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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.
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July 21, 2026
Joshua D. Sutherland (Awootaninaw) and Dan Fogarty are new partners at Aird & Berlis.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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July 16, 2026
Jessica Bardakji has joined Langlois as a lawyer in its litigation group in Montreal.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 13, 2026
Appeals by multiple Canadian and Texas entities (appellants) from two decisions continuing and confirming proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). The proceedings arose from two Texas real estate development projects, Fossil Creek and Hills of Windridge, financed through a complex structure involving Texas development LLCs and Canadian trusts, partnerships, and corporate entities.
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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
When a franchisee walks away mid-term and takes 600 agents with it to a direct competitor, an interlocutory injunction can be the difference between a franchisor’s protected system and an open door for every other franchisee to follow.
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July 10, 2026
This case deals with landlocked cottages and a dispute over a right-of-way within the Cressview Lakes Corporation.
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July 09, 2026
The B.C. Court of Appeal has dismissed a constructive trust claim by investors in a failed land-development project, finding that their rights were limited to a contingent share of project income or remaining net assets and did not amount to an interest in land.
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July 09, 2026
The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a finding that a payment dispute over a construction project first proposed in 2017 — but whose agreement was not executed until 2020 — is governed by Ontario’s former Construction Lien Act rather than the amended Construction Act’s prompt-payment regime.
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July 08, 2026
Noah Robinson-Dunning has joined Harper Grey as an associate in its construction and engineering group in Vancouver.
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July 08, 2026
On Feb. 18, 2026, the Supreme Court of Canada heard arguments in Aphria Inc. v. Canada Life Assurance Company, et al. The appeal addresses a long-standing remedy in Canadian commercial leasing law: whether a landlord may refuse to accept a tenant’s repudiation, keep the lease alive and sue for rent as it becomes due without an obligation to mitigate its losses, or whether that rule should be revisited in light of broader developments in contract law.
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July 06, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed new leaders to head two of Canada’s major trial courts. On July 6, Justice Alan Diner was appointed chief justice of the Federal Court, the national superior trial court that decides disputes in the federal domain. He succeeds Paul Crampton, who retired from the post Oct. 31, 2025.
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July 02, 2026
The Supreme Court of Canada’s newest judge says his key areas of legal expertise are constitutional and criminal law, including the rules of evidence and procedure, though he has also presided over many civil and administrative law cases in his generalist trial court. Glenn Joyal, a former federal and Manitoba prosecutor and the longtime chief justice of the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench, was elevated by the prime minister to the top court on June 30, succeeding Supreme Court Justice Sheilah Martin of Alberta, the highly respected constitutional and criminal law litigator, academic and judge who retired from the bench May 30.
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June 30, 2026
Jeffrey Mak has joined Clark Wilson as an associate in its commercial real estate group in Vancouver.
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June 30, 2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico, will bring millions of visitors to Toronto and Vancouver and generate an extraordinary surge in short-term rental income for Canadian homeowners near those venues.
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June 30, 2026
For those involved in commercial real estate in Quebec, and in particular in helping commercial landlords and tenants under long-term leases deal with Quebec’s land transfer tax regime, and deal with Quebec’s voluntary disclosure regime for missteps in land transfer tax compliance, there are some noteworthy developments in 2026, briefly referred to below.
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June 26, 2026
Appeal by Fayant from an order declaring that transfer of property from Poitras to her was at undervalue and requiring her to pay the shortfall to the bankrupt estate.