Publications

May 30, 2016

Contracts by public entities: stay tuned on June 1, 2016

The regulation governing contracts of public bodies leaps into the digital age. The amendments, passed on April 13, 2016, and coming into force June 1, 2016, aim to clarify the rules pertaining to the results evaluation.1 Five key changes Tenders in electronic form are mandatory if so (…)

May 26, 2016

Follow-up to the recommendations in the report of the Charbonneau Commission

Last May 10, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Land Occupancy, Martin Coiteux, announced the tabling of several amendments to Bill 83 dealing with various legislative provisions on municipal matters. These amendments pertain to the recommendations contained in the report of the Charbonneau (…)

May 25, 2016

Impact of the possible extension of the European passport regime on Canadian fund managers

Martine Samuelian and Virginia Barat, JEANTET Since July 22, 2013, investment fund managers (“managers”) in Canada who wish to raise funds from investors located in member states of the European Union (the “EU”) have had to consider Directive 2011/61/EU1 (the “Directive”), dealing with managers of (…)

May 19, 2016

Fraud, nullity and compulsory professional liability insurance: the Québec Court of Appeal rules in

On May 16, 2016, the Québec Court of Appeal adjudicated1 on whether a professional liability insurer can plead the nullity of a policy based on misrepresentations or concealment of facts by the insured. This decision is of interest because it addresses the novel issue of whether a liability insurer (…)

May 17, 2016

The Court of Appeal: The liability of the life insurance broker is not limited to the framework of the contractual relationship

The facts of the Roy v. Lefebvre case On June 25, 2014, the Superior Court1 allowed the action of an insured against a life insurance broker and his firm. The context of the subscription of the insurance policy is somewhat unusual and deserves explanations. In 1992, the purchaser of an immovable (…)

May 13, 2016

Public display of trade marks in a language other than French

In 20141, major retailers Best Buy Canada Ltd., Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd., Gap (Canada) Inc., Old Navy (Canada) Inc., Guess? Canada Corporation, Wal-Mart Canada Corp., Toys “R” Us Canada Ltd. and Curves International Inc. had filed a motion for declaratory judgment before the Superior Court for (…)

May 13, 2016

$8 million awarded to a quadriplegic hockey player: the Court of Appeal confirms the Superior Court's decision

Last May 2, the Court of Appeal granted a motion to dismiss an appeal against a significant decision in the area of civil liability in the context of the practice of a sport.1 Decision at trial2 The facts in the case date back to October 3, 2010. A few seconds after the start of a hockey game (…)

May 10, 2016

Trade-marks in Quebec and the Charter of the French Language: the end of a debate, and the start of another?

As previously announced in our newsletter on April 14, 2016, the Quebec government published draft regulations that would put an end to the debate regarding the public display of trade-marks in Quebec. The Quebec government has finally abandoned the idea of requiring a French descriptor when (…)

May 9, 2016

Using a trust in the context of family law: are you really safe?

Although a trust is a valuable financial, tax and estate planning tool, does it allow one to “shelter” some assets from the public order rules which apply in the context of family law? What is a trust? A trust is a legal disposition which allows a person to transfer the ownership of one or more of (…)

April 26, 2016

Update: Metatags at the Federal Court of Appeal

In December 2015, the Federal Court of Appeal rendered its judgment in the case of Red Label Vacations Inc. (redtag.ca) v. 411 Travel Buys Limited (411travelbuys.ca) 1. The Court dismissed all grounds of appeal and upheld the decision of the Federal Court. Background and Federal Court decision Red (…)

April 20, 2016

Insurance contract terminology: the Court of Appeal clarifies the scope of the word ”building”

In insurance law, as well as in other areas of contract law, the precise definition and scope of the terminology used in a contract are very important since they have a direct effect on the obligations of the parties and, in the case under review, the scope of the insurance coverage. On February (…)

April 14, 2016

Trade-marks in Quebec and the Charter of the French Language: the end of a debate?

According to information presently available, it appears that the Quebec government will forgo implementing legislative amendments that would have forced companies conducting business in Quebec to add a French descriptor to signs displaying their non-French trade-marks. Instead, after some (…)

April 13, 2016

Significant amendments to the Act Respecting Duties on Transfers of Immovable following the 2016-2017 provincial budget

The use of a nominee corporation The Act Respecting Duties on Transfers of Immovables (the “Act”) imposes transfer duties (also known as the “welcome tax”) on the transfer of immovables in Quebec. Since transfer duties are only payable from the time the transfer is registered in the land register (…)