Civil Litigation
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July 31, 2025
SCC rules Ontario court lacks jurisdiction over Ont. man’s tort claims against Italian defendants
In an important private international law judgment on the jurisdiction of Canadian courts over tort claims involving foreign defendants, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 5-4 that an Ontario court does not have jurisdiction to determine tort claims launched against three Italian companies by an Ontario resident injured on a holiday in Venice. On July 31, 2025, Justice Suzanne Côté, writing for the top court’s majority, dismissed the appeal of injured plaintiff Duncan Sinclair and his spouse, Michelle Sinclair, from a 2023 Ontario Court of Appeal decision that stayed the plaintiffs’ Ontario Superior Court damages claims, for lack of jurisdiction: Sinclair v. Venezia Turismo, 2025 SCC 27.
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July 31, 2025
Small and medium banks failed to meet federal complaint handling standards, FCAC review finds
Canada’s consumer banking watchdog has found significant compliance failures among small and medium-sized banks in meeting federally mandated complaint handling requirements introduced under its Financial Consumer Protection Framework.
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July 31, 2025
Court denies production of children’s aid society files ahead of class action certification
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has denied a request for document production of files from children’s aid societies in a putative class action alleging that the defendants breached the standard of care owed to children in their care.
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July 31, 2025
Court enforces contracts despite claims of non-reading, awards $405K in sale-proceeds dispute
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has reinforced the importance of contract enforceability and limitation periods in a dispute involving the $20.75-million, 2012 sale of a Toronto commercial cleaning and food services company, awarding $405,199 to the plaintiff while rejecting claims that shareholder agreements were invalid due to a lack of understanding.
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July 31, 2025
JURISDICTION - Determination of - Forum of necessity - Forum conveniens
Appeal by three Italian companies from a judgment of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, which unanimously allowed the appeal and held that it would be improper for Ontario to assume jurisdiction of an action seeking damages arising out of a water taxi accident that occurred in Italy.
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July 31, 2025
Challenges to legal decisions using AI are coming: Onus on applicants will be high
The temptation for decision-makers like judges and tribunals to use artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLM) to reach a decision will increase significantly as administrative burdens swell.
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July 31, 2025
CIVIL PROCEDURE - Parties - Class or representative actions - Certification - Common interests and issues
Appeal by appellants from the dismissal of their motion to certify a class proceeding. The appellants alleged systemic negligence in the operation and oversight of a maximum security forensic psychiatric hospital in Penetanguishene, Ont., operated by the respondent, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care (Waypoint Centre).
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July 31, 2025
Lay-off provision ≠ termination provision, rules Ontario court
In Taylor v. Salytics Inc., 2025 ONSC 3461 (Taylor), the Ontario Superior Court of Justice underscored that a temporary layoff provision in an employment agreement is distinct from a termination provision. The court emphasized a substance-over-form approach, holding that the enforceability of a layoff provision is independent from, and is not affected by, the validity of the agreement’s termination language.
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July 30, 2025
Court of Appeal affirms secondary picketing part of labour dispute, to hear CUPW injunction appeal
The Ontario Court of Appeal has held that secondary picketing is a labour dispute activity under the Courts of Justice Act (CJA) and has agreed to hear an appeal from orders restricting the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) from picketing Purolator facilities in their dispute with Canada Post.
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July 30, 2025
Expert panel recommends 24 pre-1970 Supreme Court precedents for priority translation
The Supreme Court of Canada — which drew fire last year for its posting, and then removal, of some 6,000 pre-1970 untranslated (mostly English) judgments from its website — says it has started to translate some of the court’s “most significant” decisions rendered before the 1970 Official Languages Act (OLA) required all new judgments to be issued simultaneously in both official languages.