The respondent dentists participated in an advertising campaign and were charged with professional misconduct under a regulation restricting dental advertising.
They challenged the constitutionality of the regulation.
The Supreme Court of Canada held that the regulation infringed the guarantee of freedom of expression under s. 2(b) of the Charter, as it prohibited legitimate forms of commercial expression and purposefully limited content.
The Court further held that the infringement could not be justified under s. 1 of the Charter because the absolute prohibition on all advertising, subject only to narrow exceptions, was overly broad and disproportionate to the objective of maintaining professionalism and preventing misleading advertising.
The appeal was dismissed and the regulation was struck down.
