Canada Case Law

Adams v. Adams

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The Mareva injunction was denied because the claimant did not demonstrate sufficient risk of dissipation, the tax issues had been resolved, there were long delays in seeking the injunction, and granting it would unfairly prejudice the respondent who had been without agreed funds for over two years. On contempt, although the order became clear and compliance was required as of January 16, 2025, ambiguity earlier and the temporally limited and possibly mistaken nature of the claimant's non-compliance meant contempt (a last resort) was not warranted; instead the court ordered enforcement of the…

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• Mareva injunction
• Enforcement of settlement agreement
• Contempt of court
• Costs
• Family law act s.230

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Hickey v. Hickey

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The settlement required only that an independent appraisal be provided and that the respondent consider any offer from the applicant and respond by the stated deadline; the respondent provided the appraisal, considered the applicant's May 28 offer (and communicated a position by the deadline), and was not obliged to accept the offer; the evidence did not establish bad faith by the respondent; therefore the enforcement application fails and is dismissed with costs to the respondent.

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• Enforcement of settlement agreement
• Settlement terms
• Interim injunction
• Offers and counter-offers
• Fiduciary duty of personal representative
• Costs

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0998823 B.C. Ltd. v. Douglas R. Johnson, Architect Ltd.

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal ordered security for costs of $10,000 for the appeal and $5,000 for the underlying proceeding, and stayed the appeal until security is posted.

• Security for costs
• Abuse of process
• Enforcement of settlement agreement
• Stay of proceedings
• Costs assessment
• Security-for-costs

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Zinck v. Stewart

Court

Nova Scotia Court of Appeal

The Court dismissed the enforcement motion for want of jurisdiction because a single Court of Appeal judge lacks original jurisdiction to determine and enforce a settlement agreement; on the stay motion the appellants failed the primary stay test because, although arguable issues exist, they did not prove irreparable harm or exceptional circumstances given the respondent's continued ownership and assessed value of the Nova Scotia property and absence of evidence of insolvency, therefore the stay was denied and costs of $3,000 awarded to the respondent.

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• Stay of execution
• Enforcement of settlement agreement
• Jurisdiction of court of appeal judge
• Costs awards

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Zaidi v. Syed Estate

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The appeal is dismissed because the application judge lawfully rescinded the settlement on evidence of undue influence (with alternative findings of unconscionability and innocent misrepresentation), there was no procedural unfairness, summary determination was appropriate given the parties' conduct, the unjust enrichment claim was not properly before the court, and the costs award was not affected by a demonstrable error in principle.

Source excerpt

• Enforcement of settlement agreement
• Rescission
• Undue influence
• Unconscionability
• Innocent misrepresentation
• Unjust enrichment

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Sall v. Sall

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

On an application to enforce a family settlement, the court held the February 15, 2023 agreement was binding, ordered it enforced with amendments, dismissed the action and petition, and awarded costs.

• Enforcement of settlement agreement
• Breach of trust / proprietary claim
• Transfer of land / conveyance
• Service of process
• Costs assessment
• Settlement-agreements

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Arvanitis v. Slater Vecchio LLP

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal denied a no-fee order, granted security for costs and security for judgment, and stayed the appeal until $12,000 was posted.

• No-fee order
• Security for costs
• Security for judgment
• Enforcement of settlement agreement
• Vexatious litigant
• Contempt

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Bergevin v. Bergevin

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court enforced a 2014 family settlement agreement, ordered steps to transfer property and shares, and refused a broad social media gag order.

• Enforcement of settlement agreement
• Setting aside agreements
• Division of family property
• Specific performance/transfer of shares
• Sale of property
• Appointment under law and equity act s.38

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Grewal v. Mann

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The Supreme Court of British Columbia granted leave to appeal an arbitral award after finding arguable questions of law about contract interpretation, valuation, and evidence.

• Leave to appeal arbitration award
• Contractual interpretation
• Valuation dispute
• Misapprehension of evidence
• Enforcement of settlement agreement
• Arbitration

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Ostainvil v. Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court dismissed the motion because the claimed grounds of appeal were without merit: the dispute is directly related to employment and falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the arbitrator under the settlement protocol, so extension of time to appeal was not warranted.

Source excerpt

• Extension of time to appeal
• Exclusive jurisdiction of arbitrator
• Enforcement of settlement agreement
• Duty of fair representation

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