On July 23, 2025, McCarthy Tétrault's National
Appellate Litigation Group hosted its third appellate quarterly
webinar of the year, featuring six recent appeals that may impact
the business and legal communities across Canada. Kara Smyth, Kosta
Kalogiros, Sajeda Hedaraly, Patrick Williams and Brandon Kain
discussed these appellate developments and future trends to watch
in each region.
Damages are presumed for privacy breaches (British
Columbia)
The Court of Appeal for British Columbia in Insurance
Corporation of BC v. Ari, 2025 BCCA 131 upheld a damages award for
breach of privacy without proof of harm.
An ICBC employee sold private information of policy holders to
criminals. Some policy holders were targeted in arson and shooting
attacks. They brought a class action against ICBC. The lower court
found the employee breached section 1 of BC's Privacy
Act and the ICBC was vicariously liable for creating
"foreseeable risk of wrongdoing", and awarded $25,000