Insights

A number of people have complained about a Toronto-based weight-loss scheme. The company, Weight Loss Grants, promised consumers money if they lost weight. According to Global News, the scheme offered to reimburse consumers for certain weight-loss expenses if they successfully met their goal on a certain date. The company directed participants to weight-loss services offered […]

What is a class action? A class action is a legal procedure in which one person brings a lawsuit on behalf of a group of people (the class) who have similar claims. The goal is to get justice for members of the class without each of them having to spend time, money and effort individually. […]

Anyone who knows me knows I have particularly strong view about small overcharges. I wrote an LLM thesis on the topic.[efn_note]”Keep The Change?: A behavioural approach to class action antipathy where losses are trivial” (2018) [pdf].[/efn_note] Here’s my thing: assuming companies deal with thousands or millions of customers, and assuming customers aren’t going to sue […]

Flynally. After years of airline passengers paying out of pocket for airlines’ delays and mistakes, the federal government has offered a glimmer of hope: new air passenger protection regulations. The aim is to ensure that customers are treated fairly throughout their journeys, level the playing field, and foster consumer confidence in airlines, according to the […]

Canadians send over a million electronic money transfers – over $360 million – each day. But, as CBC News reports, e-transfers may not be as secure as you think. Anne Hoover discovered this the hard way. She sent more than $1,700 by e-transfer to a friend, only to find that it was lost in transit. […]

On March 28, 2019, after filing for bankruptcy, discount airline WOW Air cancelled all operations and grounded flights leaving thousands of Canadian travellers stranded across Europe and North America. Without other options, Canadian travellers who booked return flights with WOW Air had to pay out of pocket to return home with no compensation from the […]

Social media powerhouses like Facebook seem to think that they do not have to follow Canadian advertising and privacy rules, and it’s starting to bother Canadian politicians. A new Canadian law would require online ad giants to keep records of partisan ads, including the source of the advertising. Rather than comply with the law, Google […]

Some fishy DNA results have drawn attention to food mislabelling in Canada. According to Global News, Dr. Jen McDonald and the students in her molecular biology course at Fanshawe College used DNA sequencing to fact-check how grocery stores and restaurants labelled their fish. Their results, which McDonald revealed on Twitter (@AwesomeBiota), were shocking. The students […]

Following the deaths of over 30 children in the last 10 years, Mattel has issued a recall of its popular Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleeper. Unfortunately, according to Global New, the recall does not apply to a similar product that is being sold in Canada. While Fisher-Price and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) […]

Heinz recently released a new TV ad trying to win back the hearts of angered Canadians who felt betrayed by the condiment giant. In 2015, Heinz announced that it would move its Canadian ketchup-manufacturing operations from Leamington, Ontario to the U.S. Many Canadians believed Heinz was abandoning Leamington’s tomato farmers. John Skoczen, who worked as […]

After Global News reported the alarming experience of a Toronto man’s Hyundai sunroof suddenly shattering while driving on a highway,  numerous Hyundai owners have shared their similar experiences. Mark Barsoum, the driver of a 2017 Hyundai Tucson, was driving on Highway 427 in Toronto when his sunroof burst. In Calgary, Fartash Rezaei, a freelance photographer, […]

Data from Statistics Canada suggests that the number of Canadians who suffer from insomnia has increased dramatically since 2007. Many people with trouble sleeping turn to natural sleep aids such as melatonin, an over-the-counter supplement and natural sleep hormone. But experts are warning about unwanted consequences. Between 2007 and 2015, it was found that symptoms […]

Plenty of people swear by ginger. Whether for nausea, inflammation, or an immunity boost, ginger has a reputation for being good for you. So it’s no surprise that the producers of ginger ale would want you to think that they make their drink with real ginger. This might be why Canada Dry labelling says “Made […]

By Jean-Marc Leclerc of Sotos Class Actions. In July 2015, the Government of Canada amended the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act to require companies to disclose data breaches to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and to affected individuals. The amendments would require companies to disclose breaches “if it is reasonable in the circumstances […]

The current state of overlapping multijurisdictional class actions in Canada is conducive to inefficiencies, chaos, and abuse. A new Canadian Bar Association Protocol creates an opportunity to address overlapping actions.

In July 2015, the Government of Canada amended the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act to require companies to disclose data breaches to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and to affected individuals. The amendments would require companies to disclose breaches “if it is reasonable in the circumstances to believe that the breach creates a real risk of significant harm to an individual.”

The Ontario Court of Appeal has released two decisions involving the appeals arising from trial decisions in a class action commenced on behalf of dealers of General Motors of Canada Limited (“GMCL”) against GMCL and Canadian-based law firm Cassels Brock and Blackwell LLP. In almost every respect, the Court upheld the results of the trial.

With class actions, many people no longer have to suffer in silence because their potential claim is too small to justify a lawsuit. Access to justice is the most important reason for the existence of class actions.

In a recent decision, Endean v. British Columbia, 2016 SCC 42 (“Endean”), the Supreme Court of Canada concluded that class action judges in a national class action can sit outside their home province to hear and approve class action settlements with judges from other provinces. Prior to the decision, the issue was in doubt, raising constitutional questions and issues about territorial jurisdiction.

Sometimes, counsel and their clients litigating in Ontario are faced with motions from the other side that are more tactical than substantive or are just “overkill” given the nature of the action.

As Ontario is a “loser pays” jurisdiction, the fact that an “unsuccessful” litigant can be responsible for a portion of the costs of the “successful” party is a further consideration. Ontario’s laws, however, provide a mechanism which if properly utilized can shift some of the burden of the costs of litigation onto the other party.

Last week, the US Supreme Court ruled that workers could use statistical sampling, averages and other statistical analyses to support class action certification. Given that some of these methods are not currently permitted on certification in Ontario and Canada, those practicing in class actions should consider the possible relevance of the US Supreme Court’s decision to their practices.

In Ontario and most other Canadian jurisdictions, the losing party in a legal action faces the possibility of being ordered to pay for some or all of the winning party’s legal costs and disbursements. Who gets paid and how much? This is up to the Court to decide.

U.S. civil subpoenas and civil subpoenas from other foreign courts have no legal effect in Canada. Canada is not a signatory to the Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil of Commercial Matters. The only way to compel Canadian evidence in a civil foreign proceeding is to apply for “letters rogatory” or […]