A recent Ontario Superior Court case will be of interest to
commercial landlords and tenants alike.
In 1251614 Ontario Ltd v. Gurudutt, the
tenant signed a 10 year lease that granted the tenant the right to
renew the lease for 2 further terms of 5 years each, with rental
rates to be negotiated at the time of renewal and settled by
arbitration, if necessary. In addition, the lease stated:
"Any such renewal to be on the same terms and conditions as
are contained in this Lease except...the form of the
renewal Lease shall be, at the landlord's option, a
lease extension agreement or a new lease in the
landlord's then standard form." (emphasis
added)
The tenant gave notice of its intention to renew, prompting the
landlord to provide its then standard form lease. That particular
standard form had been signed by 8 of the 10 tenants occupying the
landlord's property. In all material respects, the standard
form was identical to the tenant's existing lease, except
