Articles

The Supreme Court of Canada recently rendered a judgment1 holding that unless the owner of a business that is operating in violation of a currently in force municipal zoning bylaw can clearly establish having an acquired right to do so, the business owner may be liable to a fine, despite the fact that the municipality, in this case the City of Québec (the “City”), knew of the offending use for decades, had provided assistance with the operation of the business and had even collected taxes on the non-compliant use.

It is commonplace for businesses and persons working for them to seek to structure or modify their relationship in order to benefit from the workers being characterized as independent contractors. This allows the business not to have to make payroll deductions for the workers, and the latter can enjoy the tax benefits of being considered independent contractors.

Summer is at hand (almost) and summer vacations as well.

Every year, employers become concerned about their obligations in connection with the St. John the Baptist Day National Holiday. First of all, this statutory holiday is governed by a specific statute, namely the National Holiday Act, and not by the Labour Standards Act, which governs all other statutory holidays.

Pursuant to sections 31.43 and 31.49 of the Environment Quality Act (the “EQA”), the Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks1 (the “Minister”) may order that any person that has or has had custody of a parcel of land since March 1, 2003 perform a characterization study on that land and rehabilitate the land if it is found to be contaminated.

Anti-trust and competition enforcement efforts have been steadily increasing throughout the world, notably in the United States of America and in Canada.

The term “cloud computing” does not designate a specific technology, but a new method for accessing and utilizing computer-based resources or services.