Business
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August 14, 2025
Bar ramps up campaign to end ‘Zoom-only’ policy & get intervener counsel back into SCC’s courtroom
Prominent intervener groups are telling the Supreme Court of Canada that its 2022 practice direction confining their counsel to Zoom and barring intervener lawyers from making submissions in person before the judges is hurting their advocacy and restricting access to justice for public interest groups. However, the top court says it’s sticking with its current policy since “virtual appearances have proven to be an effective means of supporting equal access.”
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August 14, 2025
Requirements for U.S. companies ‘carrying on business’ in Ontario
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a shift toward remote work. Now, in the current environment of tariffs and anti-immigration sentiment in the U.S., many Canadians working in the U.S. for U.S. companies are returning to Canada while continuing to be employed by their U.S. employer. This has resulted in many U.S. companies setting up shop in Ontario without necessarily setting up a brick-and-mortar location in the province. This raises questions as to what obligations and liabilities companies have if their employees are working in Ontario, but the company is not registered in Ontario.
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August 13, 2025
Court upholds dismissal of warranty claim against manufacturer over defective toilets
The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a decision striking Ottawa Community Housing Corporation (OCHC)’s warranty and negligence claims over defective toilet systems, ruling the manufacturer was not a seller under the Sale of Goods Act (SGA) and the losses were pure economic loss.
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August 13, 2025
Cowichan Nation descendants successful in land claims in ‘longest trial’ in Canada
In an Indigenous land claim case that spanned 513 trial dates, the B.C. Supreme Court has found that descendants of the historic Cowichan Nation have a claim to land and right to fish in an area of Richmond, B.C., and on the southern arm of the Fraser River. The province has noted it plans to appeal the decision.
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August 13, 2025
Feds emphasize support for canola producers as China launches preliminary anti-dumping measures
In response to China’s preliminary anti-dumping duties on canola seed from Canada, the federal government has released a statement stressing it will stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” with Canadian “canola producers, workers and exporters.”
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August 13, 2025
Ontario offering $1B loan program to support sectors impacted by U.S. tariffs
Ontario has launched a program to support businesses impacted by U.S. tariffs. The Protect Ontario Financing Program was unveiled Aug. 13 and will provide Ontario-based businesses, such as those in the steel, aluminum and auto sectors, with up to $1 billion in liquidity support in the form of loans to protect workers and operations.
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August 13, 2025
What to make of the Wapekeka courtroom shooting, part two
Systemic issues run deep. The longstanding failure of Canadian policing systems to address the needs of Indigenous communities has been documented in numerous reports and legal inquiries. For instance, Canada’s Supreme Court affirmed in Quebec (Attorney General) v. Pekuakamiulnuatsh Takuhikan, [2024] S.C.J. No. 39 that Quebec’s refusal to adequately fund First Nations policing violated its duty to negotiate in good faith and breached the honour of the Crown.
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August 13, 2025
Frye estate ruling highlights risks in shareholder agreements
Shareholders’ agreements often include restrictions on the shareholder’s ability to transfer their shares without the approval of other shareholders. This is particularly common in the case of owner-managed and closely held corporations, where the shareholders are keen on preventing unwanted third parties from acquiring shares of the corporation. Shareholders’ agreements for these types of corporations therefore tend to limit the persons to whom, and circumstances under which, shares may be transferred.
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August 12, 2025
Ontario Court of Appeal upholds unlimited liability in 2020 Ukraine International Airlines disaster
In what one lawyer describes as a “turning point” for global aviation safety,” the Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a trial judge’s finding that Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) was negligent in allowing Flight PS752 to depart Tehran on Jan. 8, 2020, confirming the airline faces unlimited liability under the 1999 Montreal Convention for the deaths of all 176 people on board when the aircraft was shot down by Iranian missiles.
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August 12, 2025
Privacy Commissioner of Canada issues guidance for businesses, feds on biometrics
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) has issued “new guidance on protecting privacy in biometric initiatives,” noting the rise in organizations using biometric technologies “such as facial recognition and fingerprint scanning to verify identity and provide services.”