Civil Litigation

  • October 30, 2026

    N.B. Appeal Court allows correction of class action residency defect

    The New Brunswick Court of Appeal has rejected insurers’ attempt to invalidate a proposed class action because the original plaintiff lived outside the province, finding that the residency defect could be corrected by adding an eligible plaintiff.

  • October 30, 2026

    SCC elaborates on mens rea in dangerous driving cases that involve momentary driver inattention

    The Supreme Court of Canada has specified that a driver’s brief period of inattention is one factor to consider, among others, when analyzing the mens rea in dangerous driving cases.

  • October 30, 2026

    Justice minister announces 2 judicial appointments in Ontario

    Federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser has announced the appointment of Tina H. Lie and Rahat Godil to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Lie will serve in Toronto, while Godil will serve in Newmarket.

  • October 30, 2026

    Ontario law society rejects task force to look into TMU antisemitism claims

    Law Society of Ontario (LSO) benchers voted down a resolution at its most recent convocation to investigate allegations of antisemitism at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU).

  • October 30, 2026

    Building a remission request the CRA must engage with

    Part one of this series established that third-party-created tax debt is recovered administratively, by set-off and without any proceeding. Part two established that the relief provisions practitioners reach for first cannot cancel the principal of it. This closing part addresses what remains.

  • October 30, 2026

    Canadian payroll is not enough: Proving an overseas assignment under PR residency rules

    A Canadian pay statement can be genuine and still prove the wrong point in a permanent resident (PR) residency case. The legal question is not simply who paid the worker abroad, but whether a qualifying Canadian business actually assigned that person to full-time work outside Canada on terms that meet the residency rules. Where the foreign role has no defined end or realistic Canadian position to return to, an employer’s letter may not resolve the problem.

  • October 30, 2026

    Alberta referendum results a ‘colossal failure’ for premier, lawyer says

    The polls have closed and the smoke has cleared from Alberta’s constitutional referendum that could have given the go-ahead to a separation vote, with provincial voters rejecting independence but backing a number of proposals on immigration issues that observers say could lead to legal and political difficulties down the road.

  • October 30, 2026

    The art of proving less at trial

    Family law trials often involve proving matters that are not seriously in dispute. Financial statements, bank records and property transactions are introduced into evidence, sometimes at considerable expense, when the underlying facts could have been agreed upon beforehand.

  • October 30, 2026

    Is independent asset verification becoming part of an estate trustee’s duty of inquiry?

    For generations, an estate trustee stepping into an administration has started with the paperwork in front of them: the will, the bank statements that happened to be lying around, the prior trustee’s inventory (if applicable). That starting point is not going away. But as estate trustees — and particularly neutral and succeeding trustees who inherit an administration someone else began — come under closer scrutiny, a question is emerging: is documented, independent verification of what the estate actually owns and owes becoming an expected part of the duty of inquiry?

  • October 30, 2026

    TRUSTS - Constructive trusts - Discretionary remedy - Arises through operation of law - Creation

    Appeals by nine Settling Parties from the order excluding them from preserved proceeds; appeal by the Pichelli Group from the apportionment among investors who proceeded to trial; and motion by the Settling Party Appellants for leave to appeal costs.

  • October 29, 2026

    Ottawa plans economic, public safety & intelligence reform under new national security strategy

    Canada must “prepare for all contingencies up to and including war and other worst-case scenarios,” Prime Minister Mark Carney announced as he unveiled his government’s plan to roll out a new national security strategy over the coming year to ensure that the country can “control its own destiny and is resilient in the face of daunting challenges.”

  • October 29, 2026

    Fraudulent & unauthorized paid immigration & citizenship reps face up to $1.5M in penalties

    New penalties of up to $1.5 million are now in force for those who break the law when providing paid immigration or citizenship advice or representation — including licensed immigration consultants, lawyers and other authorized representatives, as well as people who give paid immigration or citizenship advice or representation without authorization.

  • October 29, 2026

    Federal Court rejects Black River First Nation challenge to Treaty 5 reserve land terms

    The Federal Court has dismissed a claim brought by Black River First Nation over less favourable reserve land terms under Treaty 5, finding that the disparity did not breach the honour of the Crown and that the Crown did not owe the First Nation a fiduciary duty when it joined the treaty.

  • October 29, 2026

    Rogers ordered to pay $15M over misleading ‘unlimited’ wireless plan ads

    Rogers Communications has been ordered to pay a $15-million administrative monetary penalty in relation to its advertising of wireless plans with limited high-speed data as “unlimited” or “infinite.”

  • October 29, 2026

    The relief provisions that cannot reach coerced tax debt

    Part one of this series (see below for link) set out how a third party creates a federal tax liability in a taxpayer’s name and why recovery proceeds administratively against the provisions described there.

  • October 29, 2026

    CIVIL PROCEDURE - Disposition without trial - Dismissal of action - Frivolous, vexatious or abuse of process - Costs

    Appeal by Minister of National Revenue (Minister) from decision refusing an order compelling Zeifmans to comply with a requirement issued under the Income Tax Act.

  • October 29, 2026

    Tracing the harm in IPV claims: SCC in Ahluwalia & Hemmings

    Five months ago, in Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia, 2026 SCC 16, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized a new tort of intimate partner violence (IPV). Since then, family lawyers across Canada have been adding damages claims to their pleadings and learning to think like personal injury lawyers.

  • October 29, 2026

    A legal system for the rich, and one (of sorts) for the poor

    Let’s face it folks. Our legal system caters to the rich and, on occasion, the middle class. Most of society cannot afford good lawyers and are on their own navigating our legal system. There is a simple reason for this. Lawyers like to earn good money. It is impossible to do that serving clients who cannot afford to pay hundreds — or thousands — of dollars an hour.

  • October 28, 2026

    Law firm ‘breached their duty of loyalty’ to client in bankruptcy proceeding: Ontario Appeal Court

    In a case involving bankruptcy proceedings, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that the law firm representing the insolvency trustee was in a “conflict of interest” because it had previously acted for the bankrupt and later took a position adverse to him in the same proceedings.

  • October 28, 2026

    Defendant’s third-party claim against plaintiff’s lawyer in breach of contract case dismissed

    Third-party contribution and indemnity claims against lawyers is a hot topic of contention among the professional liability bar because of the existence of two lines of authority that are used by courts to determine whether such a claim is allowed to proceed or is dismissed on the basis that it discloses no reasonable cause of action.

  • October 27, 2026

    Legal Aid Plans of Canada celebrates duty counsel’s impact on A2J

    Oct. 27 marks Duty Counsel Day, a nationwide initiative led by the Association of Legal Aid Plans of Canada. The day is observed to “recognize the essential role duty counsel lawyers play in helping people navigate the justice system and access legal support when they need it most.”

  • October 27, 2026

    B.C. school ordered to pay teacher $114K over dismissal tied to posts criticizing Israel

    The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has ordered a boarding school to pay a teacher $114,322 in compensation, finding his dismissal partly over Facebook posts criticizing Israel, including an exchange invoking Nazi medical experiments, constituted discrimination based on political belief.

  • October 27, 2026

    SCC decision in Hemmings brings real-risk test into sharper focus

    The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Hemmings v. Padmore, 2026 SCC 34 returns to a question at the centre of Mustapha v. Culligan of Canada Ltd., 2008 SCC 27: when is an injury too remote to attribute to a negligent defendant? The result is a divided judgment, but its central lesson is clear. A court must identify the risk that made the defendant’s conduct negligent and ask whether the plaintiff’s injury was a real, reasonably foreseeable consequence of that risk.

  • October 26, 2026

    B.C. court approves $35M settlement over Capital One data breach

    The B.C. Supreme Court has approved a $35-million settlement of a class action over a 2019 Capital One data breach, citing potential difficulties establishing compensable damages given evidence that the hacker did not use or disseminate class members’ personal information.

  • October 26, 2026

    WeirFoulds’ Debra McKenna joins Advocates’ Society Prosecutors’ Network leadership committee

    WeirFoulds has announced that litigation partner Debra McKenna has been appointed to the leadership committee of The Advocates’ Society’s Prosecutors’ Network for the 2026-27 term.