Kate Byers

The appellant appealed the dismissal of its application to set aside an arbitral award arising from a post-closing earnout dispute in an international commercial arbitration.

It argued that the application judge improperly assessed alleged breaches of natural justice on a reduced procedural fairness standard because the arbitrator was an accountant rather than a legally trained adjudicator.

The Court of Appeal held that the application judge correctly applied the governing principles, made factual findings open on the record, and repeatedly grounded the analysis in the parties' agreed arbitral process.

The appeal was dismissed, and the respondents were awarded all-inclusive partial indemnity costs.

The appellant rented a car and failed to return it by the deadline, leading the rental company to seize the vehicle containing his personal belongings.

After serving a draft statement of claim, the parties negotiated a settlement and the appellant signed a release.

He subsequently commenced an action for damages, which was dismissed on summary judgment.

On appeal, the Court of Appeal found no reviewable error in the motion judge's conclusion that the release covered all claims and that there was no evidentiary basis for any new claims.

The moving parties brought a motion for leave to appeal a lower court decision dated December 19, 2025.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion for leave to appeal.

As no costs outlines were filed, the court declined to award costs of the motion.

A Canadian mining company detected pit wall instability and a subsequent rockslide at its premier mine in Chile.

The company did not immediately disclose these events to investors, disclosing them about a month later as part of regular updates, after which its share price dropped 16 percent.

An investor sought leave under s. 138.8(1) of the Ontario Securities Act to commence a class action for failure to make timely disclosure of a material change.

The Supreme Court of Canada, dismissing the appeal, held that the motion judge erred in interpreting 'material change' too restrictively.

The undefined terms 'change', 'business', 'operations', and 'capital' should not be constrained by dictionary definitions but applied flexibly and contextually.

The leave test requires a plausible application of the legislative provisions to the facts, not merely a plausible statutory interpretation.

On the uncontested evidence that the events impacted the company's operations, there was a reasonable possibility the action could succeed at trial.

The appellants sought certification of a proposed class action on behalf of approximately 15,000 Canadian major junior hockey players from 1975 to the present, alleging systemic abuse including physical and sexual assaults, bullying, harassment, and hazing.

The class action named 78 defendants across four major junior hockey leagues and sought to hold the leagues and teams liable for systemic negligence in failing to adopt and enforce effective abuse-prevention policies.

The motion judge denied certification, finding the action unmanageable due to its unprecedented scope and complexity, and that no viable litigation plan had been presented.

The appellants appealed on three grounds: that they had disclosed a viable cause of action, that common issues existed, and that the class action was the preferable procedure.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding that while the appellants had viable claims and the motion judge applied an overly stringent test to the common issues requirement, the action was unmanageable and therefore not the preferable procedure.

The court emphasized that the proposed class action was far broader and more complex than previous systemic negligence class actions, involving 78 defendants across 13 jurisdictions, events spanning 50 years, and complex conflicts-of-law issues.

The appellants' attempt to fundamentally alter their case on appeal by dropping 74 defendants was rejected as impermissible.

The applicant sought recognition and enforcement of two Ukrainian judgments against the respondent in Ontario.

The respondent opposed the application on three grounds: (1) the amendment seeking to enforce a 2022 BVI judgment recognizing the Ukrainian judgments was impermissible as a derivative judgment; (2) the claim was statute-barred under the Limitations Act, 2002; and (3) the Ukrainian judgments violated natural justice.

The court found the application was statute-barred, as the limitation period for enforcement commenced when the Ukrainian judgments became final in 2018, not when the 2022 BVI judgment was rendered.

The court also found that seeking enforcement of the 2022 BVI judgment constituted an impermissible derivative judgment.

The application was dismissed with costs awarded to the respondent.

The plaintiff, Oslyn Lewis, brought an action against The Hertz Corporation, Hertz Canada Limited, Hertz Canada Vehicles Partnership, and TD Canada Trust after a rental car was seized with his belongings inside.

The court granted summary judgment in favour of Hertz, finding that the parties had previously settled the dispute and Lewis had signed a release covering all claims.

The court found no evidence of breach of settlement or prejudice to the plaintiff, and that all claims—including those about being banned and alleged false statements to TD—were covered by the release.

The Ken Breau Corporation, a Dairy Queen franchisee, sought a declaration that DQC Canada Inc. breached its statutory obligations of fair dealing and good faith under section 3 of the Arthur Wishart (Franchise Disclosure) Act, 2000, and sought to restrain DQC from awarding a new restaurant to another franchisee within eight kilometres of its territory.

The court found that DQC had not breached its obligations, as the Franchise Agreement clearly defined the applicant’s territory and DQC’s actions were consistent with both the contract and commercial standards.

The application was dismissed.

The applicants, a group of companies undergoing CCAA proceedings, sought to extend the existing stay of proceedings to DAK Capital Inc., a non-debtor third-party guarantor involved in an arbitration with Canopy Growth Corporation.

Canopy opposed, arguing that CCAA s. 11.04 prohibits such an extension for guarantors.

The court, relying on the broad inherent jurisdiction under CCAA s. 11 and recent Ontario precedents, found that s. 11.04 is a clarifying provision, not a prohibitive one, and granted the temporary stay against DAK Capital to prevent distraction from the ongoing restructuring efforts.

The respondents brought a motion to stay an application by the applicant to set aside an arbitral award.

The core dispute revolved around whether a forum selection clause in an asset purchase agreement, which designated New York courts, applied to the application to set aside the award, or if Ontario's International Commercial Arbitration Act and the Model Law governed due to the arbitration's "place" being Toronto.

The court found that the arbitration procedure was subject to an exception in the forum selection clause and that Toronto was the agreed or deemed "place" of arbitration.

Consequently, Ontario law and jurisdiction applied for setting aside the award.

The motion to stay was dismissed.

The accused pleaded guilty to a sexual offence involving a minor.

The court accepted a joint sentencing submission, imposing a period of imprisonment followed by probation and various ancillary orders, including sex offender registration and prohibitions on contact and presence near children.

The decision highlights the application of sentencing principles, balancing aggravating factors such as the breach of trust and significant victim impact, with mitigating factors including the guilty plea and the offender's first-time status.

Following the dismissal of a proposed class action regarding systemic abuse in the Canadian Hockey League, the plaintiffs brought a motion under section 7 of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 to approve a plan to transition the proceeding into multiple joinder actions.

The court reviewed the competing Section 7 Plans submitted by the plaintiffs and defendants and found both to be procedurally flawed and overreaching.

The court proposed its own Draft Section 7 Plan designed to facilitate the commencement of up to 60 joinder actions while respecting the court's jurisdictional limits and the parties' procedural rights.

The motion was adjourned to a second phase for the parties to revise and discuss the court's draft plan.

The plaintiffs, former major junior hockey players, brought a proposed class action against the Canadian Hockey League, its three member leagues, and 60 individual teams, alleging systemic negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and vicarious liability for widespread hazing, bullying, and abuse.

The out-of-province defendants brought a motion challenging the court's jurisdiction, which was dismissed as the court found they carried on business in Ontario.

The defendants also brought a Ragoonanan motion, which was granted because the representative plaintiffs only had personal causes of action against five of the 60 teams.

The court dismissed the certification motion, finding that the claims failed the cause of action, common issues, preferable procedure, and representative plaintiff criteria, primarily because there was no basis for collective liability among the independent teams.

However, the court utilized sections 7, 12, and 25 of the Class Proceedings Act to permit the action to continue as individual joinder actions, ordering the plaintiffs to prepare an Individual Issues Protocol.

The moving parties brought a motion for leave to appeal the order of Parayeski J. dated September 23, 2020.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion and awarded costs to the responding parties fixed at $2,126.89.

The applicant, NJS Midtown Portfolio Inc., sought a court order directing the respondent, CMLS Financial Ltd., to consent to the sale of a mortgaged property and provide a partial discharge of the mortgage, or alternatively, a full discharge upon payment of the principal and accrued interest.

NJS had entered into an agreement of purchase and sale for one of three properties secured by a closed, 10-year mortgage with CMLS, which was insured by CMHC and part of a Mortgage-Backed Securities program.

CMLS refused consent, citing contractual terms, CMHC policy obligations, and the non-prepayable nature of the mortgage.

The court dismissed NJS's application, finding no contractual, statutory, common law, or equitable basis for the requested discharge, and that CMLS's withholding of consent was reasonable given its commercial interests and obligations to CMHC and MBS investors.

This endorsement outlines an agreed-upon procedural timetable for a motion in a class proceeding.

It sets deadlines for the exchange of motion records, completion of cross-examinations, delivery of facta, and schedules the hearing dates for September 2020.

The applicant sought to extend the time to appeal an order of a single judge of the Divisional Court that dismissed his application for judicial review on the grounds that it was frivolous and vexatious.

The application for judicial review had sought mandamus requiring the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada to produce its decision limiting the number of qualifying exams each candidate is allowed.

The motion judge dismissed the motion on jurisdictional grounds, finding that the Court of Appeal for Ontario lacks jurisdiction to entertain an appeal from an order of a single judge of the Divisional Court on an interlocutory motion.

The proper route of appeal is to a panel of the Divisional Court under section 21(5) of the Courts of Justice Act.

The applicant sought leave to appeal an arbitration award regarding the calculation of a net profits interest in a mining property.

The respondent argued the arbitration agreement precluded appeals, but the court found no such exclusion.

However, the court dismissed the application for leave to appeal, concluding that the arbitrator's interpretation of the agreement involved questions of mixed fact and law, and the applicant failed to identify any extricable errors of law.

Following the dismissal of the plaintiffs' summary judgment motion and the granting of the defendants' summary judgment motion, the court determined the quantum of costs.

The defendants sought a combined total of approximately $150,000 in partial indemnity costs, while the plaintiffs argued for a significantly reduced amount of $60,000.

Applying the overriding principle of reasonableness, the court ordered the plaintiffs to pay $65,000 to the lead defendant and $30,000 to the remaining defendants.

The plaintiffs sought early redemption of their syndicated mortgage investments from Hi-Rise Capital Ltd. (HRC) and 54 Shepherd Road Inc., arguing HRC was contractually obligated to redeem.

HRC and 54 Shepherd Road Inc. brought cross-motions for summary judgment, asserting no such obligation existed and raising issues of standing and res judicata for one plaintiff.

The court dismissed the plaintiffs' motion, finding no unqualified right to early redemption based on a holistic interpretation of the Loan Participation Agreements (LPAs) and mandatory disclosure forms.

The court granted the defendants' cross-motions, dismissing the plaintiffs' action.