Publications

April 27, 2015

Canadian Securities Administrators announce amendments to venture issuer requirements

The Canadian Securities Administrators (“CSA”) have announced that, on several fronts, they are implementing amendments to the disclosure requirements for venture issuers, including those listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. These amendments primarily address continuous disclosure and governance (…)

April 23, 2015

Site contamination: Claims for latent defects - Notice and prescription

On what grounds may a landowner who discovers soil contamination caused by an old heating oil tank sue the former owner of the property? In this bulletin we examine whether the warranty against latent defects found at Article 1726 of the Civil Code of Québec can be invoked to have the sale annulled (…)

April 2, 2015

Canada’s Anti-spam Legislation : Phase 2 comes into force and first monetary penalty imposed

Whereas Canadian businesses have barely recovered from the first phase of Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL), which aims primarily to regulate the sending of unsolicited commercial electronic messages, a new series of requirements applicable to the unauthorized installation of computer programs (…)

March 25, 2015

Civil law interpretation : Does coverage under a builder’s risk insurance policy extend to an existing structure?

On February 19, 2015, the Court of Appeal of Quebec1 overturned a judgment rendered by the Superior Court2, on July 12, 2013, which granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss. Essentially, the Court had to determine whether coverage under a builder’s risk insurance policy extends to damage caused by (…)

March 20, 2015

Constructive dismissal revisited by the Supreme Court of Canada

Following the key judgments in Farber1 and Cabiakman2, the Potter3 judgment rendered on March 6, 2015 by the Supreme Court of Canada (the “Court”) emerges as another indispensable judgment in employment law. In this judgment, the Court decided that the administrative suspension with pay of an (…)

March 10, 2015

Dismissal without cause makes its way to the Canada Labour Code: The Federal Court of Appeal decides

On January 22, 2015, the Federal Court of Appeal rendered an extremely important decision,1 unanimously holding that dismissal on a without cause basis does not necessarily constitute “unjust dismissal” under the Canada Labour Code (the “Code”).2 With its decision in Wilson v. Atomic Energy of (…)

February 13, 2015

Hiring in the New Year? What to do when a new recruit overpromises and underdelivers?

A recent decision1 by the Commission des relations du travail (“CRT”) highlights the plight of an employer faced with an employee who oversold his abilities during the job interview and later proves incapable of delivering on his promises. In this case, Laurentian Bank Securities inc. (“Laurentian”) (…)

January 13, 2015

Vapour intrusion

In the United States, new rules will soon be taking effect making consideration of vapour intrusion risk a mandatory step in the Phase I environmental site assessment (ESA) process. Companies should review their real estate portfolios and consider whether properties may be at risk. In Canada, (…)

October 20, 2014

Builder’s risk insurance: Insurable interest and subrogation rights

I. Intact, compagnie d’assurances v. Théberge & Belley (1985) inc. and l’Union canadienne compagnie d’assurance and EBC inc.1 In this case, the Court of Appeal held that an insurer who indemnified its insured pursuant to “contractors’ equipment” coverage cannot exercise its subrogation rights (…)

October 15, 2014

The cooperative capital markets regulatory system: Publication oF the legislative Drafts – a new stage is reached

On September 8, the Canadian Department of Finance announced the signature of a memorandum of agreement (the "Agreement") between the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, and the federal government (the "Participating Jurisdictions") formalizing the terms and (…)

August 15, 2014

Hiding environmental reports: a risky business!

A recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal clearly illustrates the kinds of problems caused by site contamination at a shopping centre. The case should be of interest to anyone who works on commercial transactions. If there is something to be learned from this story, it is that you need to (…)

July 31, 2014

Notice to employers under federal jurisdiction: amendments to the Canada Labour Code will take effect on October 31, 2014

On December 12, 2013, A second act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 21, 2013 and other measures1 (“Bill C-4”) received royal assent. Bill C-4, which consists of more than 300 pages, proposes a significant number of legal amendments, some of which relate to (…)

July 31, 2014

A pregnant worker’s right to benefits in the event of preventive withdrawal pursuant to section 36 of the AROHS does not apply to a business under federal jurisdiction: Éthier v. Commission des lésions professionnelles

This decision of the Superior Court of Québec addresses a pregnant worker’s right to preventive withdrawal where said worker is employed by a business under federal jurisdiction.1 In this case, questions of constitutional jurisdiction were raised and the Superior Court confirmed that article 36 of (…)