Alberta Court Of Queen's Bench Determines Arbitration Must Proceed Under Alberta's International Commercial Arbitration Act

In Toyota Tsusho Wheatland Inc v Encana Corporation¹, the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench dealt with the tension between the contractual autonomy of international parties to deal with disputes, the interests of and potential prejudice to unrelated third parties, and the Court's desire to avoid a multiplicity of proceedings and the potential for inconsistent results.

In dismissing two different stay applications and coming to the conclusion that both a superior court action and international arbitration could proceed simultaneously, the Court made a number of findings which could be of interest to parties seeking relief through international arbitration while also involved or contemplating related domestic court proceedings.