Appellate Quarterly 05/02/2023 – Key Takeaways

On May 2, 2023, McCarthy Tétrault's National Appellate Litigation Group hosted our fourth Appellate Quarterly webinar, featuring five recent appeals that may impact the Canadian business community. Partners Kara Smyth, Byron Shaw, Sarah Woods, James S.S. Holtom, and Adam Goldenberg discussed these appellate developments and future trends to watch across Canada.

Here are some key takeaways:

1. Certification of data breach class action denied

The Court of Appeal of Alberta's decision in Setoguchi v. Uber BV, 2023 ABCA 45 may assist companies across Canada facing the threat of class actions following a data breach. The Court upheld the dismissal of the certification application by the Honourable Associate Chief Justice J.D. Rooke (as he then was). In doing so, the Court affirmed that the test under s. 5(1)(a) (valid cause of action) is not a perfunctory exercise, and carefully scrutinized the appellant's pleadings to conclude that the appellant's theory of harm was