Labour & Employment
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November 12, 2025
The differences between U.S. B-1 business visitor and B-2 visitor for pleasure
Coming to the U.S. as a visitor is fairly straightforward. Whether entering the U.S. on a visa, using the visa waiver program, or without needing either of these because you are a visa-exempt Canadian, entering as a visitor has specific requirements. But does it matter if you’re admitted as a B-1 business visitor or a B-2 visitor for pleasure?
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November 12, 2025
Shareholder deadlocks: Promoting resolution through unanimous shareholders’ agreements
Disagreements between business partners in owner-managed corporations are inevitable. While these disagreements are often resolved at the business level, there are times when owner-managers cannot reach a consensus and are deadlocked on any given decision. For this reason, unanimous shareholder agreements (USAs) often provide for dispute resolution mechanisms.
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November 12, 2025
Tilly Norwood: As AI actor takes the stage, Hollywood A-list erupts
She wasn’t discovered at a soda shop or spotted by a casting director on a cigarette break, but Tinseltown newcomer Tilly Norwood can squeeze out a tear on cue, deliver a perfect close-up, and doesn’t demand perfect lighting. Agents are said to be in a conga line to sign her. But, unless the Oscar judges have turned into tech billionaires, nobody’s polishing a tiny golden man for Tilly. Yet.
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November 11, 2025
Court awards over $2M in winery sale dispute over inventory, wrongful dismissal
The British Columbia Supreme Court has awarded a plaintiff more than $2 million in a dispute over the sale of a B.C. winery, addressing claims of unpaid inventory, wrongful dismissal, and counterclaims of fraud and misrepresentation.
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November 11, 2025
The limits of biometric surveillance
A recent decision by Quebec’s privacy regulator highlights the risks that organizations face when implementing biometric surveillance systems. In 2024, Metro Inc., a Canadian retailer, announced the launch of a biometric surveillance system in some of its Quebec stores. Metro planned to build a database of facial scans of the people visiting its stores based on the footage captured by Metro’s in-store security cameras. Metro hoped to use this database to identify shoplifters to protect itself from theft.
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November 11, 2025
Putting people at the centre of criminal justice advocacy
Last week, while I was up north for a trial where a relatively young client was facing significant incarceration, something small but deeply significant happened during a sentencing hearing.
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November 10, 2025
Judicial vacancies hit 5%, threatening more trial delays and backlogs
Ottawa is lagging again in filling the country’s federal benches, hitting a five per cent vacancy rate on Nov. 1, 2025 — mostly in the critical trial courts of Ontario, B.C. and Quebec, which are constitutionally obliged to conduct trials within a reasonable time or face the prospect of staying criminal cases.
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November 10, 2025
Canada’s 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan: Toward sustainable immigration
As I discussed in my Nov. 5, 2025, article, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) released the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan, a comprehensive strategy aimed at stabilizing Canada’s immigration intake after years of record growth. Recently the government published a supplemental report to the plan with new information, which I’ve included in this updated article.
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November 10, 2025
Why we have regulatory bodies over professions like the law
Regulatory bodies exist to protect the public, uphold the rule of law and maintain the integrity of professions such as law. Because lawyers exercise power over people’s rights, freedoms and livelihoods, their work must be governed by high standards of competence, ethics and accountability. In Canada, law societies ensure that legal services are provided by qualified ethical professionals.
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November 07, 2025
Power at the door: Bouncers and the use of force, part two
Bars, lounges, nightclubs, et cetera are public stages for private enterprise; lively, necessary, sometimes combustible places where the safety of staff and patrons is paramount. At the door stands the bouncer: an individual whose presence reassures staff and is said to reassure customers as well. They enforce house rules and must, on occasion, confront disorder.