B.C. Court Of Appeal Certifies Class Action Arising From Multi-Jurisdictional Antitrust Case

Article by Peter Franklyn , Christopher P. Naudie , Tristram J. Mallett and Jason MacLean

There has been a surge in competition class actions in Canada in recent years, and in most instances, these cases have been brought on the heels of international regulatory investigations in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere. However, to date, there have only been a small number of antitrust class actions in Canada that have proceeded to a contested certification motion. In virtually all of these cases, certification was denied, largely on the basis that the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate a "rigorous" and "workable" expert methodology for establishing loss and liability under the Competition Act on a class-wide basis. However, in the past two years, the courts in Ontario have certified two vertical class actions involving narrow and (arguably) direct classes. More recently, in September, the Ontario Superior Court certified a consolidated class of direct and indirect