Blog
Blog
Seller beware of provision in APS that includes HST as part of purchase price (Miculinic Investment Corp. v. 2303515 Ontario Inc.)
Friday, November 14, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationSeller, HST
In real estate transactions which involve properties that are comprised of both a commercial and residential use, HST is payable on the portion of the land that is used for commercial purposes...
Read the full post, click here.
Don’t Hope for the Contractual Interpretation Stars to Align (and Ensure Your Fleet Reporting is in Order Instead)
Wednesday, November 12, 2025Conal CalvertLitigationTransportation & Logistics
The decision of West York Sales and Leasing Inc. v. The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, 2025 ONSC 3845 is a recent interesting case in the Superior Court of Ontario dealing with coverage under fleet insurance policies...
Read the full post, click here.
Ontario’s Crackdown on Fraudulent Commercial Licenses and the U.S. Ban on Trucking Work Visas Leave Drivers in Limbo
Wednesday, November 12, 2025Saisha MahilLitigationTransportation & Logistics
On August 22, 2025, the U.S. State Department announced a pause on the issuance of certain work visas for foreign commercial truck drivers...
Read the full post, click here.
Director and Officers’ liability and the Load Brokers’ Trust Obligation under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act
Wednesday, November 12, 2025Kim E. StollLitigationTransportation & Logistics
Ontario continues to be the only province in Canada requiring that persons who arrange for carriage, typically load brokers who are “load arrangers”, must hold “in trust” any freight charges earmarked for the associated carriers...
Read the full post, click here.
Court addresses “tort of ejectment” while granting injunction in property dispute (Saad Keval v. Hiep Nguyen)
Monday, November 10, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationInjunction, Property, Dispute
What can a property owner do when they have been excluded from their property...
Read the full post, click here.
Managing Conflicts of Interest: A Brief Guide for In-House Counsel
Thursday, November 6, 2025Zev ZlotnickCorporate Law, Business LawManaging Conflicts
Conflicts of interest can emerge subtly in corporate settings, particularly where in-house counsel operate across multiple departments and roles...
Read the full post, click here.
Retail Property Lending: Managing Risks Amid Changing Retail Landscapes
Wednesday, November 5, 2025Zev ZlotnickReal Estate, Business Law, Corporate LawRetail Property Lending
Commercial mortgage lending for retail properties in Ontario has become increasingly complex as the retail sector faces transformative market pressures...
Read the full post, click here.
Court rejects bid to overturn Terrebonne election result (Sinclair-Desgagné v. Attorney General (Canada))
Monday, November 3, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationPolitical Law, Elections, Contested Election
The April 2025 Canadian federal election was a close contest, with a handful of electoral districts not determining a winner until the votes in the last ballot box were...
Read the full post, click here.
Developer breached Agreement of Purchase and Sale by demanding additional charges at time of closing (Taheripouresfahani v. Dormer Bond Inc.)
Friday, October 17, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationBreach, Agreement of Purchase and Sale
In litigation arising from disputed real estate transactions, courts are frequently confronted with circumstances where a buyer tries to close for less than the agreed sale price...
Read the full post, click here.
Squatter gains ownership of municipal parkland in Toronto (Kosicki v. Toronto (City))
Friday, October 10, 2025Stephen A. ThieleReal EstateAdverse Possession, Municipal Land
In Ontario, the law recognizes that a squatter can gain legal ownership of the land of the true owner in certain limited circumstances...
Read the full post, click here.
Lead lawyer responsible for use of AI by third party contractor (Reddy v. Saroya)
Tuesday, October 7, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationLegal Research , Artificial Intelligence, Fake Cases
Prior to joining Gardiner Roberts LLP in 1999, I was an outsource lawyer, providing legal support services to other lawyers throughout Ontario...
Read the full post, click here.
Thunder Bay Police Officer’s Defamation Claim against Law Student Dismissed (Gibson v. Cunningham)
Monday, September 29, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationDefamation, Claim, Dismissed
A defamation claim against a law student brought by a Thunder Bay police officer was dismissed under Ontario’s “anti-SLAPP” legislation: Gibson v. Cunningham, 2025 ONSC 5504 [not yet on CanLII]...
Read the full post, click here.
Real estate agent’s “imperfect” conduct was not negligent (Duad Inc. v. Shi)
Friday, September 26, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate
In disputes between a buyer and seller arising from an aborted transaction, the real estate professionals involved may be dragged into the dispute for their roles in the circumstances at issue...
Read the full post, click here.
Complaint to Integrity Commissioner about Dresden landfill unworthy of inquiry (Re: The Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, August 20, 2025)
Wednesday, September 24, 2025Stephen A. ThielePolitical LawIntegrity , Provincial Politicians
Integrity Commissioners occupy a very important office because, among other things, they are tasked with ensuring that duly elected politicians behave appropriately and adhere to their respective codes of conduct...
Read the full post, click here.
Home Run Called Notwithstanding Fan Interference
Wednesday, September 17, 2025Stephen A. ThieleSports LawRules, Baseball, Fan Interference
With less than a dozen games remaining in the Major League Baseball season, it is hard not to follow the Toronto Blue Jays...
Read the full post, click here.
Canada and Mercosur Resume negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement
Monday, September 8, 2025Eliane Leal da SilvaCorporate LawFree Trade
The negotiations between Canada and the Mercosur trade block are back in motion after being paused since 2021...
Read the full post, click here.
Disbarred lawyer’s claim against bank dismissed (Murray v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank)
Monday, September 8, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationClaim, Dismissed
Claims for negligence or breach of contract against a bank generally require that a plaintiff establish a clear unbroken link between the bank’s alleged error and any loss or damage suffered by the plaintiff as a result...
Read the full post, click here.
Father’s contribution towards purchase of property was a gift not a loan (Klemensiewicz v. Klemens)
Friday, August 22, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate, Real Property Limitations Act
Due to the high cost of residential real estate in Ontario, many buyers require financial assistance from family members. Parents often...
Read the full post, click here.
Delfino v. Intercounty Baseball League: the Governance of Non-Profit Sports Organisations and Resulting Intervention by the Courts
Friday, August 22, 2025Clifford S. Goldfarb, Lynne WesterhofCorporate Law, Non-Profit and Charities, Business LawSports, Baseball
One of the pleasures of a summer evening is sitting on a blanket on the slopes of Christie Pits, with a picnic cooler at hand, and...
Read the full post, click here.
Texas appeals court upholds injunction against Dallas short-term rental ban (City of Dallas v. Dallas Short-Term Rental Alliance)
Thursday, August 21, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationMunicipal Law, Zoning By-Law, Short Term Rentals, Banning
Online platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO have allowed property owners around the world to easily rent their respective homes on a...
Read the full post, click here.
Corporate Governance: What In-House Counsel in Ontario Need to Know
Wednesday, August 13, 2025Zev ZlotnickBusiness Law, Corporate LawCorporate, Governance, Ontario
In-house counsels in Ontario serve as critical advisors not just to senior management, but often to boards of directors as well...
Read the full post, click here.
Is a Witness Required for Personal Guarantees or Signatures?
Tuesday, August 12, 2025Zev ZlotnickBusiness Law, Corporate Law, Real EstateCommercial Real Estate, Personal Guarantees, Lending, Witness
When lending to corporations, commercial mortgage lenders often require personal guarantees from directors, shareholders, or beneficial owners...
Read the full post, click here.
Seller liable for misrepresentations about competing offers (Tran v. Brickman)
Thursday, July 31, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationSeller, Misrepresentation
In order to drive up the sale price for a property, sellers may be inclined to raise the spectre of other potential buyers who are waiting in the wings to snap up the property.
Read the full post, click here.
Buyer entitled to recover deposit where neither side was ready to complete transaction (Nieuwenhuis v. FRP Inc.)
Wednesday, July 23, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate, Transactions, Dispute
In disputes arising from an incomplete real estate transaction, the courts will generally focus on which party is responsible for breaching the terms of their agreement...
Read the full post, click here.
No misrepresentation or conflict of interest by mortgage agent (Dhanoa v Ramnarine)
Monday, July 14, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationMisrepresentation, Mortgage, Conflict of Interest
In Ontario, mortgage brokerages and agents are governed by the Mortgage Brokerages, Lenders and Administrators Act, 2006...
Read the full post, click here.
Is generative AI a threat to the integrity of the justice system? (Shahid v. Essam)
Monday, July 7, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationLegal Research , Artificial Intelligence, Fake Cases
The explosion of the use of generative artificial intelligence may be a serious threat to the integrity of the administration of justice and the legal profession...
Read the full post, click here.
No reasons required for using lawyer review clause to terminate transaction (Yui v. Yan)
Friday, July 4, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationTerminate , Clause, Transactions
In cooling real estate markets, it may be increasingly common for buyers to include various conditions in an Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS) allowing them to take the time to consider and back out of a proposed transaction...
Read the full post, click here.
Class action lawsuit against gun manufacturer gets certified (Price v. Smith & Wesson Corp.)
Monday, June 30, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationClass Action, Certification, Gun manufacturer liability
The use of handguns can result in a person being seriously injured or killed...
Read the full post, click here.
Claims struck for litigants’ failure to pay costs (Dunning v. Colliers Macaulay Nicolls; Condoman Developments v. Cannect International Mortgage)
Friday, June 27, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationClaim, Failure to Pay
Perhaps one of the more frustrating aspects of litigation is the inability to collect outstanding funds owing by an adverse party...
Read the full post, click here.
Costs to be awarded in immigration proceeding because of use of fake cases (Hussein v. The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship)
Tuesday, June 24, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationLegal Research , Artificial Intelligence, Fake Cases, Costs
In the past two months, we have written a few blogs dealing with the use of fake cases by lawyers....
Read the full post, click here.