential property for $2,000,000 (“John’s property”) and Jane purchases a cottage property for $1,000,000 (“Jane’s property”). In 2006, John and Jane become common law spouses and go back and forth between living at their respective properties — typically John’s during the fall and winter months and Jane’s during the spring and summer months. John and Jane never enter into any domestic agreement. Both were previously married and have children from prior marriages, who are their primary beneficiaries and not each other.

  • July 24, 2026

    Procedural pitfalls: Ontario landlord-tenant law relating to own-use evictions

    The law governing residential tenancies under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17 (RTA), has evolved significantly since its enactment. A recent landmark decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal has fundamentally reshaped how risk is allocated in residential tenancy litigation in Ontario.

  • July 24, 2026

    Ontario Court of Appeal examines evidence, not science, in recovered memory questions

    The intersection of psychology and criminal law has seldom posed greater challenges than in cases involving recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse.

  • July 24, 2026

    LIMITATION OF ACTIONS - Time - Discoverability - Expiry of limitation periods

    Appeal by Oldcastle from an order setting aside its third‑party notice against Division 8 on the basis that the claim for contribution and indemnity was statute‑barred. Oldcastle, a defendant in an underlying construction defect action, sought contribution and indemnity from Division 8, a subcontractor. Oldcastle had filed applications for leave to issue a third‑party notice within the limitation period but did not file the third‑party notice itself until after the expiry of the limitation period.

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