Canada Case Law

Rissesco v. Rahman

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Adjudicator Pink's findings were supported by the summary and record and thus owed deference; the respondents did not become the appellants' landlord in a manner creating ongoing landlord-tenant obligations because the appellants vacated before closing; the Statutory Declaration was not a misrepresentation given respondents' understood use of "we" to include a family member and their documented good faith efforts to secure Ms. Shen's return; fresh evidence was inadmissible; purchasers do not owe the alleged duty of care to former tenants in these circumstances; appeal dismissed.

Source excerpt

• Section 10aa rta
• Notice to quit (form dr2)
• Bad faith eviction
• Statutory declaration
• Fresh evidence (palmer test)
• Duty of care

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Capital Residential Contracting Limited v. MacKenzie

Court

Nova Scotia Small Claims Court

Claimant's claims were dismissed for failure to prove on a balance of probabilities that the claimed extras and alleged damages were their contractual entitlement or supported by reliable evidence. The Defendant's counterclaim succeeded in part where the adjudicator accepted reliable evidence (including witness testimony and a specific Floors Plus quote) that the laminate flooring was improperly installed and required replacement; the adjudicator adopted the Floors Plus estimate for flooring, applied a reduced Gionet figure for baseboards, and awarded limited amounts for shower head replaceme…

Source excerpt

• Breach of contract
• Defective workmanship
• Damages assessment
• Admissibility and weight of estimates/quotes
• Change orders and variation of contract

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Thunder Bay (City) v. Great American Insurance Company

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

One section of the policy's lead exclusion is ambiguous; because ambiguity leaves a mere possibility of coverage, the insurer must defend the City under the established threshold in Progressive Homes; appeal dismissed and insurer ordered to defend.

Source excerpt

• Duty to defend
• Insurance policy exclusions
• Interpretation of exclusion clauses
• Insurance act s.124

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Layes v. Ramar Construction Limited

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Summary judgment dismissed on limitation issues for most structural claims because genuine, arguable issues exist about when plaintiffs discovered latent structural defects (discoverability +/- August 2018); claim that foundation walls were too low is statute-barred and dismissed; fraud and fraudulent misrepresentation claims against individual directors Larry and Darrell Marchand fail for want of pleaded and evidentiary particulars and are dismissed; abuse of process dismissal denied because the 2020 claims are distinct latent claims not resolved by the 2014 settlement and dismissal would be…

Source excerpt

• Breach of contract
• Negligence
• Builders lien
• Limitation period and discoverability
• Abuse of process/relitigation
• Fraudulent misrepresentation

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Chung v. British Columbia (Minister of Health)

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal allowed Chung’s negligence claim to proceed over the handling of a special drug funding request, but upheld dismissal of the Charter claims.

• Duty of care
• Pharmaceutical funding policy
• Charter ss.7 12 15
• Procedural fairness
• Adverse impact discrimination
• Policy immunity

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Johnson v. Canada

Court

Federal Court

The Federal Court dismissed an inmate’s damages action alleging second-hand smoke exposure at Warkworth Institution from smudging and contraband tobacco.

• Second-hand smoke
• Smudging
• Commissioner’s directive 259
• Limitation period
• Duty of care
• Causation

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Pasternak v. Morden

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

A BC trial court held that a real estate contract was repudiated, that the husband acted as the wife’s agent, and that the realtor’s breaches did not cause the loss.

• Anticipatory breach
• Deposit obligations
• Implied and actual agency
• Causation (but‑for)
• Mitigation of loss
• Real estate agent standard of care

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0790482 B.C. Ltd. v. KBK No. 11 Ventures Ltd.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court certified a class proceeding over alleged defective IGUs in Shangri-La’s curtain wall, certifying liability issues and deferring damages methodology questions.

• Breach of implied warranty
• Pre-sale contract breach
• Class certification criteria
• Aggregate monetary awards
• Loss of amenity damages
• Privity/standing

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3258042 Nova Scotia Limited v. Transport Canpar L.P.

Court

Nova Scotia Court of Appeal

The appeal is allowed and the trial judgment awarding damages is set aside because the Court of Appeal found the trial judge erred in implying a Building Code compliance term into the Lease; the Lease, read as a whole (including non-liability, indemnity and insurance clauses), allocated the risk of loss to the tenant regardless of the cause; the negligence finding lacked evidentiary foundation and was unreasonable; accordingly the trial award for damages, pre-judgment interest and costs was set aside.

Source excerpt

• Implied terms
• Allocation of risk
• Standard of care
• Interpretation of lease
• Non-liability clauses
• Damages assessment

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Baldwin v. Imperial Metals Corporation

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court allowed the appeal because the motion judge imposed an unduly onerous, textual standard for "public correction" at the leave stage; public correction need not be an express mirror‑image of the alleged misrepresentation and must be assessed in context and by reference to how the market would understand it; the leave motion is remitted to the Superior Court for a reasoned reconsideration consistent with these principles.

Source excerpt

• Public correction
• Secondary market misrepresentation
• Leave to commence (s.138.8)
• Statutory reliance/deemed causation
• Evidentiary standard at leave stage

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