Articles 2025

Jeff Lem has written an interesting and entertaining article about his experiences as a neophyte Law Society Bencher, the way in which the Law Society's. in general, and Convocation's. in particular, function is somewhat opaque to most members of the profession. Jeff's article is a "must read" in particular for those of us who from the solicitor side of the bar who have decided to run in the upcoming Bencher election. SO... VOTE!

For the purposes of the Assessment Act, agreements with significant reservation of rights to the landlord may still be characterized as a lease if the reservations are consistent with commercial leases and if the agreement contains other indicators of a lease such as the quiet enjoyment and the habendum clauses.

David Sherman advises that an assignee of an agreement of purchase and sale from a non-resident assignor may be required to obtain a section 116 certificate under the Income Tax Act.

This brief article addresses a reference in the 2014 Ontario Budget regarding two proposed amendments to the Land Transfer Tax Act: addressing certain "aggressive" tax structures that employ the de minimis partnership transfer exception, and the introduction of a general anti-avoidance rule into the Land Transfer Tax Act. Thanks to Steve Pearlstein for pointing out to me this part of the Budget as tabled.

Craig Carter provides his interpretation as to the effect of this Ontario Court of Appeal case on the role of lawyers respecting due diligence inquiries for purchaser clients, among other issues. He highlights the importance of ensuring that there is a "bright line" separating the lawyer's responsibility and the client's responsibility for various matters on a file, particularly where responsibilities are sometimes allocated to the lawyer and sometimes to the client.

This brief article provides an update on the status of the Ontario Government's intention to allow agreements of purchase and sale for land to be executed by digital signatures, some of the challenges associated with doing so, and the role of various stakeholders in the process.