Quebec Superior Court: Tenant Cannot Rely On A Lease To Avoid Liability For Gross Negligence

Contracts such as leases or insurance contracts are generally governed by the will of the contracting parties. The Quebec Superior Court recently affirmed, however, that parties to a contract cannot purport to do indirectly through a contract that which the law prohibits them from doing directly.¹

Pursuant to Article 1474 of the Civil Code of Québec (the CCQ), a contracting party may not exclude or limit its liability resulting from gross negligence or an intentional wrongful act. In this recent case, the court rejected a tenant's motion to dismiss an action instituted by its landlord and the landlord's insurer in subrogation, as granting this motion would risk contravening Article 1474 CCQ.