Civil Litigation

  • September 23, 2026

    Canadian justice system attracts EU interest amid rule of law threats abroad: top judge

    Chief Justice of Canada Richard Wagner says Canada’s independent justice system and perspective on confronting global threats to the rule of law has attracted interest abroad. Speaking Sept. 22 at a Newfoundland and Labrador law society event in St. John’s, Chief Justice Wagner told local lawyers and those online that he was the only non-European court leader invited to attend the meeting in Cyprus last June of the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the 27-member European Union (EU).

  • September 23, 2026

    Burden initially on taxpayer to prove CRA never sent Notice of Assessment: Lessons from Siam v. Canada

    This is part one of a two-part series examining Siam v. Canada, 2026 FCA 91, in which the Federal Court of Appeal addressed a recurring evidentiary problem in tax reassessment litigation: what a taxpayer must actually prove when arguing that the Canada Revenue Agency never sent an original Notice of Assessment.

  • September 23, 2026

    Six AI checks before filing in Quebec

    Quebec’s new judicial guidelines offer an occasion to examine how AI assistance enters a litigation file, without confusing judicial guidance with lawyers’ duties.

  • September 23, 2026

    Why commercial arbitral awards are so difficult to appeal

    Ontario’s Arbitration Act represents one of many efforts by the state to delegate the adjudicative function to non-judicial decision-makers.

  • September 23, 2026

    Opt-in process introduced for minor hockey abuse claims

    The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has created an opt-in process for legal claims for people who suffered hazing or abuse while playing Major Junior Hockey in the Ontario Hockey League and/or the Western Hockey League of the Canadian Hockey League.

  • September 23, 2026

    Federal Court lets challenge to Ottawa climate plan proceed

    A Canadian court will once again be at the centre of a lawsuit challenging alleged governmental inaction on climate change, with a judge turning back attempts by Ottawa to quash a lawsuit challenging its record on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

  • September 23, 2026

    The meaning of ‘effective’: Canada’s new AML compliance-program standard

    Since March 26, 2026, every reporting entity under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act must under the new s. 9.6(1.1) “ensure that the program is reasonably designed, risk-based and effective.” Its schedule entry is a very serious violation with a $20 million per violation ceiling for an entity ($4 million for a person). Little has been written about what s. 9.6(1.1) actually adds: an express program-level performance standard.

  • September 23, 2026

    Not signatory to arbitration clause? No problem: Arbitrator’s jurisdiction confirmed in dispute

    In 1171757 Ontario Limited et al. v. 1171758 Ontario Limited et al., 2026 ONSC 4414, the Superior Court of Justice applied the rules of contractual interpretation to hold that a shareholder of a corporate partner qualified as a “party” to a partnership agreement, even if he is not a principal under that corporation, or has ceded controlling power to his partner by way of a power of attorney (POA).

  • September 23, 2026

    LIMITATION OF ACTIONS - Legislation - Extension, interruption, suspension and inapplicability - Disability

    Appeal by appellant from dismissal of her action against her former spouse for damages for sexual assault, assault, battery, and intentional infliction of mental suffering.

  • September 22, 2026

    P.E.I. to dismantle IRAC, replace it with ‘specialized bodies’

    Prince Edward Island will move to dismantle a 35-year-old quasi-judicial tribunal and replace it with two new decision-making bodies that will continue to deal with various appeals and disputes.