Cross-Border & Canadian Business Blog
Exploring cross-border business opportunities and trends.
Just under the wire, before the end of 2022, Canada enacted a significant change to its copyright law. December 30 was fixed[1] as the day on which section 281 of the Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No. 1 came into force. The result: copyright protection under the Copyright Act of Canada was extended from 50 years …
Continue reading “Good News for Creators: Canada Extends Copyright Term”
In a recent decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal again held that an entire agreement clause in a contract is not a complete defence to claims involving pre-contractual misrepresentation claims. This decision comes on the heels of 10443204 Canada Inc. v. 2701835 Ontario Inc., 2022 ONCA 745, where the Court of Appeal ruled that an entire …
Toronto’s New Vacant Home Tax is an annual tax that will be levied on vacant Toronto residences starting in 2023. The Bylaw supporting the new vacant home tax came into effect on January 1, 2022, and the tax will become payable in 2023. Background The Vacant Home Tax aims to help address the current housing …
Continue reading “Toronto’s New Vacant Home Tax – Deadline Fast Approaching”
This column was originally published by Daniel Waldman on the Real Estate News Exchange (Renx.ca). In a recent and long-awaited ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada has delivered an important decision on the de facto expropriation of land. In Annapolis Group Inc. v Halifax Regional Municipality, the Supreme Court opined on situations where the state …
Continue reading “Supreme Court Limits Government’s Ability to “Constructively Take” Land”
An entire agreement clause clarifies that the document in which it appears (and any other documents specified) constitutes the whole agreement between the parties. This helps ensure contractual certainty: the parties know that the deal is confined to the four corners of the document. Generally, when a contract contains an “entire agreement” clause, a party …
A recent decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal has confirmed that an arbitrator has jurisdiction to resolve a dispute through a summary judgment motion. The decision confirms that an arbitrator’s discretion is delineated by the arbitration agreement reached between the parties. In Optiva Inc. v. Tbaytel, the parties, Tbaytel (“Tbaytel”) and Optiva Inc. (“Optiva”), …
Continue reading “Arbitrations Can Be Determined by Summary Judgment”
This column was originally published on the Real Estate News Exchange (Renx.ca). In the latest chapter in the commercial tenancy battles caused by the pandemic, Ontario’s highest court has set out the limits on relief from forfeiture of a commercial lease. This time, a major anchor tenant in a shopping mall asked for help after …
This column was originally published on the Real Estate News Exchange (Renx.ca). An important decision from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has affirmed two important principles: (1) Pre-construction assets should only be transferred when the builder’s consent is obtained; and (2) Parties should never lose sight of the obligation to act in good faith …
On April 11, 2022 new requirements for reporting the electronic monitoring of employees were added to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”). By October 11, 2022, employers with 25 or more employees must have a written policy on electronic monitoring. The 25-employee threshold is based on the number of employees as of January 1, 2022. …
Continue reading “Employee Electronic Monitoring Policy in Ontario”
Introduction On October 3, 2022, the Honourable Melanie Joly, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced that Canada was imposing sanctions on 25 Iranian officials and 9 Iranian entities/organizations that are directly involved with implementing “repressive measures [to] violate human rights and spread the Iranian regime’s propaganda and misinformation.”[1] This announcement comes just one week after …
Continue reading “Canada Sanctions Iranian Officials for ‘Systematic Human Rights Violations’”