Publications
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Artificial Intelligence and the 2017 Canadian Budget: is your business ready?
The March 22, 2017 Budget of the Government of Canada, through its “Innovation and Skills Plan” (http://www.budget.gc.ca/2017/docs/plan/budget-2017-en.pdf) mentions that Canadian academic and research leadership in artificial intelligence will be translated into a more innovative economy and (…)
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Federal budget and capital gain: Time for tax planning
There is currently speculation in the media that Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s next federal budget will increase the capital gain inclusion rate from 50% to 75%.The combined marginal tax rate on capital gains is currently 26.7% for a resident of Québec. This rate would reach nearly 40% if (…)
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Public display of trade marks in a language other than French – Coming into force of the regulatory amendments
On May 4, 2016, a draft regulation amending the Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business was published in the Gazette officielle du Québec (see our bulletin on this subject). On November 3, 2016, the Quebec government announced that the amendments to the Regulation respecting the (…)
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The Supreme Court of Canada will not review the duty of the insured to collaborate
On February 18 last, the Supreme Court of Canada1 denied leave to appeal in the matter of Intact Compagnie d’assurance c. 9221-2133 Québec inc.2, thus confirming the principles applicable to the duty of the insured to collaborate. The facts Following the theft of his vehicle, the insured filed a (…)
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From “Safe Harbor” to “Privacy Shield”: laying the groundwork for a new agreement on transatlantic data transfer with the United States
The United States and the European Union recently concluded a new agreement aimed at allowing U.S. companies to continue to collect, use and disclose personal information concerning European citizens, while still preserving their fundamental rights. To properly understand the importance of this new (…)
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Fatal work injury: Metron’s project manager sentenced to three and a half years in prison
On January 11, 2016, Vadim Kazenelson, a project manager for Metron Construction Corporation (“Metron”), was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.1 This sentence follows the decision rendered on June 26, 2015 in which the Superior Court of Ontario found Mr. Kazenelson guilty of the five (…)
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Government agencies, get ready!
Last October 30, the provincial government announced the creation of 'Passeport Entreprises', an action plan focused on two main points: to facilitate access by businesses to government contracts and make the Quebec government's tendering processes more transparent and rigorous. The government (…)
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New disclosure obligations for Quebec mining, oil and gas companies
Quebec mining, oil and gas companies are henceforth subject to the imposing disclosure regime under the Act respecting transparency measures in the mining, oil and gas industries (the “Act”), which came into force last October 21. This statute echoes the Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (…)
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Exporting to the United States: C-TPAT Portal 2.0
A few weeks ago now, "CBP" ("U.S. Customs and Border Protection") launched the new "C-TPAT" ("Custom-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism") Portal 2.0. For Canadian exporters who are members of C-TPAT, this requires that they bring themselves up to date without further delay so that they are in (…)
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Use of Social Media by Employees
In this age of social networks, the dividing line between private life and public life seems more and more blurred. The same is true of the boundary between individuals' personal and professional lives. Indeed, headlines in the past few weeks remind us that the personal and professional aspects of (…)
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Contracting authorization from the AMF: reduction in threshold for service contracts
Last June 10, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) announced that the floor amount for obtaining a public contract dealing with services without its prior authorization would be reduced to $1 million.1 Thus, all contracts and subcontracts for services concluded following a call for tenders (…)
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Franchisors’ duty to act in good faith and related implicit obligations: Dunkin’ Donuts ordered to pay nearly $18M to some of its franchisees
The Court of Appeal of Quebec has issued an important judgment pertaining to a franchisor’s implicit obligations towards its franchisees. In June 2012, the Superior Court of Quebec ordered Dunkin’ Donuts Brands Canada Ltd. (“Dunkin’ Donuts”) to pay an amount of $16.4M (plus interests and costs) to (…)
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Federal government announces new measures to encourage mining exploration in Canada
On March 1st, 2015, the federal Minister of Finance, Joe Oliver, and the federal Minister of Natural Resources, Greg Rickford, announced important new measures to support Canada’s mining industry in a speech at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) 2015 Convention. The (…)