Canada Case Law

Bilin v. Sidhu

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Applying Rule 14-1(3) and related authority, the registrar concluded that defendant Hardip's repeated disclosure failures, lack of candour and fabricated/reconstructed evidence unjustifiably lengthened the litigation and warranted special costs. The registrar allowed special costs for the action through assessment but applied a small reduction to the amount claimed to account for fees potentially attributable to appearances for which costs were not awarded or for appeals. The proper award after assessment was $260,000 inclusive of disbursements, taxes and assessment costs, and the registrar d…

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• Promissory note
• Resulting trust
• Special costs
• Disclosure and discovery
• Certificate of pending litigation
• Costs assessment

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Cabalona v. Turney

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The Family Law Act applies; on a s.89 assessment the court found both parties economically needy but Turney more disadvantaged (incapacity, low fixed income, cannot self-represent) and that a further large interim distribution to the claimant would likely harm Turney's interests given the disputed cohabitation agreement and prior $200,000 distribution; balancing necessity and potential harm, the court exercised its discretion to grant a limited interim distribution of $50,000 to Turney for future legal fees and disbursements only, and denied the claimant's application for a second interim dis…

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• Interim distribution
• Family law act s.89
• Cohabitation agreement enforceability
• Litigation funding
• Capacity and committee proceedings
• Consent orders

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Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance v. Independent Fisheries Limited

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Defendants failed to meet the persuasive burden to show that the Amended Statement of Claim lacked required material particulars under CPR 38.03(3); many demands sought evidentiary detail or information likely solely within defendants' knowledge and not material facts that must be pleaded. Given the regulatory complexity and public interest, disclosure/production and discovery are the appropriate mechanisms to develop the detailed factual record, so an order for further particulars is not warranted and the motion is dismissed.

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• Particulars and pleading requirements
• Civil conspiracy
• Intentional interference with economic relations
• Unjust enrichment
• Trespass
• Novel tort doctrine

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Mao v. Bazuaye

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court dismissed a personal injury action for want of prosecution, finding the plaintiff’s long delay in moving the case forward was inordinate and inexcusable.

• Want of prosecution
• Dismissal for delay
• Disclosure and discovery
• Prejudice and limitation
• Want-of-prosecution
• Civil-procedure

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Klassen v. Epp

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court struck Donna Marie Klassen’s civil claim, holding her later tort action over an alleged 2018 sexual assault was barred by res judicata and abuse of process.

• Res judicata
• Abuse of process
• Consent orders and settlement interpretation
• Scfr r.21-5 irregularity vs nullity
• Disclosure and discovery
• Sexual assault in domestic context

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Bayat v. Nguyen

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court ordered the relationship issue tried first in this family law dispute, postponing discovery on beneficial interests and scheduling a 10-day trial.

• Marriage-like relationship
• Beneficial interest in property
• Severance of issues
• Parenting agreement
• Child support
• Unjust enrichment

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Isnor v Boutilier

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Given the mixed but predominantly successful outcome for the mother, the non-monetary importance and complexity of the issues, the absence of a clear 'amount involved' for tariff calculation, the case law permitting a lump sum in such circumstances, and after assessing offers to settle and conduct, the court exercised its discretion to award party-and-party lump sum costs of CAD 21,909.60 to the mother rather than apply Tariff A or a rule-of-thumb per diem calculation.

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• Parenting time
• Decision-making authority
• Imputation of income
• Retroactive child support
• Party and party costs
• Lump sum costs vs tariff

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Chief Michelle Glasgow et al. v. Attorney General of Canada v. Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The court granted the request in part: it released the May 2025 trial dates and lifted the established pre-trial schedule to permit focused mediation, but imposed a firm, limited pause only until December 12, 2024; the trial dates were deemed irretrievably lost given the timing and the impossibility of completing pre-trial steps, and the court balanced the preference for negotiated, nation-to-nation resolution against prejudice to the intervenor and the court's case management interests and concluded a finite mediation period was appropriate.

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• Treaty rights
• Moderate livelihood
• Adjournment and trial scheduling
• Mediation and settlement
• Justification of infringement
• Disclosure and discovery

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Cineplex - Scheduling Order

Court

Competition Tribunal

The Tribunal concluded the jointly proposed and Tribunal‑revised schedule was appropriate, complied with the Timelines Direction and subsection 9(2) of the Competition Tribunal Act, and therefore issued a scheduling order setting specific discovery, disclosure, motion and hearing dates and procedures, including rules on confidentiality designations and affidavit support.

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• Deceptive marketing practices
• Disclosure and discovery
• Confidentiality designations
• Competition tribunal procedure

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Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd. v. Sandoz Canada Inc.

Court

Federal Court

The Federal Court dismissed motions to force earlier service of invention-story evidence in two PM(NOC) actions, finding no compelling reason to alter the usual evidence sequence.

• Validity (obviousness, utility, overbreadth)
• Inventors' course of conduct
• Sequencing of evidence
• Disclosure and discovery
• Case management
• Costs

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