There has long been an implied duty that an employer must act in
good faith when terminating employment contracts. Until now, such a
duty was not necessarily implied in other commercial contracts.
However, all companies should be aware that the recent decision of
the Supreme Court of Canada in Bhasin v. Hyrnew has
changed that.
Mr. Bhasin, the Appellant, operated a retail business as an
enrollment director for Canadian American Financial Corp.
(“Can-Am”). His business sold Can-Am
Registered Education Savings Plans to investors. During the course
of this arrangement Can-Am and Bhasin entered into an agreement,
which governed their relationship. The term of the agreement was
three years. The applicable provision provided that the contract
would renew automatically unless one of the parties gave six
months’ notice to the other that they intended to terminate.
The Respondent, Mr. Hrynew, also operated a business as a Can-Am
enrollment director in direct competition with
