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ARTICLE · 30 JUNE 2017

Keeping Up With The Convention: Ontario Modernizes Its International Commercial Arbitration Regime

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A new statutory regime governing international commercial arbitration came into effect in Ontario in March 2017, with the International Commercial Arbitration Act, 2017, SO 2017, c 2, replacing the...

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Bennett Jones LLP
Bennett Jones LLP
Gannon Beaulne
Gannon Beaulne
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A new statutory regime governing international commercial arbitration came into effect in Ontario in March 2017, with the International Commercial Arbitration Act, 2017, SO 2017, c 2, replacing the International Commercial Arbitration Act, RSO 1990, I.9  The 2017 Act should interest practitioners and businesses alike. It clarifies and harmonizes Ontario's statutory framework for international commercial arbitration, ensuring that Ontario continues to be an attractive and modern dispute resolution forum.

While the old Act merely endorsed the principles underlying the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the "New York Convention"), the 2017 Act outright adopts them. The New York Convention, which is appended as a schedule to the 2017 Act, addresses foreign arbitral awards or agreements in the context of "commercial legal relationships". This resolves lingering uncertainty about the status of Ontario awards. Those attempting to

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