We begin with developments of national significance. First, we discuss the amendments to the Competition Act which, effective June 2025, could open the door to a novel quasi-class action scheme entitling private plaintiffs to...more
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has endorsed the constitutionality of British Columbia (BC) legislation empowering the province to seek recovery of opioid epidemic healthcare costs in a proposed class action brought on...more
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) is set to issue its decision in Lundin Mining Corporation v Dov Markowich (Markowich). This highly anticipated SCC decision regarding disclosure obligations could alter the landscape for...more
There are multiple ongoing class actions in Canada against pharmaceutical companies related to Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and its effects. While these proceedings are all currently in their early stages, decisions have...more
In our 2024 edition of Looking Forward, we review notable class action developments from the past year and consider what recent trends in the law might tell us about what to expect in the years ahead....more
The Supreme Court of Canada’s Denial of Leave to Appeal in the Intrusion Upon Seclusion Trilogy - On July 13, 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada denied leave to appeal from three Ontario Court of Appeal decisions declining...more
The Supreme Court of Canada has granted Sanis Health, Shoppers Drug Mart, Sandoz Canada, and McKesson Canada leave to appeal Sandoz Canada v British Columbia, 2023 BCCA 306. The parties are defendants in a proposed class...more
To bring a collective competition action in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”), a proposed class representative first has to have their claim certified by the CAT. The CAT’s approach to certification is therefore an...more
2022 continued to be positive for institutional clients involved in privacy breach class actions, with the Ontario Court of Appeal refusing to expand the tort of intrusion upon seclusion to impose liability on institutions...more
The Alberta Court of Appeal recently considered the latest Supreme Court of Canada decision on pure economic loss in a decision involving a proposed class action for damages related to a pipeline spill. In its decision, the...more
We previously discussed the Alberta Court of Appeal's decision in Ravvin v Canada Bread Company, Limited, 2020 ABCA 424, which arose out of an alleged packaged bread price-fixing conspiracy. Plaintiffs started class...more
In a recently published ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada analyzed and interpreted the validity of an arbitration agreement signed between Uber Technologies Inc. (“Uber”) and one of its drivers. Uber Technologies, Inc....more
Last year, we reported on how Canadian courts will uphold mandatory arbitration clauses in some cases, depending on how the plaintiffs are classified....more
Looking Forward: Class Actions in 2021 - In July 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada released its highly anticipated decision in Atlantic Lottery Corporation Inc. v Babstock—Bennett Jones acted for ALC. The decision put to...more
Instability and uncertainty were the two constants in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic uprooted social norms and challenged businesses. The long range impact of that instability and uncertainty remains to be seen. For different...more
On October 30, 2020, a six-judge majority of the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed, in Asselin v Desjardins Cabinet de services financiers inc, 2020 SCC 30, that a class action concerning allegedly misleading investment...more
On October 1, 2020, recent amendments to Ontario’s Class Proceedings Act, 1992 (CPA), come into force. The amendments were made as part of the Smarter and Stronger Justice Act, 2020, which received Royal Assent in July 2020....more
In a close 5 to 4 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, Michael D. Lipton, Q.C. and Kevin J. Weber emerged on July 24, 2020 as part of the successful side in the case of Atlantic Lottery Corporation Inc. v. Babstock....more
Consider this: What if plaintiffs could assert a cause of action for negligence without proving, or even pleading, any actual damages? And what if the remedy for this damage-free tort claim were disgorgement of profits...more
Le 24 juillet 2020, la Cour suprême du Canada (la « CSC ») a publié sa décision dans l’affaire Société des loteries de l’Atlantique c. Babstock (« Babstock »). Dans sa première déclaration définitive sur cette question, la...more
On July 24, 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) released its decision in Atlantic Lottery Corp. Inc. v. Babstock (Babstock). In its first definitive statement on this issue, the SCC held that waiver of tort is not an...more
On Thursday September 26, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its highly anticipated decision in Keatley Surveying Ltd v Teranet Inc (2019 SCC 43), finding that the Province of Ontario holds copyright in plans of survey...more
On September 20, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) clarified several procedural questions regarding class-action certification in the case of Pioneer v. Godfrey. This ruling, which followed a trilogy of landmark...more
On April 4, 2019, a majority of the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in TELUS Communications Inc. v. Wellman (Wellman) decided that business customer claims in a class action should be stayed pursuant to arbitration clauses in...more
Business customers that agreed to arbitrate disputes cannot “piggyback” their claims onto a consumer class action in court, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled....more