Civil Litigation
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October 10, 2025
When fired ‘at any time’ doesn’t mean game over: Li v. Wayfair Canada ULC
Termination clauses have long been the horror genre of employment law. Draft them too generously toward the employer, and the courts will strike them down faster than you can say contra proferentem. Draft them too cautiously, and you hand the employee common law notice on a silver platter.
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October 10, 2025
LIMITATION OF ACTIONS - Extension, interruption, suspension and inapplicability
Appeal by appellant from a judgment of the Quebec Court of Appeal affirming a decision that an unsuccessful attempt to seize a debtor’s property by notice of execution interrupted prescription. The appellant was a band council within the meaning of the Indian Act.
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October 09, 2025
New law to allow B.C. to go after vape makers for public health costs
The B.C. government has introduced new legislation which would allow the province to recover public health cost from vaping product manufacturers and wholesalers, according to a release issued on Oct. 8.
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October 09, 2025
New federal Bill C-12 features immigration reforms carved out from contentious ‘strong borders’ bill
The federal government has removed about half of its controversial 140-page omnibus “strong borders” bill (C-2) and inserted excised measures into a newly introduced 70-page “immigration and borders” bill (C-12), which proposes many of the same immigration changes that critics had called on Ottawa to scrap.
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October 09, 2025
Court finds credit union transactions enforceable despite unregistered operations in Alberta
The Alberta Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal and cross-appeal relating to the question of validity and enforcement of transactions in a case where the appellants claimed a Saskatchewan credit union could not carry on business in Alberta.
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October 09, 2025
The horrors of homemade wills: When good intentions go bad
It’s a story estate lawyers know all too well: someone decides to “save a few bucks” by writing their own will — only for the family to end up spending thousands in legal fees after their death. While homemade wills might seem like a simple solution, the reality is far more complicated. The law sets out strict requirements for how a will must be made, and even the smallest misstep can leave your loved ones in legal limbo.
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October 09, 2025
Employment law: Suing during a notice period
Imagine this scenario: a 30-year employee is told their employment will end and given 12 months of working notice. They consult a lawyer, who advises that they are entitled to substantially more. They raise the issue, but the employer tells them bluntly that no further notice will be given and that they should get back to work. The employee then instructs their lawyer to file a Statement of Claim, which is then served while they are still working.
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October 09, 2025
REMEDIES - Equitable remedies - Specific performance
Appeal by Nova Fish from summary trial judge’s decision. Cold Ocean agreed to sell several trout farms to Nova Fish under an Agreement of Purchase and Sale (the Agreement). The trout farms were leased on property from the provincial government.
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October 08, 2025
Fraser calls provinces’ demand to scrap Ottawa’s SCC arguments on notwithstanding clause ‘untenable’
Attorney General of Canada Sean Fraser has pushed back against the demands of five premiers that Ottawa should drop its novel arguments at the Supreme Court that there are substantive constraints on governments’ powers to invoke the Charter’s s. 33 “notwithstanding” clause — arguments that those five provinces contend “represent a complete disavowal of the constitutional bargain that brought the Charter into being” in 1982.
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October 08, 2025
Proposed Uber Eats drip pricing class action to be arbitrated: Federal Court of Appeal
The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal of a Federal Court decision that stayed a putative class action against alleged drip pricing practices by Uber Eats in favour of arbitration, agreeing with the lower court’s findings on consumer protection laws, incapability of performance and inequality of bargaining power.