May 11, 2022Criminal Records: An Accidental Trilogy – What Regulators Should Know About Discharges It has been a hot minute and a pandemic later since I have had an opportunity to write about criminal records (What You Need to Know about…
May 10, 2022WeirFoulds Technology Insights: “Types of IT Arrangements: To Build, Buy or Rent?” Types of IT Arrangements: To Build, Buy or Rent? A variety of arrangements are available to businesses when seeking to leverage software as part of their business…
May 2, 2022Bill 88 Introduces New Policy Requirement and Significant Changes for Employers in Ontario On April 11, 2022, Bill 88 the Working for Workers Act, 2022 (“Bill 88”) received royal assent, making it law in Ontario. Bill 88 makes amendments to…
Court of Appeal: One Incident of Sexual Harassment May Warrant Summary Termination Dismissal for just cause has been described as the “capital punishment” of employment law. Indeed, courts are generally reluctant to uphold a dismissal for just cause absent…
Apr 28, 2022Extra-territoriality: When can a foreign court transfer title to land in Canada? The Supreme Court of Canada has recently granted leave to appeal from the British Columbia Court of Appeal’s decision in Lanfer v Eilers, 2021 BCCA 241 (“Lanfer”). The Plaintiffs/Appellants, the…
Apr 21, 2022Excess Soil Regulation Partial Pause Commences April 20, until December 31, 2022 – What you need to know! On March 11, 2022, the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (“ERO”) a potential “pause” of certain requirements under the…
Apr 20, 2022Improving Access to Registration and Introducing an Emergency Class of Registration: An Overview of the Amendments to the Regulated Health Professions Act as part of Bill 106 On April 14, 2022, important amendments to the Regulated Health Professions Act (“RHPA”) received Royal Assent. These amendments were passed as part of Bill 106, Pandemic and…
Apr 15, 2022Unequal Treatment of Creditors: Paying a Supplier’s Pre-filing Debt in a Proposal Under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act We were approached by a company to assist with its restructuring. Our client’s biggest problem was that its largest unsecured creditor was also its main supplier. Approximately…
Apr 11, 2022New Year, New Estate Laws January 1, 2022, marked the introduction of new estate laws in Ontario. The changes affect one of the biggest pieces of legislation governing wills and estates in…
Apr 6, 2022Warning to Claimants: Immediate Disclosure Required Litigants asserting claims in Ontario will want to take careful note of a recent decision of the Court of Appeal. In Tallman Truck Centre Limited v. K.S.P. Holdings…
Apr 4, 2022Bill 109: The More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022 Potential Changes to Land Use Planning in Ontario The Housing Affordability Task Force released a report on February 8, 2022, that provides 55 recommendations on how to fix housing affordability. On March 30, 2022, and…
Mar 30, 2022Here’s the Drill: Early Occupancy in Construction Contracts: How does it really Work? In December 2020 the Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC) released an updated version of the widely used CCDC 2-2020 Stipulated Price Contract. In December 2021, the Canadian Construction…
Mar 17, 2022Limitation Periods on Arbitration: If not Clarity, then Context Arbitration can be a great alternative to litigation. It allows disputes to be resolved sooner, it can be less costly, and it may help the parties to…
Mar 10, 2022Here’s the Drill: The New CCA 1 – 2021: Stipulated Price Subcontract In December 2021 the Canadian Construction Association released an updated version of its widely used standard form stipulated price subcontract, the CCA 1-2021: Stipulated Price Subcontract. The…
Mar 3, 2022Reflection on Half a Century in the Commercial Litigation Trenches: Part IV Click here to read Part I, Part II and Part III. I ended the last chapter where I had just finished my two years in the Department of Justice in Ottawa. We…
Mar 1, 2022Ontario Will Require Certain Employers to Implement Electronic Monitoring Policies On February 24, 2022, the Government of Ontario announced that it will introduce new legislation requiring employers with 25 or more workers to implement a written electronic…
Guidance for Ontario Employers on Disconnecting from Work Policies and Non-Compete Agreements On December 2, 2021, the Working for Workers Act, 2021 (the “Act”) received royal assent. As we discussed in an earlier update, the Act, among other things,…
Feb 17, 2022Estate Alert: Can I Disinherit My Child? It has been two years since the pandemic began. It has been a stressful period for everyone, and estate planning is one issue that has been brought…
“We Have a Deal”: How Words and Actions Can Seal Your Fate in Commercial Transactions The enforceability of commercial contracts does not exclusively depend on what has been reduced to a formal written document. In the recent decision of Ruparell v. J.H. Cochrane…
Feb 16, 2022Federal Advisory Committee Offers Insight into Disconnect from Work Policies for Employees The COVID-19 pandemic has blurred the line between work and home life for many employees. Disconnecting from work has in turn become significantly more difficult. In response,…
Feb 9, 2022New Guidance on ESG-Related Investment Fund Disclosure: The CSA Releases Staff Notice 81-334 As interest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing continues to grow at a rapid pace in Canada, so do concerns about the increased potential for “greenwashing”,…
Feb 3, 2022When It Comes to Insurance Clauses, Don’t Automatically Assume Assumption of Risk Commercial contracts frequently include both indemnity and insurance clauses. An indemnity clause is a provision by which one party (the indemnifier) agrees to compensate another party for…
Employer Alert: Inquest into the 2009 Metron Scaffolding Tragedy Begins An inquest into a scaffolding collapse that resulted in the death of four construction workers is underway. The inquest into the tragedy is aimed at improving worker…
Transportation Notes: Ontario Court Awards $107 Million against Iran for Ukraine International Airlines Crash The Superior Court of Justice of Ontario has awarded $107 million CAD to family members of six passengers who died on Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS 752…
Jan 24, 2022WEPPA Amendments in Force: Some Welcome Changes On November 20, 2021, long-awaited amendments to the Wage Earner Protection Program (“WEPP”) came into force. The amendments are a welcome change to WEPP and will close…
Jan 21, 2022COVID-19 and Business Interruption Claims: No Coverage Absent Direct Physical Damage In two companion actions,[i] the Quebec Court of Appeal recently validated the Honourable Justice Davis’ findings that business interruption losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic are not covered…
Jan 17, 2022Further Changes to COVID-19 Rent Support Measures Please note that the information contained herein is subject to change as new Regulations are made. As Canada enters yet another wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the…
Jan 6, 2022Cineworld v Cineplex: What does it mean to operate movie theatres in the ordinary course during a pandemic? On December 14, 2021, the Honourable Justice Barbara Conway of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice – Commercial List rendered her decision in Cineplex v Cineworld, 2021 ONSC…
Jan 4, 2022That’s an Order! Ministry of Labour reminds Employers that Compliance with Orders to Pay (and other Statutory Obligations) are not Optional A Toronto-based newspaper and advertising company – and its director – were recently fined $90,000 and $10,000 respectively for failing to pay employees the wages they were…
Dec 16, 2021Government Liability in Negligence: The Supreme Court Weighs in on Core Policy Immunity The Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision in Nelson (City) v. Marchi, 2021 SCC 41 (“Marchi”), provides helpful guidance for municipalities and other government actors in assessing whether their…
Dec 13, 2021Amendments to Regulations made under the Municipal Act, 2001 and the City of Toronto Act, 2006 – Conditional Loans with the Canada Infrastructure Bank Reg. 654/05 (Debt-Related Financial Instruments and Financial Agreements, under the Municipal Act, 2001) and O. Reg. 610/06 (Financial Activities, under the City of Toronto Act, 2006) were…
Dec 10, 2021Removing Barriers to Registration: An Overview of the Amendments to the Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades Act, 2006 On December 2, 2021, important amendments to the Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades Act, 2006 (“FARPACTA”) received Royal Assent. These amendments were passed as…
Dec 6, 2021Required Disclosure of Significant Control under the OBCA On November 4, 2021, the Ontario government introduced Bill 43, the Build Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2021 (“Bill 43”), which includes amendments to the Business Corporations Act…
Dec 2, 2021Never Settle for Uncertainty In a pair of recent decisions, Justices MacPherson, Simmons and Nordheimer of the Ontario Court of Appeal remind us that as with other commercial contracts, courts will…
Employer Alert: Ontario Passes Working for Workers Act, 2021 On November 30, 2021, the Government of Ontario passed the Working for Workers Act, 2021 (the “Act”), an omnibus legislation that amends several employment-related statutes, including the…