Thursday, November 10, 2022James R.G. CookLitigationSports, Bankruptcy, COVID-19, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, Business Corporations Act

A creditor who sees the owners of a bankrupt company start up a new profitably-looking business while walking away from the prior company’s debts may understandably feel that they have...

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Tuesday, August 24, 2021Stephen A. ThieleLitigationCOVID-19, Civil Procedure, Charter, Charter Challenge

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to various court challenges in connection with some of the restrictive measures imposed by federal, provincial and...

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Monday, June 14, 2021James R.G. CookLitigationCOVID-19, Franchise, Fitness Studio

Fitness franchise fails to obtain injunction to stop rebranding of fitness studio during the pandemic

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Tuesday, June 1, 2021Stephen A. ThieleLitigation, Employment LawWrongful Dismissal, Reasonable Notice, COVID-19, Wrongful Termination

COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on our economy. Some businesses have gone bankrupt, while others have simply closed down forever. Many people have seen their work hours reduced, while others...

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Friday, May 21, 2021James R.G. CookLitigationState of Emergency, COVID-19, Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, Human Rights Code

In April 2021, the Province of Ontario declared a second state of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and issued a province-wide stay-at-home order, which...

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Thursday, May 20, 2021Stephen A. ThieleLitigation, InjunctionsCOVID-19, Remedies

This past weekend, despite Ontario’s stay-at-home order, there were two major public protests in Toronto. On late Saturday afternoon (May 15th) an estimated crowd of...

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Thursday, April 29, 2021James R.G. CookLitigation, Employment LawEmployment Agreements, Employee, Employer, COVID-19, Constructive Dismissal, Employment Standards Act, 2000, Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (IDEL Regulation)

In Coutinho v. Ocular Health Centre Ltd., 2021 ONSC 3076, Justice D.A. Broad of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed an employer’s motion for summary judgment which sought the dismissal of an employee’s action for constructive dismissal arising...

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Wednesday, March 24, 2021Stephen A. ThieleLitigation, Constitutional Law, Charter of Rights and FreedomsCOVID-19, Interim Injunction

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused our governments to implement laws aimed at stopping the spread of the virus. While many of those laws arguably have a minimal effect or none at all on...

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Wednesday, January 13, 2021Soma Ray-EllisLitigation, Employment LawCOVID-19, Ontario, Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, Child Care and Early Years Act

The Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and other health experts, has responded to the unsettling levels of mobility in the province and has declared a second provincial emergency under...

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Monday, December 14, 2020Stephen A. ThieleLitigationResearch, COVID-19, Lexis Advance, Quicklaw, CanLII, NextCanada

I have been a legal research lawyer for almost 30 years. When I started law school in 1987 the use of laptops to take notes in lectures was completely unknown. Our first year legal research and writing class was based..

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Friday, December 11, 2020Soma Ray-EllisLitigation, Employment LawCOVID-19, Employee, Employment Agreements, Ontario, Human Rights Code, Occupational Health and Safety Act

If 2020 has felt like a horror movie, the COVID-19 vaccine is the highly anticipated final act. Now with the vaccine’s...

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Tuesday, December 8, 2020James R.G. CookLitigationCOVID-19, Retail Shopping, Commercial Landlord, Commercial Tenancies Act, HVAC

During the COVID-19 pandemic, with consumers leery of indoor shopping and retailers being forced to keep their doors closed due to health...

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Wednesday, October 21, 2020Lad KucisLitigation, Health LawCOVID-19, Bill 218, Supporting Ontario’s Recovery Act, 2020, Retirement Homes

On October 20, 2020, the Ontario Government introduced Bill 218, Supporting Ontario’s Recovery Act, 2020, which if passed, would...

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Wednesday, October 7, 2020Stephen A. Thiele, James R.G. CookLitigation, Insurance ActCOVID-19

As we head into the seventh month of the artificial economic lockdown ordered by Canadian governments at all levels and brace ourselves for the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses in multiple sectors continue to seek compensation from their...

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Monday, September 21, 2020Stephen A. Thiele, James R.G. CookLitigation, Bankruptcy and Insolvency, Insolvency law, Insurance ActOntario, COVID-19, Business Interruption Loss Policy, Ontario Business Loss Coverage Litigation, Financial Conduct Authority, Disease Clauses, Prevention of Access Clauses

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant slowdown in many sectors of the economy, forcing businesses to either seek creditor protection or...

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Friday, June 19, 2020Stephen A. Thiele, Gavin J. Tighe, K.C.LitigationBill 192 - Protecting Small Business Act, Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA), Commercial Tenancies Act, Commercial Landlord, COVID-19, Ontario Government

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world have implemented physical distancing measures to “flatten the curve”.

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Thursday, May 14, 2020Stephen A. Thiele, Lindsay Ann Histrop, Jennifer SearleBusiness Law, Corporate LawCOVID-19, Wills, Powers of Attorney, State of Emergency, Bill 190, Notaries Act, Commissioner for Taking Affidavits Act

The COVID-19 health emergency continues to cause the Ontario government to modernize legislation and to bring it into conformity with ...

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Thursday, May 7, 2020Stephen A. Thiele, Gavin J. Tighe, K.C.LitigationCOVID-19, Ontario Government, Ontario, State of Emergency

With Victoria Day a little more than a week away and people experiencing a growing urge to return to pre-COVID-19 routines, many governments, including the Ontario government, have...

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Wednesday, May 6, 2020Arlene O'Neill, Evert Van WoudenbergCorporate LawCOVID-19, Insurance Policy, Business Interruption Loss Policy

As Ontario enters another month of a government ordered lockdown of the economy because of the worldwide COVID-19 health emergency, businesses continue to struggle as they see their revenues and profits plummet. In some cases...

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Monday, April 27, 2020James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateCOVID-19, Coronavirus, Ontario

In Ontario regular civil court operations have been largely suspended since mid-March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One consequence of this has been the temporary postponement of...

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Tuesday, April 21, 2020Soma Ray-EllisLitigation, Employment LawCOVID-19, Termination, Employment Agreements, Employee, Employer, Employment Standards Amendment Act, State of Emergency

Canada lost a staggering million plus jobs in the month of March. The International Labour Organization has said based on current statistical information, 1.25 billion workers or 38% of the Global Workforce may face workplace displacement as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Monday, April 13, 2020William S. Bernstein, Lorne Saltman, James M. Parks, Greg Farano, Lindsay Ann HistropCorporate Law, Estate Planning, Income Tax Act, Tax and Estate Planning, Tax LawWills, Estate Freeze, COVID-19

COVID-19 has resulted in significant decreases to the value of many assets, including marketable securities, private businesses and real estate. This provides an opportunity to implement an estate freeze at low values, which allows for future savings in income tax.

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Wednesday, April 8, 2020Soma Ray-EllisLitigation, Employment LawCanada Emergency Wage Subsidy, Not-for-Profit/Charities, COVID-19

On April 8, 2020, the federal government announced that it was making a significant change to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program that it had previously announced on March 30, 2020.

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Monday, April 6, 2020Stephen A. ThieleLitigationCOVID-19, Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)

On Friday, April 3rd, 2020, the Government of Canada released a comprehensive question and answer resource on the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. Specifically, eligibility requirements and the application process was clarified

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Monday, April 6, 2020Soma Ray-EllisLitigationCOVID-19, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), Employee, Employer, Employment Agreements, Employment Standards Amendment Act

The global spread of COVID-19 has impacted employers and employees across the globe, and Canada is no exception. Soma Ray-Ellis, Chair – Employment and Labour Law Group has prepared the ten most relevant questions that employers and employees need to understand in this COVID-19 work reality we now find ourselves in.

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Saturday, April 4, 2020Stephen A. ThieleLitigationCOVID-19, Infectious Diseases, Infectious Diseases Emergencies, Healthcare

On April 3, 2020, the Ontario government expanded the list of non-essential businesses that will be required to close while the province courageously battles to control the spread of COVID-19. Under Regulation 82/20, the Ontario government had previously provided a list of businesses that it had deemed essential and that could remain open during the current health emergency.

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Thursday, April 2, 2020Kenneth JullLitigationCOVID-19, Compliance, Frustration, Force Majeure, Contract Law

In these times of global health uncertainty and economic troubles it is tempting to jump to the “frustration of contract” conclusion. While we acknowledge that it is tempting to see the current economic trouble as frustrating the performance of contract there are a number of factors that must be considered when...

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Thursday, April 2, 2020Stephen A. ThieleLitigation, Business LawLayoffs, COVID-19, Coronavirus, Wage Subsidy, Work-Sharing Program Extensions, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP)

This blog will provide an overview of the most significant federal and provincial relief measures to assist businesses and entrepreneurs in the face of the unique and pressing challenges presented by the current COVID-19 pandemic.

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Friday, March 20, 2020Soma Ray-EllisEmployment Law, Employment Standards Act, LitigationEmployment Agreements, Wrongful Dismissal, Ontario, Safety, Infectious Diseases Emergencies, Infectious Diseases, Bill 186, Ontario Government, Coronavirus, COVID-19

On March 19, 2020, the Ontario Government introduced the Employment Standards Amendment Act (Infectious Disease Emergencies), 2020, which amends the Employment Standards Act, 2000, to protect the jobs of employees who...

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