Supreme Court Of Canada Rules In Chevron Corp. V. Yaiguaje

On September 4, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously held in Chevron Corp v. Yaiguaje that the Ontario court has jurisdiction to hear an action brought by Ecuadorian plaintiffs seeking the recognition and enforcement in Ontario of a US$9.51-billion Ecuadorian judgment for environmental damage against the U.S. multinational corporation Chevron (Chevron US) and its Canadian subsidiary (Chevron Canada). Remarkably, Chevron US had no connection to and no assets in Ontario and Chevron Canada was a stranger to the underlying judgment in Ecuador for which recognition and enforcement is being sought in the Ontario court.

The Supreme Court's decision should be of interest both to Canadian multinational corporations with foreign operations and to foreign entities with operations or assets in Canada because it reduces the procedural obstacles to recognizing and enforcing foreign judgments in Canada. Significantly, however, the ruling leaves in place the substantive