Information About Canadian Class Action Defence

Last year, the Supreme Court of Canada signalled an important shift in how courts should approach motions to strike pleadings based on novel causes of action (i.e., claims that are unprecedented or innovative). In Atlantic Lottery Corp. Inc. v. Babstock,[1] the Supreme Court struck all claims underl … Read more »

In Brazeau v Canada (Attorney General), the Ontario and Québec courts heard identical motions for a distribution protocol and individual issues protocol in the context of three overlapping class actions. The case demonstrates Canadian courts’ willingness to adopt novel procedures for efficiently man … Read more »

On November 27, 2020, the Alberta Court of Appeal issued its decision in Ravvin v Canada Bread Company, Limited, and upheld a stay of two proposed class action proceedings issued by the case management judge, Rooke ACJQB (written reasons here). The two proposed class proceedings involve an alleged p … Read more »

Judges asked to approve class action settlements must determine whether that settlement is in the “best interests of the class.” The task is challenging, as the settlements are presented on consent, in the absence of the usual adversarial scrutiny and debate. The task is more difficult when the sett … Read more »

In order to be certified, a proposed class proceeding must be deemed the “preferable procedure” for resolving the plaintiff’s claims. The preferable procedure analysis takes on new dimensions where a proposed class proceeding is one among several overlapping proceedings commenced in other jurisdicti … Read more »