Canada Case Law

Harbut v. Berti

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court exercised its discretion to adjourn the April 7, 2026 trial because the prejudice to defendants from proceeding without further discovery and expert preparation outweighed the plaintiffs' prejudice from delay; the court granted leave to Burley Boys and Metro to add BITS and Maddison as third parties because there is arguable material supporting contribution/indemnity claims and uncertainty about limitation expiry, and directed that any limitation defence by the proposed third parties be determined in the third‑party proceedings on a fuller evidentiary record.

Source excerpt

• Adjournment
• Third‑party notice
• Contribution and indemnity
• Limitation period discoverability
• Expert evidence
• Discovery timing

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Atom Holdings (Re)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court declined to stay or transfer Atom Holdings’ BC action to Hong Kong under CJPTA s. 11, finding British Columbia remained the better forum.

• Forum non conveniens
• Territorial jurisdiction (cjpta s.11)
• Anton piller order
• Mareva/freeze orders
• Recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings
• Breach of fiduciary duty

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Doordash - Ordonnance établissant l'échéancier (traduction à venir)

Court

Competition Tribunal

The Tribunal concluded that the joint proposed schedule respected the directive in s.9(2) of the Competition Tribunal Act and the Timelines Direction and therefore granted a scheduling order setting specific deadlines for disclosure, motions, discovery, mediation, evidentiary filings, and the hearing dates; the timetable ensures an expeditious and fair process respecting parties’ proposals.

Source excerpt

• Scheduling orders
• Pre-hearing disclosure
• Examinations for discovery
• Confidentiality designations
• Motions practice
• Mediation

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7779615 Canada Inc. v. British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court held that while the plaintiffs failed to fully comply with the mandatory written-demand procedures for additional documentary discovery and in some requests the plaintiffs' phrasing was vague or premised on incorrect assumptions, BC Hydro's initial responses to several specific examination requests were inadequate. Applying the broad scope of discovery under Rule 7-2 and the document disclosure rules under Rule 7-1, the court ordered further and better answers to certain requests (#44, #46 (reformulated), #49, #55) where the responses lacked required detail, dismissed other requests…

Source excerpt

• Discovery
• Document production
• Examination for discovery
• Solicitor-client privilege
• Board governance
• Disclosure obligations

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Taylor v. The Western Communities Montessori Society

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court ordered limited disclosure of email recipients and mandatory defamation particulars, but refused broader particulars and a further discovery at this stage.

• Particulars
• Examination for discovery
• Document production
• Proportionality
• Privilege
• Damages

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Sibble v. Google LLC

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court allowed Google to defer its response pleading until its certification response and dismissed the request for pre-certification production of Google Takeout archives.

• Certification
• Pre-certification production
• Discovery
• Consent
• Data export (google takeout)
• Pleading timelines

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Richardson v. The Owners, Strata Plan VR 2083

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court found a triable issue about the validity of a strata AGM/SGM vote and ordered production of Wynford Group emails, with privilege review and cross-examination adjourned.

• Enforcement of tribunal order
• Document production
• Proxy voting and meeting procedure
• Special general meeting
• Significant unfairness
• Functus officio

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Corriveau v. Canada (the King)

Court

Federal Court

The Federal Court granted a class-action discovery motion only in part, ordering particulars on allegedly inappropriate medical procedures and punitive damages, but refusing broader document and discovery requests.

• Systemic negligence
• Vicarious liability
• Sexual assault and battery
• Particulars and pleading
• Affidavit of documents
• Examination for discovery

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Wang v. Wang

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Court ordered limited document production on sale proceeds and continuation of discovery, but refused an overly broad request seeking legal-opinion discovery.

• Discovery
• Document production
• Tracing of funds
• Partnership dispute
• Accounting
• Costs

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Lewis v. WestJet Airlines Ltd.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court granted most of the plaintiff’s document-production requests in a class action over WestJet’s anti-harassment obligations, but refused settlement documents.

• Anti-harassment policy
• Settlement privilege
• Document production
• Investigation reports
• Exit interviews
• Training and onboarding records

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