ODC 2023

The landlord brought a motion to lift the automatic stay of eviction and quash the tenant's appeal of a Landlord and Tenant Board order.

The tenant had previously consented to an eviction order, which he appealed and had quashed.

He then sought a review of the consent order, which was dismissed, and appealed that review order.

The Divisional Court found the appeal raised no question of law, was devoid of merit, and constituted an abuse of process aimed solely at delaying eviction.

The motion was granted, the appeal was quashed, and the tenant was ordered to pay costs.

The applicant sought judicial review of a WSIAT decision denying his claim for chronic or traumatic mental stress benefits.

The WSIAT had found that the applicant's psychological condition was primarily caused by his job reclassification and resulting wage impact, which are employer decisions excluded from compensation under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding the WSIAT's decision reasonable and supported by the medical evidence.

The Ontario College of Teachers appealed a decision of its Discipline Committee, which had rejected a joint submission on penalty for a member who pleaded guilty to professional misconduct involving inappropriate comments.

The majority of the Discipline Committee had substituted its own penalty, finding the proposed three-month suspension unduly harsh.

The Divisional Court allowed the appeal, holding that the Discipline Committee erred in law by applying a 'fitness test' rather than the stringent 'public interest test' established in Anthony-Cook.

The Court found that the joint submission did not bring the administration of justice into disrepute and ordered that the jointly proposed penalty be imposed.

The applicant, a police officer, sought judicial review of a decision by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) upholding a Hearing Officer's finding of discreditable conduct and a penalty of demotion.

The misconduct arose from an off-duty physical altercation with his estranged wife.

The Divisional Court applied a reasonableness standard of review, finding that the OCPC reasonably concluded the Hearing Officer properly admitted hearsay evidence, correctly applied the test for discreditable conduct, and imposed a penalty within the appropriate range.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.

The appellant appealed a Licence Appeal Tribunal decision denying his claim for income replacement benefits following a motor vehicle accident.

The appellant argued the Adjudicator breached procedural fairness and erred in law by failing to consider financial documents contained in his voluminous document brief.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding no breach of procedural fairness or error of law, as the appellant had failed to enter the documents into evidence despite multiple directions and opportunities from the Adjudicator to do so.

The court also upheld the denial of an award for unreasonably withheld payments.

The deceased died intestate, leaving a common-law spouse of over twenty years and an adult daughter from a previous relationship.

The spouse brought an application for dependant's relief under the Succession Law Reform Act, which was granted by the application judge who awarded the entirety of the estate to the spouse.

The daughter's estate appealed, arguing the application judge erred in his treatment of the daughter's residual legal entitlement, the moral duty owed to the grandchildren, and the paramountcy of the spouse's claim.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding the application judge made no errors in principle, properly balanced the competing claims, and reasonably exercised his discretion in prioritizing the spouse's needs given the shortfall in the estate.

The appellant appealed the dismissal of a certification motion for a proposed class action against a car rental company.

The proposed class consisted of branch managers who alleged they were misclassified as managers and improperly denied overtime pay.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, upholding the motion judge's findings that the claims lacked sufficient commonality due to the substantial variability in the job functions and duties actually performed by the proposed class members across different branch locations.

The court also upheld the motion judge's refusal to certify aggregate damages and the finding that British Columbia class members had no cause of action.

The appellant insurer appealed a preliminary issue decision of the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) regarding whether the respondent's slip and fall incident constituted an 'accident' under the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule.

The LAT intervened to raise a preliminary issue regarding the Divisional Court's jurisdiction to hear an appeal from an interlocutory decision.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal for want of jurisdiction, confirming that appeals lie only from final decisions of the LAT to prevent fragmentation and delay.

The court also declined the parties' joint request to convert the appeal into an application for judicial review.

The appellant tenant appealed a Landlord and Tenant Board decision terminating his tenancy for substantially interfering with the reasonable enjoyment of another tenant.

The appellant argued procedural unfairness regarding the service of N5 notices and disputed the LTB's factual findings.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding no procedural unfairness as the appellant had the notices well before the hearing, and holding that disagreements with factual findings do not constitute errors of law.

The Court also noted that the appeal was not moot despite the complainant tenant having passed away after the hearing.

The applicant employer sought judicial review of an arbitrator's decision regarding the calculation of pay for personal leave days taken by a locomotive engineer under the Canada Labour Code.

The arbitrator found that because the collective agreement did not specifically provide a method for calculating personal leave pay, the default calculation under s. 17(a) of the Canada Labour Standards Regulations applied, rather than the 'basic day' rate argued by the employer.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding the arbitrator's interpretation of the legislation and the collective agreement was reasonable and consistent with the purpose of ensuring employees do not suffer a wage loss when taking personal leave.

The moving party sought leave to appeal a case conference order dated November 21, 2021.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion for leave to appeal and ordered the moving party to pay $5,000 in costs to the respondent.

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 applicants (landlords) brought a motion for security for costs and judgment pending an appeal by the respondent (tenant) of an order terminating his tenancy and requiring payment of over $115,000 in rent arrears.

The respondent had continued to occupy the unit without paying rent and had no apparent assets in Ontario.

The Divisional Court found the appeal appeared frivolous and vexatious, and that the ongoing overholding without rent payment constituted exceptional circumstances justifying security for judgment.

The respondent was ordered to post $143,886.87 in security and pay ongoing monthly rent, failing which the appeal would be dismissed.

The appellant physician appealed a decision of the Discipline Tribunal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, which found he committed sexual abuse and professional misconduct, resulting in the revocation of his licence.

The appellant argued the Tribunal erred in its credibility assessments, misapplied the concept of incremental disclosure, and applied uneven scrutiny to the evidence.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding no palpable and overriding errors in the Tribunal's detailed and nuanced credibility findings, which preferred the patient's evidence over the appellant's.

The applicant municipality sought to stay a Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) hearing pending a judicial review application.

The municipality argued that the HRTO's administrative delay and the death of its key witness caused irreparable harm, and that the HRTO had refused to hear its motion to stay.

The Divisional Court dismissed the stay application, finding it premature because the HRTO had indicated it would address the motion to stay at the upcoming hearing.

The court reiterated that administrative proceedings should run their full course before judicial review is sought.

The appellant sought to appeal an order dismissing his motion for summary judgment.

The Divisional Court held that an order dismissing a motion for summary judgment is interlocutory, not final, and therefore requires leave to appeal under the Courts of Justice Act and the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The court declined to grant leave, finding no conflicting decisions or good reason to doubt the correctness of the motion judge's order.

The appeal was dismissed with costs awarded to the respondent.

The appellants appealed a Small Claims Court judgment ordering them to pay $25,000 to the respondents for their share of expenses in a joint venture to buy and sell gold.

On appeal, the appellants argued the deputy judge erred in assuming jurisdiction, assessing the parties' financial contributions, and determining a party's standing.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding no errors of law or palpable and overriding errors of fact, and refused to admit fresh evidence that could have been presented at trial.

The appellant tenant appealed a decision declaring its commercial lease properly terminated and directing a writ of possession.

The tenant argued the landlord's notice of termination was deficient under s. 19(2) of the Commercial Tenancies Act and that the landlord failed to provide 30 days' notice of re-entry.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding that under s. 18(1) of the Act, the landlord had the right to re-enter without formal demand because the tenant had been in arrears of rent for more than 15 days.

The court also upheld findings that the tenant's failure to pay deposits under the related Agreement of Purchase and Sale constituted a material breach.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) applied for judicial review of a Grievance Procedure Arbitrator's (GPA) decision ordering the disclosure of a redacted workplace harassment investigation report to the union's Local Grievance Committee.

The CBC argued the GPA's decision was not reviewable, that the GPA lacked jurisdiction, and that the CBC was denied procedural fairness.

The Divisional Court held that the GPA's decision was reviewable because the GPA exercised a statutory power of decision under the Canada Labour Code.

The Court found the disclosure order was reasonable and within the GPA's broad jurisdiction to resolve disputes over the exchange of relevant information.

The Court also dismissed the procedural fairness arguments, finding the CBC had ample opportunity to make submissions.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.

The appellant appealed a decision of the Ontario Land Tribunal regarding the interest payable on compensation for expropriated land.

The appellant argued that interest should run from an earlier date based on a redevelopment use and at a higher rate of 12% due to delay.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding no palpable and overriding error in the Tribunal's factual findings that the productive use of the land was as a rental building and ceased only upon formal expropriation.

The Court also upheld the Tribunal's discretionary refusal to award a higher interest rate, as it had not been pleaded, and declined to consider a new claim for compound interest.