Garrett M. Hunter

The plaintiff, Peter Ross, brought an unopposed motion to certify a class proceeding against RBC Global Asset Management Inc. and RBC Investor Services Trust.

The action alleges that the defendants breached trust, fiduciary, and contractual duties by paying excessive trailing commissions to discount brokers from mutual fund assets.

The court granted certification, finding all five criteria under section 5(1) of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992, were met, including the disclosure of a cause of action, an identifiable class, common issues, preferable procedure, and a suitable representative plaintiff with a workable plan.

The plaintiff brought an unopposed motion to certify a class proceeding concerning the alleged improper payment of trailing commissions to discount brokers from CIBC mutual funds.

The court applied the five criteria under s. 5(1) of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992, adopting previous judicial analyses for the first four criteria.

The court found the representative plaintiff capable and the proposed litigation and notice plans appropriate, granting the certification order.

The plaintiffs in several 2018 class actions (the "2018 actions") brought a motion to temporarily stay overlapping 2022 class actions (the "2022 actions").

Both sets of actions alleged that defendants, as mutual fund trustees and managers, improperly paid trailing commissions.

The 2018 plaintiffs argued that losses were suffered only by those who purchased through discount brokers, while the 2022 plaintiffs contended that losses were incurred by all mutual fund holders, as fees were paid from the funds.

The court granted the temporary stay of the 2022 actions, finding substantial overlap and shared factual background, which would prevent unnecessary duplication of judicial and legal resources.

The court addressed potential prejudice to the 2022 plaintiffs by ordering the suspension of the relevant limitation period and by bifurcating the "separate series" and allocation issues for later litigation, ensuring that the 2022 plaintiffs' interests would be addressed when they diverged from the 2018 plaintiffs.

This endorsement addresses the sequencing of motions in a series of related class actions.

The 2018 plaintiffs sought a temporary stay of the 2022 actions.

The defendants proposed hearing the stay motion concurrently with their summary judgment motions, citing limitation period defenses.

The 2022 plaintiffs argued for their certification motion to proceed if the stay was delayed.

The court, acting as case management judge, directed that the motion to stay be heard first, finding no significant efficiencies in combining it with the summary judgment motions and stating that certification motions should only proceed after summary judgment motions are determined.

The plaintiff brought a motion to certify a class action against BMO Investments Inc. on behalf of investors who held BMO Mutual Funds through discount brokers.

The plaintiff alleged that BMO Investments improperly paid trailing commissions to discount brokers out of mutual fund assets, despite discount brokers providing no investment advice.

The court found that the plaintiff's claims for breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, breach of the Trustee Act, prospectus misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment all disclosed viable causes of action.

The court certified the class action, including a common issue for aggregate damages, and set the class end date as the date of the certification order.

The Quebec Plaintiffs and the Defendants brought motions for leave to appeal an order of Belobaba J. dated November 21, 2019.

The Divisional Court dismissed both motions for leave to appeal.

Costs of $2,500 were ordered payable by each of the moving parties to the responding Ontario Plaintiffs.