July 21, 2026
The B.C. Supreme Court has declined to summarily resolve a dispute over whether a resort operator can charge neighbouring resort guests to access a suspension bridge under an easement, finding that more evidence about the circumstances surrounding the easement’s creation was needed before the court could decide the issue.
July 21, 2026
Joshua D. Sutherland (Awootaninaw) and Dan Fogarty are new partners at Aird & Berlis.
July 20, 2026
The B.C. Court of Appeal has reduced the compensation awarded to a construction manager for work performed after a project’s expected completion date, finding that a trial judge erroneously implied an ongoing monthly payment obligation into a contract that specified a fixed fee of $220,000.
July 20, 2026
Canada has become very good at recruiting skilled immigrants. It has not become nearly as good at rewarding them. That distinction matters. A country that selects engineers, physicians, software developers, researchers, finance professionals and entrepreneurs on the promise of economic opportunity — but then delivers lower wages, credential barriers, punishing housing costs and weaker career mobility — should not be surprised when some of those same people leave.
July 17, 2026
A key principle of Quebec contract law is that for a contract to be validly formed, the parties’ consent must be free and enlightened. An error can sometimes vitiate that consent, giving the court grounds to step in, but not every error has that effect. As a rule, a party can’t get a contract annulled just because they later realized it wasn’t a good deal after all, or because they overestimated the economic returns of doing business with the other party.
July 16, 2026
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has announced that the six-month trend for housing starts was down in June as compared to May, saying the country is on track to build fewer homes this year than last as uncertainty, costs and soft demand continue to weigh on new construction.
July 16, 2026
Jessica Bardakji has joined Langlois as a lawyer in its litigation group in Montreal.
July 15, 2026
The Federal Court has set aside the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) refusal to refer a retired officer’s request for reimbursement of a nearly $190,000 home-equity loss arising from a military posting, ruling that the decision failed to grapple with whether the catastrophic loss and the inadequacy of the relocation policy warranted referral to the Treasury Board.
July 14, 2026
The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that construction lien claimants’ priority over a building mortgagee is limited to the deficiency in the statutory 10 per cent holdback based on unpaid invoices, rather than total invoices, where no subcontractor lien claims exist.
July 13, 2026
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has spent considerable effort focusing on taxing GST/HST on home sales. If a taxpayer is considered to be a “builder” as defined in subsection 123(1) of the Excise Tax Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. E-15 (ETA), the respective income is treated as if on account of business and not capital. Therefore, GST/HST obligations apply. In Ontario, this means a taxpayer must charge 13 per cent GST/HST on the sale price and remit this amount to the federal government.