Class actions are common in the financial services sector. The
relatively low bar for certification of such claims as class
proceedings means that many such claims are certified. Yet
certification is by no means automatic: where the litigation will
not be significantly advanced through the resolution of common
issues, courts will typically be reluctant to certify an action as
a class proceeding.
Consistent with those general principles, plaintiffs have
typically been relatively successful in certifying class
proceedings against financial institutions where proceedings
contain broad-based claims that an organization adopted an
inappropriate policy that detrimentally affected class members in a
uniform manner. By contrast, claims relating to negligent provision
of individualized advice or services, such as negligence claims
against investment brokers, will seldom be amenable to
certification. The recent decision of the Alberta Court of
Queen’s Bench in Fisher v
