The British Columbia Supreme Court recently reiterated the importance of recognizing "dependent contractors" in Canadian employment law, as providing "protection to economically vulnerable and dependent workers" who fall somewhere on the continuum between employees and independent contractors.

Roy moved to have the proceeding thrown out as a SLAPP suit, and on May 13, 2025, Justice Mandhane of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice agreed, dismissing the proceeding as a "gag suit" aimed at intimidating Roy into silence, and awarding full-indemnity costs and damages to him

A recent Ontario Superior Court decision examines what constitutes vexatious conduct when a defendant seeks to restrain a plaintiff from pursuing further interlocutory proceedings. The Court granted the restraining order but clarified that not all seemingly problematic behavior—such as prior vexatious litigant declarations or unpaid costs awards—will justify such restrictions.

On May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Federal Court of Appeal ("FCA") in Power Workers' Union v. Canada (Attorney General), 2024 FCA 182, which upheld the constitutionality of mandatory drug and alcohol testing requirements for nuclear workers in safety-critical positions.

The Court does not have discretion under the Ontario Business Corporations Act ("OBCA") to refuse a shareholder's request for the corporation to produce audited financial statements.

On November 25, 2025, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed a $2,000,000 defamation action brought by Theralase Technologies Inc. and two of its executives as an "archetypical example of ‘SLAPP'" (strategic litigation against public participation).

A coroner's inquest is a hearing conducted by a coroner to determine the circumstances of a death. Coroner's inquests are held before a five-person jury and open to the public, except in rare circumstances.

The Competition Tribunal has released its first decision interpreting the expanded public interest litigant regime under the Competition Act.

The Ontario Court of Appeal recently upheld a landmark decision establishing that corporate officers and directors can be held personally liable for civil fraud when they directly participate in making fraudulent representations. The case arose from a COVID-19 pandemic mask supply contract where an officer recklessly represented his company could deliver three million NIOSH-certified N95 masks to a hospital without having secured any such supply.

On March 21, 2025, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the certification of a class proceeding on behalf of cryptocurrency traders against the world's largest crypto and asset trading platform, Binance Holdings Limited ("Binance").

In fraud claims, plaintiffs are often concerned that defendants will dissipate assets beyond the court's reach. While the Mareva injunction, which freezes assets, is a useful (and, sometimes, essential) tool, the legal bar remains exceptionally high.

The Mareva injunction is a useful tool for victims of fraud. Ontario's Divisional Court has described it as "a vital arrow in the civil law's quiver to address serious fraud"

In our introductory bulletin, we explored the tort of civil fraud and examined its constituent elements. We also considered the doctrine of equitable fraud which "does not necessarily connote dishonesty" and is, therefore, "less odious than common law fraud."

In BH Frontier Solutions Inc. v. 11054660 Canada Inc. (Canadian Choice Supply), the Court of Appeal for Ontario clarified when courts will disregard the separate legal personality of a corporate entity that is being used as a shield for conduct akin to fraud.

In Mazaheri v Law Society of Ontario, 2026 ONLSTH 112, the Law Society Tribunal awarded full costs, in the amount of $31,150, against the respondent taking into consideration his misuse of artificial intelligence generated motion materials.

The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal recently held that former Chilliwack school trustee Barry Neufeld discriminated against LGBTQ2S+ teachers (“the Class”) through public statements about sexual orientation and gender identity initiatives in schools.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted a motion to claw back approximately $21.5 million in fictitious interest payments from net winners of a $103 million Ponzi scheme.

This is the first in a series of bulletins which will discuss relevant considerations for practitioners faced with the prosecution and defence of civil fraud actions.