Law360 Canada ( April 20, 2023, 6:32 AM EDT) -- Appeal by LAF Canada Company and Fitness International LLC (Tenant), from summary judgment ordering it to pay unpaid rent and all associated costs, and dismissal of its counterclaim for summary judgment. Niagara Falls Shopping Centre Inc. (Landlord) was an Ontario corporation that owned a shopping plaza in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The tenant entered into a retail lease to use a building located in the shopping plaza as an indoor health club and fitness facility (Club). When the Ontario government mandated the closure of all non-essential workplaces due to the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions either prevented the tenant from opening the club or allowed it to open subject to capacity limits. This resulted in the tenant’s financial constraint. The landlord and the tenant entered into a rent deferral agreement that provided limited rent relief from April to June 2020. Pursuant to that agreement, 50 per cent of the base rent was forgiven and 25 per cent was deferred. When the Ontario government reimposed the lockdown, the tenant refused to continue paying rent. The landlord responded by bringing an action for all unpaid rent and various associated charges. The tenant defended, contending that it was under no legal obligation to pay rent during the government-mandated closures. Its defence rested on the common law doctrines of frustration and unjust enrichment, abatement at common law and under the terms of the lease, and the force majeure clause. The landlord moved for summary judgment and the tenant cross-moved for summary judgment on its counterclaim. The motion judge rejected the tenant’s defences. On appeal, the tenant asked the court to find that the motion judge erred in her interpretation of the force majeure clause....