Property Tax Assessment - ONCA

The appellant City of Hamilton appealed a trial judgment finding it and ArcelorMittal Dofasco Inc. (AMD) jointly and severally liable for damages arising from periodic flooding of the respondent National Steel Car Limited's industrial property caused by wastewater discharge into a clogged drainage channel.

The trial judge awarded compensatory damages of approximately $5.3 million (apportioned equally between the defendants), punitive damages of $400,000 against the City and $500,000 against AMD, and granted a mandatory injunction requiring remediation and maintenance of the channel.

The City appealed on four grounds: (1) the equal apportionment of liability; (2) failure to find mitigation by National; (3) the punitive damages award; and (4) the terms of the injunction.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal except for a clarification to the injunction language.

The appellant suffered a catastrophic spinal cord injury in a cycling accident on a dirt path adjacent to Stone Church Road in Hamilton.

The City brought a summary judgment motion seeking dismissal under s. 44(8) of the Municipal Act, 2001, which exempts municipalities from liability for damages caused by construction, obstruction, or erection on untravelled portions of highways.

The motion judge dismissed the action, finding the accident occurred on an untravelled portion.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, holding that the motion judge applied the wrong legal test.

The correct test requires determining whether the portion of highway was commonly and habitually used by the public for travel, not whether such use was reasonably foreseeable.

The court found the dirt path was commonly and regularly used by pedestrians and cyclists and therefore constituted a travelled portion of the highway, placing it outside the statutory exemption.

The appellant, a hookah lounge, appealed the dismissal of its application to quash a municipal smoking and vaping by-law.

The appellant argued that changes to Schedule A of the by-law, which lists set fines and short-form offence wording, after its enactment and municipal consent, invalidated the by-law.

The Court of Appeal affirmed the application judge's decision, holding that the changes to Schedule A were made by the Regional Senior Justice under the authority of the Provincial Offences Act to establish set fines, which is a judicial function, and did not alter the substance of the by-law's prohibitions.

The court found Schedule A was a placeholder and its changes did not invalidate the by-law.

The appellant appealed a permanent injunction that prevented the operation of his tavern, Paradise Night Club, without a municipal business license.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, affirming the application judge's decision.

The court found that the municipal Business Licensing By-law applied to the appellant's business and did not conflict with the exclusive jurisdiction of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario under the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019.

The court reiterated that a business can be required to hold multiple licenses and that an injunction to enforce a bylaw should only be refused in exceptional circumstances, which were not present in this case.

The appellant, Lynn Larabie, as executrix of her parents' estate, appealed a Superior Court decision that dismissed her application to quash a zoning by-law passed by the Township of Moonbeam.

The by-law rezoned an adjacent property to permit expansion.

The appellant argued the Township failed to provide proper statutory notice under the Planning Act and regulations, and acted in bad faith.

The application judge found the by-law procedurally illegal due to notice failures but exercised discretion not to quash it, finding no bad faith and negligible broader consequences.

The Court of Appeal upheld the application judge's decision, finding no error in the bad faith analysis or the exercise of discretion not to quash the by-law, despite the procedural illegality.

The appellant, Hummel Properties Inc., appealed a lower court decision that dismissed its application to quash interim control by-laws enacted by the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The by-laws prohibited the subdivision of land, including condominium creation, and were challenged on grounds of illegality (not relating to "land use" under the Planning Act, infringing s. 38(7) by applying a second interim control by-law, and illegal process) and bad faith.

The Court of Appeal found that the by-laws were illegal because they purported to control land division, not land use, and violated s. 38(7) by applying a second interim control by-law to the same land.

The court also found errors in the application judge's assessment of the process and bad faith.

The appeal was allowed, the by-laws quashed, and the matter remitted to the Superior Court for a trial on damages for negligent misrepresentation and misfeasance in public office.

The appellant sought a 90-day extension of time to perfect its appeal of a summary judgment dismissing its action against the City of Barrie and individual respondents.

A motion judge granted the extension for the City but denied it for the individuals.

On review, the Court of Appeal found the motion judge erred by misapprehending the appeal's potential merit and failing to apply the principle that a party should not be deprived of their right to appeal without real prejudice.

The panel set aside the motion judge's order and granted the extension for the appeal against all respondents.

The municipality appealed a judgment finding it liable for negligence in granting a building permit and conducting inspections of the Breens' cottage, which resulted in significant structural and code deficiencies.

The Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge's findings on duty of care and causation, affirming that the municipality owed a duty to inspect even without a builder's request and was liable for major deficiencies (crawl space, roof ventilation, structural issues) due to its unreasonable conduct.

However, the Court found the trial judge applied an excessively strict standard of care regarding minor deficiencies (stair headroom, insulation gaps), reducing the damages awarded.

This appeal concerned the application of the rule against perpetuities to land development agreements.

ClubLink Corporation ULC appealed a lower court decision that upheld perpetual obligations to operate a golf course or convey the land to the City of Ottawa.

The Court of Appeal found that the contractual provisions requiring conveyance of the golf course lands to the City, or reconveyance back to the original owner, created contingent interests in land.

As these interests did not vest within the 21-year perpetuity period, they are void and unenforceable.

The court clarified that the expectation of a contingency materializing is not a factor in determining if an interest in land is created.

The appeal was allowed, and the relevant sections of the 1981 Agreement were declared void.

The appellant, Steve Maynard, appealed the Superior Court's dismissal of his application to quash five municipal by-laws.

The application judge had found that the challenge to the by-laws, based on their alleged inconsistency with a provincial policy statement and non-conformity with an official plan, fell within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT), now the Ontario Land Tribunal.

The Court of Appeal affirmed this decision, holding that it was plain and obvious that the LPAT (or its successor) had exclusive jurisdiction over such matters under the Planning Act.

The appeal was dismissed, and costs were awarded to the respondent.

This appeal concerned the interpretation of a 1988 agreement between a school board and a municipality for snow and garbage removal services provided in exchange for the sale of a school property for $1.

The municipality unilaterally terminated the services in 2017, arguing the contract was terminable on reasonable notice.

The Court of Appeal found that the application judge erred in characterizing the agreement as a personal services contract and in his analysis of surrounding circumstances.

The Court concluded that the agreement was perpetual in nature, given the upfront transfer of an enduring capital asset by the school board and the public nature of the parties' mutually beneficial arrangement, which was not primarily commercial.

The City of Ottawa appealed a trial judgment that found it liable for negligent misrepresentation to Charlesfort Developments Limited.

Charlesfort claimed the City failed to accurately inform it about a water main in an easement during a rezoning process, leading to significant project delays and increased costs for a condominium development.

The Court of Appeal allowed the City's appeal, holding that the City did not owe Charlesfort a private law duty of care.

The Court clarified that the City's undertaking in processing a rezoning application was to fulfill its statutory duty in the public interest, not to protect the developer's economic interests or assure project viability.

The appellants appealed a summary judgment dismissing their remaining claims for damages arising from the respondent municipality's enactment of a fill permit by-law and its unsuccessful prosecution of the appellants for breach of that by-law.

The appellants claimed malicious prosecution, misfeasance and abuse of public office, and damages from the invalid fee provisions.

The Court of Appeal upheld the summary judgment, finding no genuine issues requiring trial on any of the claims.

The respondent had reasonable and probable cause to initiate and continue the prosecution, and there was no evidence of bad faith or unlawful conduct in enacting the by-law.

The appellants purchased two parcels of land in an unorganized township in the District of Parry Sound and sought a declaration that Trussler Road, which crossed respondents' private property, was a public highway.

The appellants claimed the road qualified as a public highway under section 261 of the Municipal Act based on colonization road status, statute labour, or dedication and acceptance.

The motion judge dismissed the claims on all grounds.

The Court of Appeal upheld the dismissal, finding no reversible error in the motion judge's conclusion that the appellants failed to establish dedication and acceptance on the evidence.

The court found the use of the road was consistent with neighbourly tolerance rather than public dedication.

The appellants, owners of several hookah lounges in the Regional Municipality of Peel, challenged by-law No. 30-2016, which prohibits waterpipe smoking in enclosed public places, enclosed workplaces, and restaurant or bar patios.

The appellants argued the by-law was ultra vires the Region, conflicted with provincial occupational health and safety legislation, and was enacted in bad faith.

The application judge dismissed the application, finding the by-law was a valid exercise of municipal authority aimed at protecting public health and safety.

The Court of Appeal upheld this decision, dismissing the appeal and awarding costs to the respondent.

The appellant town appealed a decision dismissing its application for a declaration that its large-scale commercial aggregate extraction operation on property located in the respondent township was a permitted use under the township's zoning by-law or alternatively constituted a legal non-conforming use under the Planning Act.

The application judge found that the extraction operation was not permitted under the zoning by-law and did not qualify as a legal non-conforming use because the historical use of the property was as a municipal park with only incidental and ancillary extraction for municipal purposes.

The court found that the expansion from incidental extraction to large-scale commercial extraction constituted a change in the type of use rather than a mere intensification.

The appeal was dismissed, and costs were awarded to the respondent.

A tragic motor vehicle accident occurred on November 22, 2000, when a 20-year-old driver lost control of her vehicle on a snow-covered regional road during a winter storm and collided with an oncoming school bus, sustaining catastrophic injuries.

The plaintiff and her family sued the municipality for negligence, alleging failure to maintain the road in a reasonable state of repair under the Municipal Act.

At trial, the municipality was found 100% liable for approximately $12 million in damages.

On appeal, the municipality challenged the trial judge's findings regarding statutory defences under sections 284(1.2) and 284(1.3) of the Municipal Act and the trial judge's rejection of a contributory negligence claim.

The Court of Appeal upheld the trial judgment, finding that the municipality had actual or constructive knowledge of the risk of road refreezing and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the hazardous conditions that caused the accident.

A minor plaintiff catastrophically injured in a motor vehicle accident in 2007 sought to add a municipality as a defendant in 2015.

The municipality argued the claim was statute-barred under the Limitations Act, 2002 and that notice was not given within the required ten-day period under the Municipal Act, 2001.

The motion judge allowed the amendment.

On appeal, the Court of Appeal held that while the two-year limitation period did not bar the claim (as it began running when the mother held herself out as litigation guardian in June 2014), the ten-day notice requirement was not satisfied.

The mother, as litigation guardian, had no reasonable excuse for failing to give notice within ten days of the accident, and the claim against the municipality was therefore barred.

The appellant appealed a decision of the Superior Court of Justice in which the trial judge determined that the site occupied by the appellant belonged to the City of Toronto and that the appellant was not authorized to place his property there.

The appellant raised substantially the same arguments on appeal.

The Court of Appeal found that the trial judge's determination regarding ownership of the site was a question of fact and that no palpable and overriding error had been committed.

The conclusion that the City had the authority to remove and destroy the appellant's property was well-founded.

The appeal was dismissed with no costs awarded.

On appeal from a trial judgment finding the municipal defendants liable for damages arising from a motor vehicle accident on a rural road during winter conditions.

The appellants challenged the trial judge's interpretation and application of the Municipal Act, 2001 duty to clear roads of snow and ice.

The trial judge found the road in a state of non-repair and held the municipality failed to take reasonable steps to prevent or correct the condition.

The appellants argued the trial judge applied an unreasonably high standard of maintenance for a Class 4 rural road, erred in requiring the application of straight salt rather than sand/salt mixture, and excluded relevant evidence regarding financial costs.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal in part, set aside the liability findings, and ordered a new trial on liability issues while upholding the damages assessment.