Doug Bourassa

An insolvent cannabis contract manufacturer filed a notice of intention to make a proposal under s. 50.4(1) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and sought orders approving DIP financing, a further stay extension, a SISP with a stalking horse bid, and related charges.

The court raised concerns about the SISP because the stalking horse agreement had not yet been executed, the milestones were abbreviated, the treatment of employees and contracts was uncertain, and a break fee was contemplated before any definitive agreement existed.

Following a standdown, the company abandoned pursuit of the full relief and requested only a brief stay extension to February 17, 2026.

The court was satisfied that the three-part test under s. 50.4(9) of the BIA was met and granted the short extension, finding no evidence of bad faith, no material prejudice to creditors, and sufficient liquidity for the brief period.

The court considered a dispute between neighbouring commercial property owners after repeated basement flooding at 1330 Gerrard Inc., attributed to a rain garden installed by Riverdale Immigrant Women Enterprises.

The court found that the rain garden, as constructed and maintained, was the proximate cause of the flooding and ordered its removal and replacement with a conventional drainpipe.

The court also addressed the application of the rule in Rylands v. Fletcher, finding strict liability appropriate due to the non-natural use of land.

The court declined to order further invasive remedies, adopting a "wait and see" approach regarding potential structural damage.

The appellant investors, who participated in a Ponzi scheme operated by a one-person corporation, sought to have the trustee in bankruptcy's unjust enrichment claims statute-barred under Ontario's Limitations Act, 2002 by attributing the directing mind's knowledge of illegal interest and commission payments to the corporation.

The majority held that the corporate attribution doctrine applies to one-person corporations on the same purposive, contextual, and pragmatic basis as to other corporations, and that courts retain discretion to decline attribution when it would undermine the purposes of the laws engaged — here, the limitations and bankruptcy regimes.

In concurrence, a separate judge held that resort to the common law corporate attribution doctrine was unnecessary because the codified agency rules in s. 12 of the Limitations Act, 2002 provided a complete answer, and that the claims were not discoverable until the trustee was authorized by the court to bring them.

All judges agreed that the investors were disentitled from equitable set-off for lack of clean hands, that the referral agreements were illegal contracts at common law, and that one appellant was not dealing at arm's length with the corporation.

The appellant, Juleth Dawson, appealed a motion judge's judgment for payment and possession under a mortgage, primarily challenging the calculation of interest owing.

The Court of Appeal found no error in the motion judge's decision not to reduce the contractual interest rate from 7.5% to 2% due to the respondents' failure to deliver a mortgage statement.

The court distinguished the case from Cheung v. Moskowitz Capital Mortgage, affirming that the discretion to reduce interest is fact-driven and requires evidence of the mortgagee seeking an advantage or the mortgagor suffering prejudice.

As no such advantage was sought or prejudice suffered, and payments had not been made for four years, the appeal was dismissed.

This is a panel review by the Court of Appeal for Ontario concerning an appeal regarding the amount owing on an unpaid mortgage loan and possession of property.

The appellant, Juleth Dawson, sought to restore possession of the property after a single judge of the court had previously dismissed her motion for a stay of execution and granted possession to the respondents.

The appellant did not appear for the hearing, and the appeal proceeded on written materials.

The court found no basis to interfere with the single judge's order, noting the appellant's inability to raise funds or pay the mortgage.

The motion was dismissed with costs.

The plaintiffs brought a post-trial motion to compel the defendants to cooperate in executing the sale and property management issues directed in a previous judgment, which found the plaintiffs to be 50% beneficial owners of the subject property.

At the hearing, the parties agreed on the form of the formal judgment and the mechanics for listing the property, managing it in the interim, and handling rental income.

The court ordered the defendants to cooperate with the plaintiffs in selling the property and to pay rents into court or trust, less agreed-upon expenses, with an order going as submitted by mutual agreement.

Following a successful 7-day trial regarding a commercial property dispute, the plaintiffs sought costs on a partial indemnity basis up to the date of their Rule 49 offer, and substantial indemnity thereafter.

The court found the plaintiffs' offer was more favourable to the defendants than the final judgment.

Noting the defendants' repeated failures to produce documents and delay tactics over the 9-year litigation, the court awarded the plaintiffs $650,000 in costs inclusive of disbursements and HST.

The plaintiffs and defendants brought cross-motions for relief under the oppression remedy provisions of the Business Corporations Act.

The dispute arose after the majority shareholders terminated the defendant from his role as Director of Operations and removed him as a director.

The court found that the defendant had acted oppressively by transferring over $700,000 of corporate funds to a company he solely controlled to protect his personal interests.

Applying the clean hands doctrine, the court denied the defendant's request for an oppression remedy and the appointment of an inspector, but granted the plaintiffs' motion to correct the shareholder register and restore their authority over the corporate bank accounts.

The plaintiffs and defendants, former friends, invested in real estate together.

The plaintiffs claimed a 50% beneficial interest in a property registered solely in the defendants' names, based on an oral agreement and a $69,000 contribution.

The court found the oral agreement enforceable due to part performance, overcoming the Statute of Frauds, and ordered the property sold and proceeds divided.

The court also dismissed the plaintiffs' libel claim regarding false accusations of criminal conduct, finding the publication was de minimis and caused no actual harm.

The action was held to be within the 10-year limitation period under the Real Property Limitations Act.

This endorsement addresses the costs arising from an appeal and cross-appeal concerning a dispute between appellant investors and a respondent trustee in bankruptcy of a failed financial company involved in a Ponzi scheme.

The main appeal was dismissed, and the trustee's cross-appeal was allowed in part.

The trustee sought $85,000 in partial indemnity costs, citing case complexity and novelty of arguments.

The appellants argued this was excessive, proposing $30,000.

Applying the principle that costs must be fair and reasonable, the court considered the trustee's partial success on the cross-appeal and the disparity in costs, ultimately awarding the trustee $40,000, all inclusive.

The plaintiffs brought a motion at the opening of trial to strike the defendants' statement of defence due to their failure to comply with multiple pre-trial production orders regarding financial records.

The court found that while the defendants' production was tardy and potentially incomplete, striking the defence altogether would be a disproportionate remedy.

The motion was dismissed, with the court noting that adverse inferences could be drawn at trial if the plaintiffs' ability to prove their claim was impeded by missing records.

The applicants, members of the Geneva Park community and Friends of Geneva Park, brought an urgent application seeking declarations of trust (implied, constructive, resulting, or charitable purpose trust) over the Geneva Park property, an order for directions or investigation under the Charities Accounting Act, production of the sale agreement, a Certificate of Pending Litigation, and an interim injunction to prevent the sale of the property by YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka (YSM) to a private purchaser.

The applicants argued that their historical donations and contributions created a beneficial interest or trust.

The court dismissed the application, finding no evidence to support the creation of any trust, no misuse of charitable funds by YSM, and that granting an injunction or CPL would be unjust and inequitable, as the sale was a reasonable solution for the financially struggling charity.

The plaintiff mortgagee brought a motion for summary judgment to enforce a $1.6 million matured mortgage.

The defendant's last-minute request for an adjournment was denied due to a lack of extenuating circumstances.

The court granted judgment for the principal debt, accrued interest, and possession.

However, the court dismissed the plaintiff's claims for various administrative fees and a three-month interest charge, finding them to be unenforceable penalties at common law and in violation of section 8 of the Interest Act, as the plaintiff provided no evidence that they were genuine pre-estimates of damages or actual costs incurred.

The third parties moved to strike the self-represented defendant's third-party claim.

The defendant had previously alleged mortgage fraud against the plaintiff and the third parties, but a prior summary judgment motion found the mortgage valid and no evidence of fraud.

The defendant sought an adjournment, which the court denied due to a prior peremptory order and insufficient evidence of incapacity.

The court struck the third-party claim, finding it was issued late without leave, constituted an abuse of process as a collateral attack on the prior judgment, and disclosed no reasonable cause of action.

The plaintiff, Weins Canada Inc., brought a motion seeking to include contractual pre-judgment and post-judgment interest in a draft order, following a successful summary judgment motion for breach of a commercial lease.

The original summary judgment order, which awarded $106,614.13 plus $10,000 in costs, did not explicitly mention interest, despite it being claimed in the Statement of Claim.

The defendant, Ensil Corporation, opposed the motion, arguing the court was functus officio.

The court found it was not functus officio as the order had not yet been entered.

However, the motion was dismissed because the plaintiff failed to provide any new evidence or sufficient reason to vary, amend, or add to the original reasons for decision.

Angela Beauty Parlour Ltd. (Plaintiff) sued Gurnam and Surjit Multani (Defendants) for breach of a commercial lease, unjust enrichment, and negligent misrepresentation related to a beauty salon unit and residential units.

The Defendants counterclaimed for increased rent.

The court found that the Defendants were responsible for the cost of installing a tiled floor ($5,844) and ordered the return of $12,000 paid by the Plaintiff under an unenforceable oral agreement for increased rent.

All other claims by the Plaintiff, including for renovation costs, lost profits, and damages for misrepresentation or breach of quiet enjoyment/parking, were dismissed.

The Defendants' counterclaim for increased rent was also dismissed as the oral agreement was unenforceable.

The receiver of assets in receivership proceedings moved to determine whether an appeal brought by Canada Investment Corporation (CIC) from an order of Penny J. was as of right or required leave under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

The order had directed that proceeds from the sale of the Caldwell property, otherwise payable to CIC, be paid to the Stanbarr Claimants based on findings in a prior action that CIC was indebted to them.

The motions judge held that the appeal was as of right under section 193(c) of the BIA because the order resulted in a loss to CIC by directing payment of funds otherwise due to it to third parties.

The receiver's motion was dismissed.

The plaintiff landlord brought a summary judgment motion against its former commercial tenant for rent arrears and prospective damages for the unexpired term of the lease.

The tenant argued the lease was surrendered by agreement or operation of law, releasing it from future obligations.

The court found no surrender agreement was finalized and the landlord had effectively terminated the lease with notice of a claim for prospective damages under the Highway Properties framework.

Summary judgment was granted to the landlord for the rent arrears and prospective damages, less the security deposit.

In a receivership proceeding, the Receiver conducted a court-ordered claims process to determine entitlement to surplus proceeds from the sale of a property.

The Stanbarr Claimants sought the funds based on a prior judicial finding that the respondent, Canada Investment Corporation, had improperly inflated a mortgage payout statement.

The respondent opposed the Receiver's recommendation to pay the funds to the claimants, arguing the prior judicial finding was not final.

The court upheld the Receiver's recommendation, finding the prior decision was res judicata, and ordered the funds paid to the claimants.

The appellant appealed a summary judgment granted in favour of the respondent.

The appellant argued that the motion judge erred by deciding the case on summary judgment when the record was deficient.

The Court of Appeal rejected this submission, finding that the motion judge was able to analyze the legal relationship based on the evidentiary record.

The court determined that the appellant was the purchaser of travel products on behalf of its customers and the respondent was the seller, making the appellant responsible for the invoices.

The appeal was dismissed with costs.