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Québec’s 2026–2050 Integrated Energy Resource Management Plan (PGIRE) is the province’s first fully integrated long-term energy planning framework. It was adopted following a multi‑year legislative, regulatory, and consultation process initiated in 2024–2025 and seeks to operationalize the provincial government’s new statutory mandate to coordinate energy policy, system planning, and decarbonization objectives under a single governance instrument. Key highlights Total additional investments by 2050: approximately 87 billion dollars (real, 2024) to…

The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) has published its 2027 Annual Priorities, emphasizing completion of integration initiatives and continued advancement of its broader strategic objectives. Key priorities include: finalizing a harmonized rulebook for investment dealers and mutual fund dealers; completing CE harmonization; advancing adviser compensation reforms by consulting on and finalizing rule amendments relating to an incorporated adviser compensation option to submit to the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) for review…

On June 8, 2026, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) issued its Operational Risk and Resilience Guidance (PC0050APP) for Ontario-incorporated insurance companies and reciprocal insurance exchanges (collectively, Ontario insurers). The guidance, which sits under FSRA’s Risk-Based Supervisory Framework (RBSF-I), marks an escalation in supervisory focus on cyber threats, data vulnerabilities, third-party dependencies, and climate exposure. While adoption of the guidance’s principles is not mandatory, FSRA has indicated that an…

The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) is shaking up the requirements under Window 2 of its Long-Term 2 (LT2) Request for Proposals. Recent engagement sessions signal several important developments for proponents, including expanded eligibility for repowered facilities, potential increases to proposal fees, the possibility for domestic content commitments, and being required to be in “good standing.” While subject to change, the IESO expects to publish draft RFPs and contracts in…

From time to time, a veterinarian may receive notification of a complaint from the College of Veterinarians of Ontario (CVO) on behalf of a client. Under the Veterinarians Act (Act), the CVO is responsible for receiving, investigating, and acting on complaints made against veterinarians, whether they practise in a veterinary clinic, mobile practice, or provide care for farm animals. For a veterinarian, receiving a complaint can be stressful, but a…

Sweeping changes have been proposed to Canadian securities law that would allow selective buybacks, enhance disclosure requirements, update the early warning system, and amend exemptions from takeover bid and issuer bid regimes (collectively, the Proposed Amendments). This development marks a shift by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) towards providing issuers with greater flexibility, improving transparency, reducing regulatory burden, and enhancing the integrity of the issuer bid, takeover bid, and early…

Artificial intelligence is no longer a future-state issue: it's operating inside Canadian businesses already, and the legal and operational landscape surrounding AI in the workplace is moving faster than most governance frameworks can keep pace with. On June 1, 2026, BLG's Labour and Employment lawyers gathered coast to coast to work through four areas that demand immediate attention: The evolving legislative landscape around AI; The risks of uncontrolled early adoption; The…

The Reporter provides a monthly summary of Canadian federal legislative and regulatory developments of relevance to federally regulated financial institutions. It does not address Canadian provincial financial services legislative and regulatory developments. In addition, purely technical and administrative changes (such as changes to reporting forms) are not covered. April 2026 Published Title and Brief Summary Status (if applicable) Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) April 21, 2026 Streamlined…

The Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC) recently released a new collection of contracts, including the CCDC 32 – Progressive Design-Build Contract. This eagerly awaited template contract presents the CCDC’s view of a progressive design-build model (PDB) and makes using a PDB delivery model more widely accessible to the industry. In this article we discuss PBD and the CCDC 32, including its benefits and challenges. Overall, the new CCDC 32 provides…

In Resler v. Anglin, 2026 SCC 23, the Supreme Court of Canada held that an unsuccessful provincial election candidate may continue his civil action in misfeasance in public office against Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for alleged bad faith conduct during an election campaign. The Court confirmed that such claims were not barred by the doctrine of collateral attack, abuse of process, parliamentary privilege, or a statutory immunity clause, given…

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has introduced a revised set of Arbitration Rules, effective for arbitrations commenced on or after June 1, 2026 (the 2026 Rules).  These revisions build on the 2021 framework while introducing targeted reforms aimed at addressing concerns around cost, delay, and procedural rigidity. While the overall structure of ICC arbitration remains familiar, the 2026 Rules reflect a clear recalibration: a move away from formalistic procedural…

Le 12 juin 2026, la Cour suprême du Canada a rendu sa décision dans l’affaire Société de l’Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick c. Canada (Premier ministre), 2026 CSC 22, confirmant que le lieutenant-gouverneur du Nouveau-Brunswick (N.-B.) doit être fonctionnellement bilingue. Dans cette décision, la Cour a dû interpréter le paragraphe 16(2) de la Charte canadienne des droits et libertés, qui prévoit que le français et l’anglais sont les langues officielles du N.-B.…

Toronto Tech Week 2026 provided a clear view into how Canada’s technology ecosystem is evolving across the full company lifecycle, from early formation to scale and exit. Key takeaways from the week Documentation quality is now a differentiator at pre-seed and seed - clean cap tables and properly assigned IP materially affect a company's ability to close. Defence-adjacent and applied AI opportunities arrive with complex IP, export control and contracting…

What Canadian companies need to know (if enacted): Bill C-34 is broader than previously proposed online safety legislation and targets regulated social media services, certain online services, and AI chatbot services, with a focus on protecting children and supporting victims of online harms. Regulated services, as applicable, have a duty to act responsibly, a duty to protect children, a duty to be transparent, and a duty to make certain content…

On June 1, 2026, the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario (RIBO) released Guidance 006 – Online Conduct (Social Media and Review Manipulation) (Guidance). This article summarizes the key expectations and practical implications for brokerages. Scope of guidance The Guidance confirms that brokers’ online activities are subject to the same professional standards as their offline conduct. The Guidance applies to public-facing digital activity connected to insurance brokering, including social media posts,…

Trademark scams are becoming increasingly common in Canada. Both the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) and the College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents (CPATA) have warned that business owners and trademark holders are being targeted by phishing emails, calls, and texts from people pretending to be intellectual property lawyers, agents, service providers, or even CIPO itself. These messages often use details taken from public records, create urgency, and pressure…

Canada’s release of its national artificial intelligence strategy, AI for All, marks a substantive shift in federal policy, signalling how the government intends to govern AI for the foreseeable future. The strategy’s most significant feature is what it is not: as previously announced, it does not revive the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA), the proposed omnibus AI statute that stalled in Parliament and was effectively abandoned following the change…

In Intact Insurance Company v. Edward Collins Contracting Limited, 2026 NLSC 49, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador dismissed an application to strike a surety’s claim under an indemnity agreement, confirming that releases granted in Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) proceedings do not automatically extinguish independent contractual obligations of indemnitors. Case summary: Intact v. Collins Contracting (2026 NLSC 49) Background: surety claim and CCAA release defence The plaintiff (Intact)…

In J.C. et al. v. Jugenburg et al., 2026 ONSC 3061, the court found that a plastic surgeon breached his duties to patients and intruded on their privacy by installing surveillance cameras throughout his clinic. This is the first time a court has found that recording footage alone, even if it was not viewed or shared, can result in liability for the tort of intrusion upon seclusion. The court awarded…

La décision Association des ressources intermédiaires d'hébergement du Québec (ARIHQ) c. Santé Québec - Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, 2026 QCCS 1360,rendue par la Cour supérieure le 22 avril 2026, balise l’utilisation de l’intelligence artificielle (IA) pour la rédaction de sentences arbitrales et, par ricochet, de décisions judiciaires. La Cour supérieure, sous la plume de l’honorable Martin F. Sheehan, J.C.S., a annulé une sentence…

On May 13, 2026, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) advised industry groups that the application of its revised administrative position on the taxability of trailing commissions will not proceed on July 1, 2026, as previously indicated. Subsequently on May 26, 2026, the CRA released a revised version of GST/HST Notice 344 – Application of the GST/HST to Mutual Fund Trailing Commissions (Notice 344), formalizing the previously announced deferral of enforcement…

The Reporter provides a monthly summary of Canadian federal legislative and regulatory developments of relevance to federally regulated financial institutions. It does not address Canadian provincial financial services legislative and regulatory developments. In addition, purely technical and administrative changes (such as changes to reporting forms) are not covered. March 2026 Published Title and Brief Summary Status (if applicable) Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) March 30, 2026 Notice…

On May 15, 2026, the United States has expanded its Section 232 tariff mitigation framework to include medium- and heavy-duty vehicle (MHDV) manufacturers. Key takeaways These measures broaden the access to import adjustment offsets and aligning treatment across the automotive sector considering the overlap in automotive and MHDV supply chains. The offsets are a form of tariff relief that allow eligible U.S. manufacturers to reduce duties payable on imported vehicle…

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has provided eligible venture issuers with the option to move away from quarterly reporting in favour of a semi-annual reporting (SAR) regime through the introduction of Coordinated Blanket Order 51-933 – Exemptions to Permit Semi-Annual Reporting for Certain Venture Issuers (the Blanket Order). Drawing on our review of SEDAR+ filings, we examine the pace and profile of issuer participation, including adoption by exchange, industry, and market capitalization,…

The federal government recently released Powering Canada Strong: A National Strategy for an Electrified Canadian Economy, a national electricity strategy with the stated objective of doubling Canada’s electricity capacity by 2050 while advancing reliability, affordability, competitiveness and decarbonization. The plan calls for consultation with territories, Indigenous communities, utilities, regulators, industrial customers, labour organizations and private sector stakeholders. The consultation process will inform both the implementation framework and future legislative and…

On May 14, 2026, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario signed Order in Council 758/2026, which will bring most provisions of the Measures Respecting Premises with Illegal Drug Activity Act, 2025 (the Act) into force on July 1, 2026. Unless exempted by a future regulation, the Act creates a provincial offences regime under which commercial landlords may be prosecuted for knowingly permitting leased premises within their building to be used for…

On Monday May 19, a five-judge panel of the Court of Appeal for Ontario overruled Handley Estate v. DTE Industries Limited, 2018 ONCA 324, the decision that, for the last eight years, had imposed an automatic stay of the proceeding of any party who failed to immediately disclose a partial settlement agreement that "entirely changed the litigation landscape." In its place, the Court has restored a discretionary abuse-of-process framework and…

The recent decision of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta in 2585929 Alberta Ltd (Re), 2026 ABKB 75 discusses when the jurisdiction of provincial courts can extend to matters relating to the Income Tax Act. Key takeaways The Tax Court of Canada has the exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine references and appeals to the Court on matters arising under the Income Tax Act. Provincial courts can interpret provisions of…

The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has recently published its Guideline for the Use of Artificial Intelligence (the Guideline) aimed at the financial sector, which will come into force in about a year, on May 1, 2027. This Guideline is the first to be issued by a provincial financial sector regulator on the use of artificial intelligence. It adds to the growing number of regulatory expectations from other financial sector…

On April 27, 2026, the federal government introduced Bill C-29, An Act to establish the Financial Crimes Agency. If enacted, the legislation will create a new, stand alone federal law enforcement body dedicated to investigate complex financial crimes, contribute to the recovery of the proceeds of crime, and participate in international efforts to counter financial crimes. The proposal reflects growing concern that existing enforcement frameworks have struggled to keep pace…

The world of tariffs used to be sedate and boring. There were times in the Times Before when glaciers appeared more agile than trade policy. Those days, of course, are gone. We can hope not for ever; we can look into the horizon and pine for a Return to the Mundane. For now, change is the order of the day. Rapid, dizzying, change – it’s difficult to keep up; even…

In Episode Four of the “Tariff Home Companion” – BLG’s trade and tariff podcast  – we heard about business concerns over the continued lack of certainty in Canada-U.S. trade relations. These concerns are real. As we have chronicled over the past fifteen months, that lack of certainty arose, in the first place, when the United States announced the imposition of punishing tariffs on Canadian exports, ostensibly because of lack of…

In Patrick Street Holdings Ltd. v. 11368 NL Inc., 2026 SCC 15, the Supreme Court of Canada held that cause of action estoppel barred the appellant from advancing a new theory in a second proceeding to support its entitlement to mortgage proceeds. The Court’s decision is an important reminder that litigants must bring forward all reasonably available arguments in the first proceeding, and subsequent attempts to relitigate the same underlying cause of action will…

In Alford v. Canada (Attorney General), 2026 SCC 14, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the constitutional validity of the limit on parliamentary privilege imposed by s. 12 of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Act, S.C. 2017, c. 15 (the NSICOP Act). Section 12 prohibits members of Parliament and the Senate who sit on the committee established by the NSICOP Act from claiming immunity based on parliamentary privilege…

In Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia, 2026 SCC 16, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized a new tort of intimate partner violence, centred on coercive and controlling conduct within intimate relationships. The case arose from a long-term marital relationship characterized by a pattern of abuse extending beyond discrete incidents of physical violence. The plaintiff sought damages not only for specific acts of assault, but a broader and sustained course of coercive, controlling,…

The TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) has removed its longstanding requirement for issuers to engage a sponsor in connection with listing transactions effective March 31, 2026. Previously, sponsors would conduct due diligence and provide a report to the TSXV as part of its review process. The change affects transactions such as reverse takeovers, qualifying transactions and direct listings. What you need to know The TSXV has eliminated its requirement for issuers…

The European Union (EU) has agreed on the largest overhaul of its customs system since 1968 (see our Insight in July). While the reforms will be rolled out over time, the direction of travel is already clear: responsibility for customs compliance is increasingly shifting toward e-commerce platforms. This reform will reshape how goods enter the EU market, with notable implications for international exporters – particularly Canadian businesses. A fundamental re-think…

Background Last week, the Canadian federal government approved the Sunrise expansion project, a roughly $4 billion expansion of the Westcoast Energy natural gas pipeline system in British Columbia (Project). The Project consists primarily of new pipeline loops, compressor station upgrades, and associated electrical facilities. The aim was to increase transportation capacity on the existing system and address anticipated capacity shortfalls in southern BC and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Sunrise, among…

À Montréal, depuis le 1er avril 2021, les projets résidentiels de 450 m² (environ 5 logements ou plus) constituaient des projets visés par le Règlement pour une métropole mixte (« RMM »). L’objectif du RMM était d’augmenter le nombre de logements sociaux, abordables ou familiaux, soit en incluant la construction de ce type de logements directement dans les projets, soit en versant une contribution financière. Cinq ans plus tard, la…

The Alberta Court of King’s Bench recently released its decision in Tudor v Accurate Screen Ltd., 2026 ABKB 237 (Tudor v Accurate). In the decision, Justice Yamauchi dismissed Mr. Tudor’s claim against his former employer Accurate Screen for wrongful dismissal and held that Accurate Screen had just cause to terminate the employment relationship after it had discovered an intentional misrepresentation of academic qualifications Mr. Tudor’s resume. Justice Yamauchi held that…