Supreme Court Rules On Securities Class Action Limitations

In Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce v. Green, 2015 SCC 60 ("Green"), the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") ruled on the limitation periods for securities class actions regarding secondary market misrepresentation, an issue that had received inconsistent treatment at the Ontario Court of Appeal.

In Green, a five judge panel of the Court of Appeal had reversed its previous decision in Sharma v. Timminco, 2012 ONCA 107 ("Timminco"), about how limitation periods for secondary market class actions operate. The majority of the SCC in Green overruled the Court of Appeal's reconsideration of the issue, favouring the previous approach in Timminco.

When a class proceeding is commenced, class members have the limitation period for their cause of action suspended under the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 ("Class Proceedings Act") while the certification motion is pending. This allows class members to wait and see whether the class proceeding will be approved and whether they