In 2009, fully oblivious to the housing market collapse in the United States, I thought it a good idea to get into the Toronto condo market. With down payment money borrowed from my parents, I signed an Agreement of Purchase and Sale in a development project that promised to create a whole new neighbourhood on […]
Controversy surrounding new provincial legislation in British Columbia to curb foreign investment in the housing market and talks of similar measures for Ontario have kept all eyes on the red-hot housing markets across Canada. Furthermore, new federal mandates will take effect starting October 17, 2016 for the purchasing of homes, which will likely cause further […]
This guest post was contributed by James Steele. James Steele practices insurance, municipal, and commercial litigation with Robertson Stromberg LLP in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In Heritage Capital Corp. v. Equitable Trust, 2016 SCC 19 the Supreme Court offered two significant lessons to purchasers of Canadian heritage properties: Absent express statutory language, positive covenants in favour of developers will not run with the […]
The Ontario Court of Appeal ordered a new trial under a different trial judge after finding a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of Ontario Superior Justice Ted Matlow in Hazelton Lanes Inc v 1707590 Ontario Limited, 2014 ONCA 793 [Hazelton Lanes]. Justice Matlow's objectivity has been questioned by the Canadian Judicial Council in the past, when an […]
Normal 0 Statutes of limitations are intended to add clarity to the litigation process but, ironically, sometimes have the opposite effect. Ontario's Limitations Act, 2002, SO 2002, c 24, Sch B [Limitations Act], was meant to reduce the multitude of different limitation periods with the aim of having a two-year limitation on most types of actions. […]
Normal 0 One of the fundamental principles of contract law is that damages are based on the actual loss suffered by the innocent party when there is a breach of contract. Damages restore the innocent party to the position she would have been in if the contract had been fulfilled. However, she is required to […]
Normal 0 Normal 0 Normal 0 Normal 0 The tangled case of Nishi v. Rascal Trucking Ltd., 2013 SCC 33, is a classic example of the complicated conflicts that can occur when people mix business dealings with personal friendships. The unanimous decision of the court appears to reaffirm the doctrine of purchase money resulting trust. […]
In Williams v Toronto, 2012 ONCA 915, the Ontario Court of Appeal explores the relationship between the City and a tenant, Mr. Williams, over loss of rent paid by tenants owed reduced rent under a statutory rent-reduction scheme. This case determined that there could be sufficient relationship between the tenants and the City to ground […]
Recently issuing judgment in R. v. Craig, 2009 SCC 23 and companion cases R. v. Ouellette, 2009 SCC 24 and R. v. Nguyen, 2009 SCC 25, the Supreme Court of Canada has circumscribed the applicability of the forfeiture provisions for real property related to a designated substance offence under sections 16(1) and 19.1(3) of the […]
Haida Nation v British Columbia (Minister of Forests), 2004 SCC 73 [Haida], established the Crown's duty to consult and accommodate First Nations peoples during the pre-proof period where an aboriginal or treaty right is being pursued. Haida is an acknowledgement that it can take a long time to prove an Aboriginal right. In the interim, Chief […]