The spread of COVID-19 is having a considerable negative effect on the global economy. Several tax planning strategies adapted to the current situation can be considered in order to mitigate the impact. Tax planning for individuals helps to (i) reduce the taxes payable upon death, (ii) encourage (…)
In recent weeks, and especially in recent days, we have seen the serious repercussions of the spread of COVID-19 on Quebec businesses and SMEs. Government authorities are planning financial assistance measures for businesses, and some chambers of commerce have already announced that new services (…)
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has made a further announcement concerning the extension of deadlines, to the effect that deadlines falling within March 16 to April 30, 2020 are extended to May 1, 2020. CIPO is otherwise still open for business and our intellectual property team (…)
Bill 37, now known as the Act mainly to establish the Centre d’acquisitions gouvernementales and Infrastructures technologiques Québec, SQ 2020 c. 2, was assented to on February 21, 2020. In particular, this act makes significant changes to the Act respecting contracting by public bodies, CQLR c. (…)
Employers must review their action plan on a daily basis to promote prevention, manage possible or proven contagion among their employees and ensure that business operations continue. Two actions are key: Seeking accurate information from public health officials and governments daily; Taking (…)
Quebec’s Minister of Finance tabled his budget for 2020-2021, titled Your Future, your Budget1, on March 10. Among the new measures introduced by the government, new tax incentives for innovation and the commercialization of Quebec intellectual property were announced. The incentive deduction for (…)
As our society begins to embrace artificial intelligence, many governments are having to deal with public concern as well as the ongoing push to harness these technologies for the public good. The reflection is well underway in many countries, but with varying results. The Office of the Privacy (…)
On January 15, 2020, the Court of Québec handed down an important decision that could have an impact very quickly on the entire childcare network.1. In its ruling dealing with a breach of the obligation to provide constant supervision of the children, the court questioned the concept of auto-pauses (…)
On December 13, 2019, the Regulation respecting damage insurance brokerage (the “Regulation”), adopted under the Act respecting the distribution of financial products and services (“ARDFPS”), came into force. The Regulation includes the following changes: New titles for firms and qualification (…)
Download your checklist A major reform of the financial sector and, more specifically, of the standards surrounding the practice of professionals governed by the Autorité des marchés financiers (the “AMF”) is now applicable under the Act mainly to improve the regulation of the financial sector, (…)
In Vavilov, the Supreme Court of Canada revised the applicable legal framework for the determination and application of the standard of judicial review of administrative decisions. Changes were made to the analytical framework for determining the applicable standard of review and clarification was (…)
The Code of Civil Procedure gives a party the ability to apply for the dismissal of an expert report as soon as it is disclosed by the adverse party. This process is governed by the courts. In the decision in Safran Nacelles v. Learjet inc.1, rendered in August 2019, the Superior Court granted an (…)
Phishing fraud is a rampant problem that causes major losses throughout the world. It consists in bad actors sending emails in which they falsely claim to be a trusted third party or legitimate company in order to obtain confidential information from the recipient for the purpose of committing (…)