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ARTICLE · 18 MAY 2026

Court Of Appeal Summaries (May 4 – 8, 2026)

Blaney McMurtry LLP
Blaney McMurtry LLP
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The Ontario Court of Appeal issued decisions on several significant cases during the week of May 4, 2026, addressing critical issues ranging from COVID-19 vaccination policies in healthcare to debt obligations and employment disputes. These rulings provide important guidance on jurisdictional matters, procedural fairness, and the interpretation of contractual obligations across multiple areas of law.

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
John Polyzogopoulos
John Polyzogopoulos
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Good morning.
Following are our summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario for the week of May 4, 2026.

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In Dorceus v. Ontario, the Court dismissed an appeal brought by more than 400 healthcare workers challenging Ontario's COVID-19 vaccination policies and related employment consequences. The Court upheld the motion judge's decision to strike the Amended Statement of Claim as an abuse of process and for disclosing no reasonable cause of action, finding that the claim improperly sought to use the courts to conduct a broad inquiry into Ontario's pandemic response rather than adjudicate concrete legal disputes. The Court also held that the Charter and intentional tort claims were not viable and upheld the motion judge's jurisdictional rulings requiring the unionized and privileged hospital staff appellants to pursue their claims through the appropriate statutory and labour relations processes.

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