Cross-Border & Canadian Business Blog
Exploring cross-border business opportunities and trends.
In the legal world, mutual respect between counsel and adherence to professional standards are not just niceties – they are the cornerstone of a functional and effective justice system. A recent case, Singh v Braich, provides a stark reminder that lawyers have a professional responsibility to be courteous, particularly in interactions with junior colleagues, and …
Continue reading “Bullying and Legal Ethics: A Warning from Singh v Braich”
Navigating the intricate balance between freedom of speech and the confines of a regulated profession is not easy these days, especially with the prevalence of social media. This was precisely the challenge the Ontario Superior Court of Justice faced in the headline-grabbing case of Peterson v College of Psychologists of Ontario. The court sided against …
This column was originally published on RENX.ca. Ontario’s highest court has ruled that a landlord cannot arbitrarily refuse to allow a commercial tenant to assign its lease without good reason. The court looked at the applicable facts and information provided to the landlord to determine whether its refusal to consent to lease assignment is unreasonable and …
Continue reading “Ontario Court of Appeal Provides Insight on the Transfer of Commercial Leases”
This column was originally published on RENX.ca In the case of joint property ownership, where one party is indebted to an external creditor, what rights does the creditor hold when the property is sold? The Ontario Court of Appeal recently clarified this, concluding that creditors are only allowed to claim against the debtor’s divisible interest …
Continue reading “Debt Enforcement and Jointly-Owned Property – Lessons from a Recent Decision”
On March 30th, 2023, the Canadian Securities Exchange (the “CSE”) announced that substantial amendments (the “Amendments”) had been made to their policies (the “CSE Policies”), which officially came into effect on April 3rd, 2023. Although the Amendments have an impact on all of the CSE Policies, the focus of this bulletin will be on “Policy …
Continue reading “Amendments to Canadian Securities Exchange Policies”
On April 20, 2023, the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”) adopted, and the OSC provided its notice of approval for, certain amendments (the “Amendments”) to more clearly define the factors that the TSX will now consider when determining whether a prospectus offering is a bona fide public offering or a private placement offering. The Amendments …
Continue reading “TSX Amends Rules for Pricing of Public Offerings”
In recent years, brick-and-mortar businesses faced hardship with government shutdowns forcing them to pay expenses without revenue. Desperate for relief, tenants sought court help but were consistently denied and required to pay rent regardless. Refer to my previous column for more on this matter. Though it may appear that landlords emerged as winners when tenants …
Business owners often use a strategy to protect their assets from potential creditors seeking to realize on their debts. To protect themselves, business owners can transfer ownership of property to family members or create other legal structures to shield assets. However, these strategies (often referred to as “creditor-proofing”) are subject to scrutiny under legislation like …
When parties enter into a transactional contract, they are free to enter into a payment plan agreement for outstanding debt owed under the contract. However, the payment plan itself does not necessarily mean that the parties have entered into a new binding contract. Such was the case in Songbird Life Sciences Inc. v. Connectus Services …
Continue reading “A Payment Plan Does Not Equal a New Contract”
This column was originally published by Daniel Waldman on the Real Estate News Exchange (Renx.ca). At the beginning of the year, a new statute was introduced to address housing supply woes for Canadian citizens. However, after a few short months, the legislation has inadvertently sunk a number of development and real estate investment deals and …