Publications
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The Quebec Government Announces an Increase to the Minimum Wage
On February 5, 2014, the Minister of Labour announced that as of May 1, 2014, the minimum wage will be increased by $0.20 an hour to $10.35 an hour.The hourly minimum wage of employees receiving tips will be increased to $8.90 an hour, which represents an increase of $0.15 an hour.Finally, the (…)
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Capital requirements of life insurance companies : Where do we stand ?
AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVELOn December 16, 2013, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (the “IAIS”), which groups the regulators of 140 countries, including Canada, published a consultation document proposing to the international community a series of regulatory capital (…)
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Employee or Self-employed Worker? The Court of Appeal of Québec Rules
The Court of Appeal of Québec recently ruled on the criteria for distinguishing between an employment agreement and a contract for services in the case of Bermex international inc. v. Agence du revenu du Québec.1It is worth noting that regardless of the fact that the parties labelled their agreement (…)
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The Robinson Case: The Final Chapter
Last December 23, the Supreme Court of Canada partially overturned the decision of the Quebec Court of Appeal in the case of Cinar Corporation v. Robinson1 and reinstated most of the conclusions of the Quebec Superior Court.BACKGROUNDIn the 1980s, Claude Robinson (“Robinson”) developed a project for (…)
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Taxation of the Natural Resources Industry in Quebec: The wave of changes still goes on
On December 20, 2013, the Quebec Department of Finance and the Economy issued Information Bulletin 2013-14 (the “Bulletin”), announcing inter alia changes to various tax measures specifically applicable to the natural resources industry.The Bulletin is certainly important in respect of (…)
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Pension Plans and Class Actions: the Vivendi case
On January 16, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada1 affirmed the Court of Appeal of Québec2 judgment which authorized the class action brought against Vivendi Canada Inc. (“Vivendi”). This important decision confirms, among other things, that the rules for authorizing class actions in (…)
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The Quebec Government's Action Plan for Making Pension Plans Equitable and Sustainable
Last December, the Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity unveiled the Quebec government's action plan with the goal of [translation] "correcting and restoring the situation of pension plans". In this document, the government made the following main announcements: that the (…)
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The rise and fall of the “promise” attack – A sigh of relief for the pharmaceutical industry
Canada has recently seen a surge of patent validity challenges based on lack of utility. Utility is a legal requirement for patent validity; an “invention” must have some stated or implied practical use to fulfill the requirements of the Patent Act. Normally, a scintilla of usefulness is enough. (…)
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Regulatory Offences in the Distribution of Insurance Products: A Call for Diligence
On November 21, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its judgment in the case of La Souveraine, Compagnie d’assurance générale v. Autorité des marchés financiers, 2013 SCC 63, a decision which is now critically important in the context of the distribution of insurance products in Quebec. (…)
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The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions published its draft guideline Liquidity Adequacy Requirements
On November 28, 2013, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) published its draft guideline entitled Liquidity Adequacy Requirements1 which set out the new liquidity requirements that may eventually apply to federal deposit-taking institutions, that is, the banks, bank (…)
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Québec solidaire MNAs Table a Bill to Prohibit “Grandfather Clauses” with respect to Pension Plans and Group Insurance Plans
On December 4, 2013, Québec solidaire MNAs Amir Khadir and Françoise David tabled a bill (Bill 499) in the National Assembly which seeks to amend the provisions of the Act Respecting Labour Standards (ARLS) dealing with clauses which provide for differential treatment based solely on one’s (…)
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Norwich orders recognized by the Court of Appeal of Québec - Financial institutions subject to duty to lend assistance in potential fraud files
On June 12, 2013, the Quebec Court of Appeal rendered a decision in the case of Fers et Métaux Américains S.E.C. et als v. Picard et als1 (“Fers et Métaux Américains S.E.C.”) confirming that the courts can issue Norwich-type orders in Quebec. This decision is consistent with the judgment (…)
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New measures to protect consumers of prepaid credit cards: The follow-up
This publication was authored by Luc Thibaudeau, former partner of Lavery and now judge in the Civil Division of the Court of Québec, District of Longueuil. In November 2012, Lavery published a newsletter concerning the announcement made by the Harper government on October 24, 2012 of the adoption (…)