Margaret L. Waddell

The plaintiff sought costs following the certification of a class action against the defendants.

The court noted that while the plaintiff achieved certification, success was divided because the class definition and types of claims were significantly narrowed.

Applying the principle of divided success, the court agreed with the defendants' submission to reduce the plaintiff's claimed fees by 50%.

The court also deducted duplicated and non-compensable travel expenses from the plaintiff's disbursements.

The defendants were ordered to pay the plaintiff costs in the all-inclusive amount of $282,759.06.

The plaintiffs, representing a class of donors to a failed charitable tax shelter program, brought an action for professional negligence against the law firms and valuation firm that provided services to the program's promoter.

The professional defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing the claims were statute-barred and that they owed no duty of care to the non-client class members.

The court held the claims were not statute-barred, as the limitation period did not begin to run until the Tax Court declared the program a sham.

The court granted summary judgment to the law firms, finding they explicitly limited their undertakings to their client and owed no duty of care to the class members.

However, the court denied summary judgment to the valuation firm, finding a triable issue existed regarding whether it undertook a duty to the class members by authorizing its valuation report to be used in their tax appeals.

The moving parties, who were class members in a certified class action regarding defective heater-cooler devices, sought an extension of time to opt out of the class action after the deadline had passed.

They had recently discovered they contracted a severe infection from the device and wished to pursue an individual action.

The court applied the Johnson test, finding that while the moving parties established excusable neglect for missing the deadline, they failed to demonstrate that a late opt-out would not prejudice the defendants.

The defendants had already reached a settlement in principle in the class action based on the known number of opt-outs, and allowing a late opt-out would vitiate the integrity of the class action process.

The motion was dismissed.

In a common issues trial arising from a certified class proceeding, the court held that a cosmetic surgery clinic and its physician-owner were negligent, breached fiduciary duties, and committed intrusion upon seclusion by operating surveillance cameras in consultation rooms, treatment rooms, pre- and post-operative areas, and the operating room without patient knowledge or consent.

The court rejected the submission that the cameras were justified as security measures, finding instead that they served the defendants’ self-protective interests and recorded highly private medical interactions for no medical purpose.

The court held that no trust relationship over the footage was established, but found vicarious liability and concluded that the intrusion upon seclusion claim could be determined on a class-wide basis using an objective standard.

Aggregate damages of $21,500,000 were awarded for intrusion upon seclusion, together with $1,000,000 in punitive damages, while negligence and breach of fiduciary duty claims requiring proof of individual harm were left for further process.

The plaintiffs sought to certify five related class actions against Fortress Real Capital Inc., its principals, and two real estate appraisers regarding losses suffered from investing in syndicated mortgage loans.

The court certified the actions against Fortress and its principals, finding the pleadings disclosed viable causes of action in fraud and negligent misrepresentation, and that the other certification criteria were met.

However, the court dismissed the certification motions against the appraisers, concluding it was plain and obvious the claims would fail because the appraisers owed no duty of care to the investors and their reports expressly disclaimed third-party reliance.

The court also held the Harmony Village action in abeyance to allow the plaintiffs to substitute a suitable representative plaintiff.

The plaintiff moved to certify a class action against the manufacturers and distributors of allegedly defective cochlear implants.

The plaintiff claimed the devices suffered from a design defect causing fluid ingress and premature failure, requiring invasive revision surgery.

The court found that the pleadings disclosed viable causes of action for negligent design, failure to warn, and failure to recall.

The court amended the class definition to include only patients whose devices experienced a 'hard failure' to ensure the class was properly bounded.

With limitations placed on the scope of general damages to ensure common issues predominated over individual medical histories, the court certified the action and appointed the plaintiff as the representative plaintiff.

The moving parties brought a motion for leave to appeal the decision of Leiper J. dated October 23, 2025.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion for leave to appeal and awarded costs to the responding party in the amount of $5,000 all inclusive.

Four organizations brought motions for leave to intervene in an appeal concerning the certification of a class action against the Province of Ontario and 49 Children's Aid Societies regarding the use of 'Birth Alerts'.

The appeal engages the continued application of the Ragoonanan principle, which requires a representative plaintiff to have a cause of action against each defendant.

The motion judge granted leave to intervene to the Class Action Clinic and Women of Class, and granted leave on limited issues to the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, finding their perspectives would be useful to the court.

A case management conference was held to set the timetable for two grouped appeals arising from a decision certifying a class action against the Province of Ontario but declining to certify it against 49 Children's Aid Societies regarding the use of 'Birth Alerts'.

The appeals will be heard by a five-judge panel to consider whether the court should depart from the Ragoonanan principle.

The case management judge set the schedule for responding materials, intervention motions, and factums.

This is a costs decision arising from a class action certification motion concerning the now-defunct "birth alerts" policy issued by Children's Aid Societies in Ontario.

The plaintiffs sought to certify a class action against the province of Ontario and 50 CAS defendants on behalf of mothers claiming compensation for discriminatory treatment.

The court certified the action against Ontario but denied certification against the CAS defendants due to structural defects in the pleading (the Ragoonanan problem).

The plaintiffs settled with Ontario for $300,000 in all-inclusive costs.

The CAS defendants sought $564,318.61 in costs.

The court reduced this amount to $335,000, applying a 40% discount under section 31(1) of the Class Proceedings Act to reflect the public interest nature of the case and access to justice concerns.

The court dismissed IBM Canada Ltd.'s appeal from an endorsement refusing to strike certain paragraphs from Bruce Maule’s Fourth Amended Statement of Claim in a wrongful dismissal action.

The court found that the pleadings regarding systemic age discrimination and the employment circumstances of other IBM US employees were relevant, not overly broad, and not an abuse of process.

The court held that the pleadings were sufficiently particularized and provable, and that any concerns about discovery scope or prejudice could be managed at trial.

The decision affirms the importance of allowing claims of systemic discrimination to proceed where material facts are pleaded.

This decision certifies a class action against the Province of Ontario regarding the issuance of "Birth Alerts" by Ontario children's aid societies (CASs), but declines to certify the action against the CASs themselves.

The court finds that the claims against the CASs suffer from the "Ragoonanan problem"—the lack of a representative plaintiff with a claim against each defendant—and that the CASs acted independently, not collectively.

The action against Ontario, however, is certified on the basis of negligence and breaches of sections 7 and 15 of the Charter, as the Province had oversight authority and failed to act to stop the practice despite being able to do so.

The court sets out the certified class, common issues, and clarifies the preferable procedure for such claims.

The court approved a settlement agreement in a class action concerning losses suffered by investors in a syndicated mortgage loan promoted by Fortress Real Developments Inc. and Fortress Real Capital Inc. The settlement, reached with FMP Mortgage Investments Inc. and related defendants, provides for a $3,000,000 payment to class members, representing a substantial portion of the available insurance.

The court also certified the action as a class proceeding for the purposes of the settlement, approved class counsel fees, and made ancillary orders to facilitate the administration of the settlement and protect the parties involved.

The defendant, IBM Canada Ltd., brought a motion to strike certain pleadings from the plaintiff's Second Amended Statement of Claim.

The impugned pleadings alleged systemic age discrimination by IBM U.S. and referenced employment circumstances of IBM U.S. employees, which the plaintiff claimed were connected to his wrongful dismissal and age discrimination by IBM Canada.

The court dismissed IBM Canada's motion, finding the pleadings relevant to the claims of systemic discrimination and punitive damages, particularly given the alleged operational connection between IBM U.S. and IBM Canada regarding the plaintiff's employment decisions.

The dismissal was conditional on the plaintiff making proposed amendments to narrow the scope of the allegations.

This is a costs endorsement following a judgment by the Court of Appeal for Ontario, which had previously dismissed both the appellant's appeal and the respondents' cross-appeal.

The Court determined the costs payable, awarding the primary respondents $50,000 from the appellant, despite the respondents seeking over $71,000 and the appellant proposing $40,000.

The Court was not persuaded by the appellant's public interest argument or the relevance of costs awarded in a comparable case that were based on party agreement.

Additionally, the Law Foundation of Ontario, which responded to the cross-appeal, was awarded $10,000 in costs from the primary respondents.

The plaintiff brought a motion for leave to appeal an order dated November 16, 2022.

The Divisional Court granted the motion for leave to appeal and ordered the respondents to pay the moving party agreed costs of $5,000.

The appellant, John Peters, appealed the dismissal of his motion for leave to bring a statutory cause of action under the Securities Act for alleged failure to disclose a material change, and for class action certification.

The alleged material change was a September 4, 2018, telephone call where the PPSC advised SNC-Lavalin that it would not be invited to negotiate a remediation agreement.

The motion judge found no reasonable possibility that the call constituted a "change" in SNC's business, operations, or capital.

SNC-Lavalin cross-appealed the costs order, which reduced their costs due to the case's legal novelty and public interest.

The Court of Appeal dismissed both the appeal, affirming the motion judge's interpretation of "material change" and application of the leave test, and the cross-appeal, upholding the discretionary costs decision.

The proposed representative plaintiff in a product liability class action sought a protective order to anonymize their identity and seal sensitive personal information due to a history of sexual violence and PTSD, which led to their cannabis use and subsequent Cannabis Hypermesis Syndrome.

The defendants did not oppose the motion.

The court granted the order, applying the Sherman Estate test, finding that court openness posed a serious risk to the plaintiff's well-being and dignity, no reasonable alternatives existed, and the benefits of protecting the plaintiff and encouraging other trauma survivors to access justice outweighed the minimal impact on court openness.

The appellants appealed a class proceedings judge's refusal to approve $70,000 in honorariums for two representative plaintiffs and three class members from a $10 million class action settlement fund regarding institutional sexual abuse.

The Divisional Court reviewed the jurisprudence on representative plaintiff compensation, confirming that such payments should be rare, modest, and reserved for exceptional circumstances to avoid conflicts of interest.

The court granted the appeal in part, awarding $7,500 to the lead representative plaintiff for her exceptional contribution and exposure to re-traumatization, but dismissed the requests for the co-representative plaintiff and the other class members.

The plaintiff, David Trueman, in a proposed class action, sought leave to amend the Fourth Amended Statement of Claim to add a new sub-class and particularize existing claims.

The proposed amendments related to allegations that Rogers Communications and Rogers Bank obtained private credit information through unauthorized soft credit checks to pre-approve and issue unsolicited credit cards, in breach of privacy rights and contract.

The defendants opposed, arguing the amendments introduced a new, time-barred claim based on a breach of Bank Act regulations.

The court found that the amendments did not introduce a new cause of action but rather particularized existing claims for breach of contract and privacy, with the issuance of unsolicited credit cards being a consequence of the alleged wrongful conduct.

Therefore, no limitation period issue arose.

The court granted the plaintiff's motion to amend the statement of claim and awarded costs to the plaintiff.