Justice Rowe of the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) stated that Corner Brook (City) v Bailey, 2021 SCC 29 [Corner Brook] is about “the proper approach to interpreting the scope of a release” (Corner Brook, para 1). In a unanimous decision, the SCC determined that the general principles of contract law in Sattva Capital Corp. […]
In 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada expanded the common law doctrine of good faith established in Bhasin v Hrynew, 2014 SCC 71 [Bhasin], by holding that misleading silence can breach the duty to perform one's contractual obligations honestly. An account of C.M. Callow Inc v Zollinger, 2020 SCC 15 [Callow] was previously reported on by TheCourt.ca. However, this commentary will explore how […]
On May 28, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) released a unanimous decision in the case of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Canada St. Mary’s Cathedral v Aga, 2020 SCC 22 [Aga], which revolved around whether expulsion from a church could be reviewed by a court. Overturning the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”)’s decision, […]
Wastech Services Ltd v Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District, 2021 SCC 7 [Wastech] is the second case in a matter of months that the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) has released relating to the “general organizing principle” of good faith in contracting. The SCC has recognized four doctrines as part of good faith in […]
In Ontario, one invalid termination clause in an employment contract will now render all of the contract’s termination provisions void.
When a contract was signed almost 100 years ago and the original parties have been amalgamated into or become new entities, who are the parties to that contract, and can they act on it? In a nutshell, this is what was at issue in Resolute FP Canada Inc v Hydro-Québec, 2020 SCC 43 [Resolute v […]
In Desjardins Financial Services Firm Inc v Asselin, 2020 SCC 30 [“Desjardins”], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) engaged in a debate about how to properly assess the law of class actions in Quebec. While the words “respectfully disagree” were used by the majority and the dissent, the decision exhibits strong differences of opinion as […]