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ARTICLE · 17 MAY 2022

Trends And Other Insights: 2021 British Columbia Class Actions Filings

McCarthy Tétrault
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The time is ripe for another look at the types of cases driving this upward trend.

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Canadian Class Actions Monitor
Canadian Class Actions Monitor
Andrew Butler
Andrew Butler
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As we anticipated in our class actions trends update last year, class actions filings continue to increase in British Columbia, including potentially because of  amendments  to Ontario's Class Proceedings Act. Last year, we reported that 45 new class actions were filed in B.C. Supreme Court in 2019, and that 2020 saw a sharp rise in filings to 64. This past year saw another jump: about 70 new class actions were filed in the Vancouver registry alone in 2021. The time is ripe for another look at the types of cases driving this upward trend.

Consumer protection class actions were as prolific in 2021 as ever. This type of class action often involves allegations that a defendant's product was defective or that advertising for a product or service was misleading. The broad language in B.C.'s consumer protection legislation (the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act) and the federal Competition Act opens the door to a wide variety of claims; we expect consumer

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