BLG law firm

Ontario has a new proposed pilot program for testing automated vehicles on Ontario’s public roads. While the initial program commenced in 2016 was restricted to non-commercial automated vehicles (such as passenger vehicles, light-duty delivery trucks/vans, and small shuttles), the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) announced on Oct. 16, 2024 a 10-year pilot project called Framework for an Automated Commercial Motor Vehicles (ACMV). The new ACMV project is designed for…

*This article was originally published on the American Bar Association website There have been several significant new developments in product-related class actions in Canada in the past two years. These decisions, arising from Ontario, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia provide important insights into how courts are deciding product liability class actions, particularly at the certification motion, and the court’s authority to dismiss putative class actions for delay. This article highlights key…

In its recent decision, Canada (Privacy Commissioner) v. Facebook, Inc., 2024 FCA 140, the Federal Court of Appeal explored, defined, and explained two requirements of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, S.C. 2000, c. 5 (PIPEDA): (1) the requirement that an organization must obtain “meaningful consent” to collect, use, or disclose any personal information; and (2) the requirement that an organization safeguard all personal information once collected. Since…

On Oct. 2, 2024, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) published three proposals for implementing changes to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), one of Canada’s core environmental laws regulating toxic substances and pollution. All three proposals relate to the CEPA modernizations made in June 20231, which we first wrote about when Bill S-5, the Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act, was enacted, marking the first major update…

This article was orginally published on Sept. 26, 2023 and updated on Jan. 17, 2024: On Sept. 26, 2023, we published an article (see below) regarding the amendments to the Canada Labour Code that would, among other things, greatly increase the individual termination notice entitlements of employees working for federally regulated employers. As a reminder, these amendments are coming into force on Feb. 1, 2024. It is to be noted…

Fixed-term contracts are often complex and can create risk. Companies looking to terminate fixed-term contracts with their independent contractors can breathe a bit easier after an Ontario appeal court found that, generally, independent contractors under fixed-term contracts have a duty to mitigate their damages. This diverges from the approach the same court has applied for employees. Trial Court – No duty to mitigate, like employees! In Monterosso v. Metro Freightliner…

In late 2022, the Canadian Bar Association released the Guide for Internal Investigations of White-Collar Crime (the Guide)1, which consolidates and clarifies best practices for corporations conducting an internal investigation in response to suspicions or allegations of criminal activity. While the Guide will help to promote consistency in approach, practitioners continue to look for guidance from Canadian courts on key issues with respect to the conduct of investigations and issues…

Ontario recently amended its class proceedings legislation to include multi-jurisdictional provisions that are like provisions that already exist in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.1 Few courts have considered these provisions, but the decisions that are available provide insight into the circumstances when a court may, or may not, certify (or stay) a multi-jurisdictional class proceeding before it, and the timing for hearing such an application. To date, this analysis has turned…

Global awareness of the risks and liabilities associated with the use and persistence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has been growing over the past two decades. In response, governments in Canada and elsewhere have been grappling with how to regulate these “forever chemicals.” As discussed in our prior article, Understanding PFAS in Canada: An emerging risk, PFAS are a group of over 4,700 synthetic chemicals characterized by a fluorinated…

The number and size of public investment funds in Canada that hold crypto assets (Public Crypto Asset Funds) has grown rapidly since the first Public Crypto Asset Fund was launched in Canada in 2020. On July 6, 2023, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published CSA Staff Notice 81-336 Guidance on Crypto Asset Investment Funds that are Reporting Issuers (the Staff Notice) to provide guidance to fund managers regarding the operation…

To add to climate change litigation in recent past years, the United Kingdom High Court has now dismissed an environmental organization’s derivative action against the board of directors of Shell plc (Shell). In ClientEarth v. Shell plc and others [2023] EWHC 1137 (Ch) , the High Court found that the plaintiff failed to establish that the directors, in adopting Shell’s energy transition strategy, were not acting reasonably in Shell’s interests.…

Non-competition covenants are regularly included in commercial agreements related to the purchase of a business and are critical in ensuring that the vendor of a business does not compete following the sale. However, even in commercial agreements, to be enforceable, non-competition covenants must be reasonable in geographic scope, length of time and the scope of the activity prohibited. Recently, in Ruel v Rebonne, 2023 ABCA 156 (CanLII), the Court of…