Articles 2023

As Toronto Lifemagazine does a feature article on how Toronto’s new Super Jail is “the Billion Dollar Hellhole”, I cannot help but reflect on what an incredible value the Construction and Infrastructure’s annual year-end tours are.

Priority disputes can get messy, especially where there are more than one borrower and mortgagee involved; over a dozen lien claimants asserting their priorities; and multiple advances to different parties in different amounts made at different times under different mortgages and credit facilities.

In instances where a party hires a contractor to conduct work on multiple, unrelated projects, the contractor may be owed an undisputed amount on one project, yet the payer may wish to retain this undisputed amount until such time as disputed amounts on a second, unrelated project are addressed.

In Trenchline Construction Inc. v. Unimac-United Management Corp., 2016 ONSC 6136, Master Wiebe provided a clarification of the substantive requirements for a written notice of lien under section 24 of the Construction Lien Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30.

Dean’s Standard Inc. painfully illustrates why construction contractors must proceed with caution when entering into agreements to supply labour or materials at the behest of a potential purchaser of a property where the actual owners of the property are not present throughout the contractual discussions.

On June 9, 2016, members of the Construction & Infrastructure Law Section assembled at the Albany Club of Toronto to celebrate the beginning of summer, get an up-close look at the E&Y Tower construction project at 100 Adelaide Street West, and toast the accomplishments of Geza R. Banfai as he was awarded this year’s OBA Award of Excellence in Construction & Infrastructure Law.

In November of 2015, the Honourable J. Douglas Cunningham was appointed by the Ontario Minister of Government and Consumer Services as a special advisor to conduct an independent review of the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act and the Tarion Warranty Corporation, with a general focus on reviewing the existing protections for owners of new homes and experiences to date and identifying opportunities to improve consumer protection.

It has been almost two years since the Supreme Court of Canada recognized “a new common law duty that applies to all contracts as a manifestation of the general organizing principle of good faith: a duty of honest performance” in the landmark Bhasin v. Hyrnewdecision. As Bhasin enters its toddler years, how has the duty of good faith evolved?

Ann A. Hatsios writes a moving tribute to her firm mentor, Joel Kuchar of Drudi Alexiou Kuchar LLP.

David Debenham shares his view on how a particular class of self-represented litigants are damaging the legal system.