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July 16, 2026
Canada is now the 79th signatory to the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime, a groundbreaking treaty aimed at providing a legal basis for international cooperation in the fight against cybercrime.
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July 16, 2026
Generative artificial intelligence is currently reshaping professional services, including the practice of law. For law firms that have not yet made the leap, incorporating AI into private practice may feel daunting. Challenges can include identifying where AI can deliver meaningful value, being willing to experiment with proven workflows and selecting the “right” AI platforms. Rather than approach AI adoption as a technology initiative, this article advocates for treating AI as a business improvement initiative by deliberately targeting specific inefficiencies and implementing AI incrementally to realize measurable benefits.
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July 16, 2026
Early in my career, “Wallace damages” were all the rage. After the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Wallace v. United Grain Growers (c.o.b. Public Press), [1997] 3 S.C.R. 701, a common law notice period could be extended to punish an employer’s bad faith in the manner of dismissal, and it seemed that every wrongful dismissal claim included a “Wallace bump.”
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July 15, 2026
As the Supreme Court of Canada moves to accept more cases in 2026, it has announced an especially packed fall session, with 31 appeals slated for argument from October through December. There are only 13 criminal law cases on the fall schedule that was unveiled by the top court this week: eight are as-of right appeals and just five are by-leave criminal appeals (one is both by leave and as of right).
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July 15, 2026
Residents and public bodies in Newfoundland and Labrador are being invited to provide feedback as part of a review of the province’s privacy and access-to-information laws. According to a July 15 news release, it is time for a review of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act — something required every five years.
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July 15, 2026
The misuse of generative artificial intelligence by litigants continues to plague the Canadian justice system. In the last two years, the number of cases cited on legal databases in which hallucinated cases have been identified in court filings has increased significantly, going from seven in 2024 to 39 in the first quarter of 2026 alone.
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July 14, 2026
A three-judge divisional panel of the Ontario Superior Court has ruled that provincial restrictions on political advertising on certain rural highways violate the Charter’s free expression rights.
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July 14, 2026
The formal Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA /USMCA) joint review process officially started on July 1, 2026. Leading up to this date, governments accepted public comments and held hearings through late 2025, and the United States and Mexico officially launched bilateral preparatory discussions on March 5, 2026.
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July 14, 2026
On July 13, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada announced the research projects that will be funded through his office’s 2026-2027 Contributions Program funding cycle.
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July 13, 2026
Ontario’s private mortgage market has evolved rapidly, with lenders increasingly offering prepaid interest reserves or capitalized interest structures (often called payment-in-kind or “PIK” arrangements) to attract borrowers facing liquidity constraints.
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July 10, 2026
Many federally appointed trial judges report stress from excessive workloads, limited control over their time in the workplace and too few support resources, according to a new national survey of judges’ physical and psychological health. On July 9, the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) reported on extensive research commissioned from the Université de Sherbrooke between 2024 and 2026 by the council of 44 chief and associate chief justices.
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July 10, 2026
Bringing an action against a government actor can be riddled with difficulty. Immunity provisions frequently shield state conduct from civil actions. Where a claim is not carefully crafted, it can easily be dismissed on a preliminary motion as an improper means of seeking to reverse the impugned government decision itself. Moreover, torts like misfeasance of public office have very specific requirements that must be proved if you are to succeed.
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July 09, 2026
Bruce Simpson had one of those ideal clients: a recidivist with a wealthy brother who always picked up the tab. Otherwise indistinguishable from the host of vagrants who graced Number Five Court back in the day, old Bill spent the warm months variously at the Mission, the Shepherds, the Sally Ann, and in good weather, in one of Ottawa’s downtown parks.
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July 10, 2026
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has issued guidance on “submitting codes of practice for sharing personal information as part of efforts to detect or deter money laundering, terrorist activity financing and sanctions evasion.”
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July 10, 2026
Canada is contemplating the most significant restructuring of the Express Entry system since its introduction in 2015. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has launched consultations on proposed reforms that would fundamentally change both eligibility requirements and the way candidates are ranked for permanent residence.
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July 10, 2026
Prince Edward Island’s Bill 76 replaces the province’s existing Employment Standards Act (ESA). The bill received royal assent in November 2024 and has been proclaimed into force as of June 30, 2026.
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July 09, 2026
On July 8, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) released a statement on privacy-preserving age assurance. The statement, adopted at the G7 Data Protection and Privacy Authorities (G7 DPAs) Roundtable, emphasizes a commitment to children’s privacy and raises several key data protection issues being considered globally.
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July 09, 2026
Employment and Social Development Canada has released compliance inspection numbers for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, noting that between 2025-2026 more than $10.2 million in penalties were issued to non-compliant employers.
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July 09, 2026
Due to increasing pressure from competition/antitrust regulators on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, the agricultural and food industry is finding itself under heightened scrutiny. Businesses that operate on either side of the border are likely to feel the effects of this scrutiny, which is taking the form of merger reviews and conduct inquiries, alongside broader industry investigations.
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July 09, 2026
Some of my business clients had had a plan. Most didn’t. Either way, the lesson is the same.
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July 08, 2026
British Columbia has retained counsel in both Canada and the United States to pursue legal action against artificial intelligence company OpenAI over its failure to notify law enforcement of threats made on its ChatGPT platform prior to the mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School earlier this year. The province has retained Vancouver’s CFM Lawyers and California-based Stranch, Jennings & Garvey (SJ&G) to explore all legal avenues open to it over the February 2026 shooting, which left eight dead and 27 others wounded.
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July 08, 2026
Mediation doesn’t always end with a handshake. After 39 years of handling commercial and employment disputes, I can tell you that a failed mediation is not necessarily a failure of the process; often, it is useful information. It tells you something about where the parties actually stand, and it forces a decision that matters as much as anything that came before it: arbitration or litigation?
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July 08, 2026
Many professionals assume that United States immigration law reserves the O-1 visa category for globally recognized figures whose accomplishments are widely known outside their respective fields. This perception is often supported by the public attention given to entertainers, athletes and outstanding entrepreneurs who have obtained O-1 classification.
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July 07, 2026
The body regulating B.C.’s doctors has updated its bylaws to streamline the process of allowing internationally trained physicians to practise in the province. The amendments approved by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC) include changes to licensure eligibility requirements, which allow internationally trained physicians from select jurisdictions to be eligible for the full class of licensure if they meet certain requirements.
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July 07, 2026
When a court awards damages in lieu of reasonable notice, should the award include vacation pay that would have accrued over the notice period?