Publications

April 6, 2017

CRS: Be ready for July 1^st, 2017

CRS entry into force: July 1st, 2017 The Common Reporting Standard (“CRS”) will impose new obligations on financial institutions, including investment funds, as of July 1st, 2017. These rules are an addition to the existing Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”), which applies to Canadian (…)

April 5, 2017

The Supreme Court puts a break on civil actions brought following an automobile accident

On March 24, the Supreme Court of Canada handed down an eagerly awaited decision, namely in Godbout v. Pagé.1 In this case, the victims of two different automobile accidents were suing third parties for events that occurred following their respective accidents. For the first victim, it was the (…)

March 29, 2017

Artificial intelligence: contractual obligations beyond the buzzwords

Can computers learn and reason? If so, what are the limitations of the tasks that they can be given? These questions have been the subject of countless debate as far back as 1937, when Alan Turing published his work on computable numbers1. Many researchers have devoted themselves to developing (…)

March 27, 2017

Canada-Europe Free Trade Agreement – Imminent provisional entry into force

Provisional entry into force 90% of the Agreement will be in force The date is still uncertain, possibly as soon as June 2017   The Agreement in 6 key points Access to the European Union market, which includes 28 States and 500 million consumers; Elimination of custom duties on 98% (…)

March 23, 2017

Artificial Intelligence and the 2017 Canadian Budget: is your business ready?

The March 22, 2017 Budget of the Government of Canada, through its “Innovation and Skills Plan” (http://www.budget.gc.ca/2017/docs/plan/budget-2017-en.pdf) mentions that Canadian academic and research leadership in artificial intelligence will be translated into a more innovative economy and (…)

March 21, 2017

Authorization of care and placement: the Québec Court of Appeal rules on alternative therapies, the duration of orders and provisional enforcement notwithstanding appeal

On February 17, 2017, the Québec Court of Appeal1 upheld a decision of the Superior Court of Québec granting an application for authorization of care presented by the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux du Bas-Saint-Laurent. In this case, the patient attempted to assert the following (…)

March 7, 2017

Federal budget and capital gain: Time for tax planning

There is currently speculation in the media that Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s next federal budget will increase the capital gain inclusion rate from 50% to 75%.The combined marginal tax rate on capital gains is currently 26.7% for a resident of Québec. This rate would reach nearly 40% if (…)

March 6, 2017

Passage of Bill 87: A step towards a more ethical governance of the public sector

Last December 9, the Lieutenant Governor assented to Bill 87 entitled An Act to facilitate the disclosure of wrongdoings relating to public bodies (the “Act”), whose purpose, as the name indicates, is to facilitate the disclosure of wrongdoing within public bodies, but also to establish a protection (…)

March 1, 2017

The insured is responsible for the cost of bringing its building up to construction standards

On December 19, 2016, the Alberta Court of Appeal allowed the appeal1 of the insurer which had excluded from its policy coverage the rebuilding costs associated with bringing the insured building up to by-law standards. The Court of Appeal unanimously maintained the exclusion for damages resulting (…)

February 21, 2017

Social media: when the court declares the evidence inadmissible

Social media sites, like Facebook, are inexhaustible sources of personal information which can constitute evidence in the context of employer-employee disputes. In matters related to evidence, the general rule is that any relevant evidence is admissible.1 Moreover, the courts have ruled that an (…)

February 17, 2017

The latest news from the Canadian infrastructures market / Major trends in the infrastructures market for 2017

TABLE OF CONTENTS The latest news from the Canadian infrastructures market Defense Construction Canada issues Request for Expressions of Interest for an energy performance contract Boralex completes financing of the Yellow Falls hydro project in Ontario Boralex and AWEC announce a new (…)

February 9, 2017

Disqualification of a law firm: the Superior Court broadens the spectre of conflicts of interest

In a decision rendered on December 1, 2016, the Superior Court of Québec had to rule on a situation which, until that time, was completely novel, and to determine whether lawyers can act in a court action against former employees of a client whom they still have to work with in connection with (…)

February 3, 2017

Autonomous vehicles in Québec: unanswered questions

According to a recent study, 25% of new cars sold around the world will be self-driving by 20351. A group of researchers from Princeton University estimates that by 2035-2050 over half of American cars will be self-driving2. Smart cars are currently being sold in Québec and their advent is sure to (…)