Cold Shoulder: BC Court Denies Certification Finding No "Identifiable Class"

A recent decision by the British Columbia Supreme Court denying class certification illustrates the Court's continued insistence on the rigorous application of the statutory certification criteria, most notably the "identifiable class" requirement. On November 16, 2016, the Court denied certification of a proposed class action related to alleged misrepresentations in the labeling and packaging of Cold-Fx. Justice Dillon held that the class action failed to meet identifiable class requirement because there was no way to objectively determine the class members, and the class definition was deemed to be overinclusive. Moreover, the Court concluded that the asserted claims did not raise common issues, and there was no appropriate representative plaintiff.