Canada Case Law

Eng v. Sit

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The trial judge permissibly accepted counsel's abandonment of penalty and costs claims, and correctly interpreted the loan agreement as providing for simple, not compound, interest based on the contract language, the surrounding circumstances (including that the plaintiff drafted the agreement), and analogous authorities; issues of promissory estoppel and collateral agreement were not pleaded or developed at trial and thus were not appropriately raised on cross-appeal.

Source excerpt

• Loan agreement interpretation
• Simple versus compound interest
• Penalty clause
• Guarantee of debt
• Promissory estoppel
• Collateral agreement

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Patrick Street Holdings Ltd. v. 11368 NL Inc.

Court

Supreme Court of Canada

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed Patrick Street’s appeal, holding that cause of action estoppel barred its renewed claim to payment under a $4 million mortgage.

• Res judicata
• Cause of action estoppel
• Issue estoppel
• Abuse of process by relitigation
• Pleading obligations
• Power of sale

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Chayil Church v. Soneil Pickering Inc.

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the order dismissing the application, and remitted the lease-interpretation dispute for a new hearing.

• Lease interpretation
• Termination clause
• Estoppel certificate
• Injunction
• Contract amendments
• Remittal

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Oranchuk v. Oranchuk

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Although the plaintiff conferred some benefit and suffered a corresponding deprivation, the court found a juristic reason for the enrichment in the implied reciprocal arrangement exchanging labour for accommodation and, alternatively, that the plaintiff's expectations were unreasonable; further, the claim was barred by laches because of long acquiescence and delay. The unjust enrichment claim was dismissed and no constructive trust was imposed.

Source excerpt

• Unjust enrichment
• Constructive trust
• Laches / acquiescence
• Implied contract (labour for accommodation)
• Credibility and evidence

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Valley's Edge Park Ltd. v. Holden

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Clause 5.13 of the Statutory Building Scheme does not clearly and unequivocally entitle the administrator to solicitor-client or full indemnity costs in the circumstances of this case because the clause, properly interpreted, contemplates costs tied to physical work to cure a breach and payment is triggered by delivery of an invoice; accordingly full indemnity costs are refused and the petitioner is awarded party-and-party costs on Scale B.

Source excerpt

• Statutory building scheme
• Contractual indemnity for legal fees
• Solicitor-client vs party-and-party costs
• Injunction
• Equitable damages
• Contract interpretation

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1459534 B.C. Ltd. v. Polajzar

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The notice of civil claim fails to plead the material particulars necessary to sustain a breach of the duty of honest contractual performance because it does not identify the specific representations, how they were dishonest, or how any dishonesty was directly linked to performance of the CPS and Addendum; however, because an amendment could cure the pleading defects and no non-compensable prejudice was shown, the plaintiff is granted leave to amend; the purchaser's lien claim raises conflicting factual issues on the affidavits and is not bound to fail on summary judgment, so the Rule 9-6 app…

Source excerpt

• Duty of honest contractual performance
• Purchaser's lien
• Summary judgment
• Pleadings
• Specific performance
• Time is of the essence / forfeiture

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RStyle Enterprises Ltd. v. 1308879 B.C. Ltd.

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The appeal is allowed because a purchaser's lien is an equitable interest in land that can support a CPL and the ANOCC in this case pleads the material facts identified in 133 (CA) (valid contract, deposit paid to seller, contract went off through no fault of purchaser); therefore the chambers judge erred to cancel the CPL under s.215(1).

Source excerpt

• Certificate of pending litigation
• Purchaser's lien
• Land title act s.215(1)
• Specific performance
• Deposit forfeiture

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Vivavivo Inc. v. Signalchem Lifesciences Corporation

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court exercised its discretion under s.245(2) BCA to refuse a mandatory referral to arbitration because arbitration cannot be compelled over an opposing party and the petitioners did not show arbitration would be more efficient; the petitioners failed to show a real risk of dissipation or inability to pay beyond a mere suspicion given the substantial funds already held in trust pursuant to the consent order and supporting Evans valuation, so injunctive relief and orders for additional funds were refused; however, equitable considerations permitted immediate partial release (50%) of the fu…

Source excerpt

• Dissenters' rights
• Payout value
• Share valuation
• Arbitration referral under s.245(2)
• Interim injunctions
• Consent order

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V2 Investment Holdings Inc. v. Mizrahi

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal from judgment on a loan, holding the application record showed ongoing negotiations and no binding amending agreement.

• Loan agreement enforcement
• Mortgage registration and priority
• Conversion of application to action
• Credibility findings on paper record
• Equitable set-off and counterclaim
• Costs

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Blankstein v. Hayes Davis Investments Inc.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Summary judgment dismissed because material triable issues exist: evidence supports that the Option Agreement may be intimately connected to the services agreement (Sail Labrador) and factual disputes remain about whether defendant's conduct hindered exercise or justified equitable relief to excuse non-compliance; these issues cannot be resolved on a Rule 9-6 application.

Source excerpt

• Option agreements
• Specific performance
• Failure of consideration
• Summary judgment
• Relief from forfeiture
• Substantial non-performance

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