Municipal Governments Will See An Increase In Class Action Litigation

Background. As providers of essential services such as water, sewer, transit, waste management, housing, long-term care and policing, municipalities have more influence on the day-to-day lives of Canadians than any other level of government.

The same issues that are making headlines on the news and social media, including climate change, COVID-19, homelessness, privacy, and racism, impact these services. At the same time, municipalities are vulnerable to unproven and sometimes inflammatory criticism that circulates on social media, where everyone has a voice regardless of credibility and algorithms create the impression that problems are larger and more common than they actually are.