2020 Class Actions Update (Video)

On January 1, 2026, numerous major amendments to Ontario's Construction Act came into force.

The Supreme Court of Canada held its second annual ceremony marking the opening of the judicial year at its temporary home in the West Memorial Building, with Chief Justice highlighting the Court's increased caseload and architectural features. What significant constitutional and legal challenges will the Court address in its fall 2026 session, including cases on firearm regulations, Crown immunity, and vicarious liability?

In a significant and disappointing turn of events, the remaining sexual assault charges against former megachurch pastor Bruxy Cavey have been withdrawn in a Hamilton courtroom.

An Ontario court granted a motion to bifurcate liability and damages stages in a class action alleging $500 million in hidden fees, finding that extensive documentary production requests were disproportionate and not relevant to determining liability. The decision addresses proportionality concerns in class actions where defendants face onerous discovery demands spanning millions of transactions over a decade.

Québec's Bill 21, enacted in 2019, bans public sector workers from wearing religious symbols and is shielded from most Charter challenges by the notwithstanding clause. The Supreme Court of Canada is now reviewing this controversial law, with a ruling expected as early as November 2026 or later in 2027. Former Minister of Justice Arif Virani discusses the court's struggle to balance competing constitutional principles in this landmark case.

The Ontario Court of Appeal has fundamentally reshaped the law governing non-disclosure of partial settlement agreements in multi-party litigation...

A five-year-old firmware defect in Coldcard hardware wallets has enabled attackers to systematically drain an estimated $116 million in Bitcoin from over 5,200 victims since July 2026. This unprecedented exploit raises critical questions about manufacturer liability and creates two distinct legal pathways for recovery: blockchain tracing against the perpetrators and potential litigation against Canadian manufacturer Coinkite for product defects that undermined the fundamental security promise of devices mar

A question that often arises in civil sexual assault proceedings is how to gain access to evidence collected for the purpose of a related criminal proceeding.

Deepfakes are reaching courts. Learn how a U.S. case dismissed for AI-generated evidence and Canadian authentication rules are changing what litigators must do now.

On October 28, 2025, Bill 101, An Act to improve certain labour laws, received royal assent. Through this omnibus bill, Québec’s Labour Minister proposed significant reforms to grievance arbitration practices, along with numerous amendments to various workplace laws.

On March 5, 2025, Canada published a Final State of PFAS Report finding that the entire class of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)...

The United States has escalated its trade dispute with Canada by imposing import bans on alcoholic beverages, dairy products, and motorcycles under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, while Canada responds with matched counter-tariffs on $27.6 billion worth of U.S. goods. Following the collapse of bilateral negotiations in August 2026, both nations have entered an unprecedented phase of trade restrictions that extends beyond traditional tariffs to include procurement exclusions and threatens further auto

A major U.S. vendor agreement has established a rigorous new AI safety standard for educational technology, prohibiting the use of student data for AI training and enforcing strict data minimization. While the standard does not directly bind vendors in Canada, Canadian school boards can leverage this precedent to demand equivalent contractual protections and strengthen their own AI governance frameworks.

The Supreme Court of Canada held its second annual ceremony marking the opening of the judicial year at its temporary home in the West Memorial Building, with Chief Justice highlighting the Court's increased caseload and architectural features. What significant constitutional and legal challenges will the Court address in its fall 2026 session, including cases on firearm regulations, Crown immunity, and vicarious liability?

The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization’s (CIRO) proposed Incorporated Approved Person model could materially change how client-facing advisors structure their businesses and receive compensation with significant impacts to sponsoring firms. The proposed rule amendments, published on July 9, 2026, would introduce a harmonized incorporated compensation option for client-facing Approved Persons across CIRO regulated dealers. Comments are due November 6, 2026.

On July 2, 2026, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) published its updated Guidance on the Common Reporting Standard (Updated CRS Guidance).

The Government of British Columbia has published the Restricted Insurance Agent Licence Regulation, introducing a new restricted licensing framework...

In June 2022, Health Canada introduced new nutrition labelling regulations for prepackaged foods. A key feature of these regulations is the mandatory use of a front-of-package (FOP) nutrition symbol...

​The amendments to the Contaminated Sites Regulation, which take effect November 1st, 2017, will incorporate new soil, water, and vapour standards.

Since April 1, 2021, residential projects of at least 450 m² (about 5 units or more) in Montréal have been subject to the By-law for a Diverse Metropolis (the BDM).