Articles

The authors comment on a recent decision of the Court of Appeal at the interlocutory stage of a matter involving bankruptcy and contractual obligations. The Court had to determine if a claim resulting from an action for latent defects is a provable claim within the meaning of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. In doing so, the Court analyzed sections 121 and 135 of the BIA and the case law in this regard.

On June 21, 2022, the Court of Appeal for Ontario rendered a decision concerning the extent of employees’ reasonable expectation of privacy in the workplace. The Court of Appeal decided inter alia that the protection against unreasonable search or seizure under section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies to employees of a public education institution. The Court also found that employees could have a reasonable expectation of privacy in respect of a communication that did not contain personal or intimate information directly concerning them, but information concerning their opinion of others. In March of this year, the Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal this decision. The forthcoming judgment will definitely have an effect on how much leeway employers have to access their employees’ communications in connection with a workplace investigation.

On July 11, 2023, the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) announced the initiation of two investigations into allegations of forced labour in the supply chains and operations of two Canadian companies.

When a contractor is asked to submit a bid pursuant to a call for tenders, it obviously must ensure that it holds all the licence classes required for the planned project. Generally, tender documents do not specify the numbers of the required licences, leaving it up to bidders to determine them. The client will, however, require a declaration from each bidder stating that it holds all required licences and is in compliance with applicable legislation. To determine which licences are required, bidders must determine the main purpose of the call for tenders, i.e. the nature of the proposed work. In some cases, each bidder must determine if the licences it holds will allow it to perform the related work, or if it risks being disqualified, or legal sanctions if its bid is successful.

In a previous article, we reported on amendments to the Competition Act pursuant to the Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 7, 2022, and other measures. These amendments attest to the Canadian government’s intention to modernize Canada’s competition regime and foster a competitive market, by affording workers better prospects for mobility and prosperity. As a central plank of this extensive reform project, undertaken in winter 2022, the government has taken aim at wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements between unaffiliated employers.

On May 15, 2023, the House of Commons passed Bill C-13, An Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada’s Official Languages, which amends various federal laws, including the Official Languages Act, and creates new rights for French-speaking communities across the country. This important legislation modernizes the Official Languages Act, which last underwent major reform more than 30 years ago, and introduces the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act.