2014 Securities Class Actions Year In Review

The year 2014 brought further development and maturity to Canadian securities class action regimes but the case law continues to reveal discordant themes.

Preliminary issues relating to jurisdiction, the leave test and certification remained a primary focus, while the Supreme Court of Canada's granting of leave in four securities class actions will open the door to a new level of appellate guidance that will hopefully resolve some of the most significant controversies arising from the early cases interpreting Part XXIII.1 of the Ontario Securities Act (OSA) and its provincial counterparts. These controversies include the interpretation of the statutory limitation provision, the leave standard, and the appropriateness of certifying "common-law claims" advanced in tandem with statutory secondary market misrepresentation claims.