Business

  • August 07, 2026

    Ontario climate case continues despite failure of bid to reopen appeal

    A constitutional challenge to Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions standards will carry on despite a decision by the province’s top court not to reopen the appeal that initially gave the case the go-ahead. The Ontario Court of Appeal’s Aug. 5 ruling in Mathur v. Ontario, 2026 ONCA 561 is the latest step in a long running legal dispute that dates back to 2019, when seven young Ontarians launched a challenge arguing the province’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets, and the plan to reach those targets, violated their rights under sections 7 and 15 of the Charter.

  • August 06, 2026

    Alberta creates advisory panel amid record number of surface rights applications

    The Alberta government has announced a new Surface Rights Advisory Panel to recommend improvements to the province’s system for resolving disputes when private land is used for resource development, following a record number of surface rights applications in 2025-26.

  • August 06, 2026

    Court upholds dismissal of CUPW defamation action over comments that it supports Hamas

    The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld the dismissal of a defamation action brought by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) over comments suggesting it supported terrorism and Hamas, finding that the defence of fair comment applied even though the statements were defamatory and substantially untrue.

  • August 06, 2026

    Amendments to B.C.’s Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act are now in effect

    Changes to B.C.’s Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act are now in effect, modernizing consumer protection laws that “regulate consumer contracts to better reflect the marketplace, promote fairness and transparency, strengthen consumer rights and help people make informed financial decisions.”

  • August 06, 2026

    Ontario proposes streamlining 13 natural resource permits, impacting wildlife, forestry

    The Ontario government is proposing changes to “modernize and streamline 13 natural resource permits,” which would allow mining and infrastructure projects to “move forward faster and with greater certainty.”

  • August 06, 2026

    Prediction markets and tax law: How prediction-market trading triggers crypto tax rules

    Part one of this series established that the source-of-income analysis under Stewart v. Canada, 2002 SCC 46 is the threshold inquiry for prediction-market participants, and that Leblanc v. The Queen, 2006 TCC 680 — which held that systematic sports lottery wagering did not constitute a business — is the most directly applicable Canadian authority, albeit one whose reasoning does not map cleanly onto the structural features of prediction-market trading. Part two addresses the next analytical layer: assuming a source of income exists, how should the underlying prediction-market contracts be characterized, and what additional tax consequences arise from the cryptocurrency infrastructure through which most major platforms operate?

  • August 06, 2026

    Ontario decision determines transfer by corporate property owner not a fraudulent instrument

    The Ontario land titles registry was designed to promote certainty and reliability in real estate transactions. A potential buyer is generally entitled to rely on what is reflected in the registered title (known as the “mirror principle”) and, unless they have notice of competing claims, they should be able to acquire title without investigating past dealings or private disputes that may exist behind the registered ownership (known as the “curtain principle”).

  • August 06, 2026

    When a red card isn’t the end: FIFA’s Balogun decision explained

    After spending several days considering how the United States’ men’s national team would adapt to missing their top scorer following a controversial red card, the footballing world learned that Folarin Balogun’s one-match suspension had been suspended by FIFA’s disciplinary committee, and that he would be eligible to play in the Round of 16 match against Belgium on July 6.

  • August 06, 2026

    Ontario court of appeal, dissent examines justice system’s response to child sexual abuse

    On Nov. 27, 2024, J.C. pleaded guilty to possession of child sexual abuse and exploitation material (CSAEM) and was sentenced to a one-year custodial term, followed by three years’ probation.

  • August 06, 2026

    ‘Solicitor’s eyes only’ orders in trademark litigation: Protecting sensitive competitive information

    In an action for trademark infringement, an associate judge of the Federal Court allowed the defendant’s request to protect certain confidential information by means of a “solicitor’s eyes only” (SEO) designation. The designation would prevent the plaintiff from accessing specified confidential information produced in the litigation (Northern Reflections Ltd. v Aritzia Inc.).

  • August 05, 2026

    Marks & Clerk promotes Wilfred So to partner

    Marks & Clerk has promoted Wilfred So to partner, effective Aug. 1, 2026.

  • August 05, 2026

    Ontario initiates review of key agencies to strengthen oversight

    On Aug. 5, the Ontario government announced that it would be “strengthening oversight of key provincial agencies by launching a series of reviews to ensure they are sustainable and that the vital frontline services that families and businesses rely on are protected and continuously improved.”

  • August 05, 2026

    Solicitor-client-privileged advice not a registerable ‘foreign influence activity’: commissioner

    Foreign Influence Transparency Commissioner Anton Boegman has issued guidance about when “licensed legal professionals” are required to register their work for foreign principals as “influence activities” in the new public foreign influence registry. The new commissioner issued five interpretation bulletins — including one specifically for lawyers — to give guidance on how to comply with the obligations under the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act (FITAA) and its regulations, which came into force Aug. 4.

  • August 05, 2026

    Shimon Sherrington joins BD&P’s litigation group

    Shimon Sherrington has joined BD&P as an associate in its commercial litigation and dispute resolution group in Calgary.

  • August 05, 2026

    Court orders new trial as plaintiffs denied opportunity to address unpleaded defences

    The Ontario Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial in a collection action, finding that the trial judge relied on two unpleaded defences to dismiss the case without giving the plaintiffs a meaningful opportunity to respond.

  • August 05, 2026

    Corporations Canada releases 2025 diversity report on management, boards of directors

    Corporations Canada released its 2025 annual report on Aug. 5, which showed some progress on advancing diversity on boards of directors and in senior management of federal distributing corporations.

  • August 05, 2026

    Five noteworthy Ontario class action decisions from Q2 2026

    This past quarter featured several Ontario decisions refusing stays of parallel and individual actions. Courts also considered competing approaches to the predominance test, allowed failure-to-warn and recall-notice claims involving allegedly flawed product designs to proceed and varied an unpaid costs award to make plaintiff’s counsel personally liable.

  • August 05, 2026

    Belgium soccer ruling offers competition law lessons for Canada

    Promotion and relegation in professional sports leagues are often viewed as matters of sports governance. For teams facing relegation or promotion, the financial implications can be significant. However, in some circumstances, rules governing movement between leagues may also raise competition law concerns where they favour certain clubs over others and materially affect access to promotion opportunities or the ability to avoid relegation.

  • August 05, 2026

    Statutory privative clauses are dead

    A unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of Canada has struck down a privative clause that restricted the grounds for judicial review of an exercise of statutory authority: Democracy Watch v. Canada (Attorney General), 2026 SCC 28.

  • August 04, 2026

    Ottawa’s foreign influence registry opens with penalties up to $1M; registration now required

    New legal requirements to register foreign influence activities kicked in today, with the entry into force of the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act and its regulations. On Aug. 4, the federal government stood up its long-awaited public registry of foreign influence activities, implementing an election promise made by the previous Justin Trudeau-led Liberal government.

  • August 04, 2026

    Court approves federal government data breach class action settlement

    The Federal Court has approved a class action settlement relating to alleged privacy breaches of Government of Canada online accounts, including the Canada Revenue Agency’s “My Account” and “Represent a Client” accounts, My Service Canada accounts and other accounts accessed using GCKey.

  • August 04, 2026

    Prediction markets and tax law: What tax category do prediction markets belong to?

    Prediction markets are not gambling. They are not securities markets. They are not derivatives exchanges. They exhibit characteristics of all three simultaneously, and that ambiguity is precisely what makes them one of the most analytically interesting problems in Canadian tax law today.

  • August 04, 2026

    SCC clarifies path for misfeasance claims against public officials in Resler v. Anglin

    The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision to allow a claim for misfeasance in public office against Alberta’s chief electoral officer to proceed to the merits in Resler v. Anglin, 2026 SCC 23 highlights the boundary between public and private law remedies for acts of public officials, the challenges of striking a far-fetched but properly pleaded claim, and the trade-offs in finding the right case to resolve unsettled legal issues like loss of chance damages.

  • August 04, 2026

    Ontario Court of Appeal decision shines light on often overlooked truth about justice system

    Most people assume that once a judge has decided a case, writing the reasons is merely a matter of putting pen to paper. The Ontario Court of Appeal has now reminded us that the law views it differently.

  • August 04, 2026

    Federal labour law update: CIRB interprets new replacement worker restrictions

    The Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) has released its first merits decision interpreting the new replacement worker provisions under the Canada Labour Code, which were introduced in 2025 through Bill C-58. The decision clarifies that the new rules do not create a blanket prohibition on the use of replacement workers in unionized federally regulated workplaces but instead restrict the use of specified categories of persons during lawful strikes and lockouts.

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