Articles 2020

Following are this week’s summaries of the Court of Appeal for Ontario for the week of October 10, 2022. There were only two substantive decisions.

Cambie Surgeries Corporation v British Columbia (Attorney General), 2022 BCCA 245 has brought the perennial subject of private health care once again to the fore. Though some patients may be deprived of the right to life and security of the person, allowing for private care would increase wait times even further for those who cannot access private care.

Case summary of the Annapolis and Halifax saga, where the Supreme Court of Canada has the opportunity to consider the law of "de facto" expropriation.

Overview of the status of Toronto's OPA 524, its designation of PMTSAs, and the interplay with the City's Inclusionary Zoning By-law.

Discussion of the potential implications of the More Homes for Everyone Act on development of long-term care homes.

This article provides highlights and a summary of information shared by the WSIAT at its September 28, 2022 Stakeholder Event. Updates include announcements about upcoming changes to Tribunal process and practice with the Tribunal also providing a summary of several new and noteworthy decisions.

Subsection 168(1) states that GST/HST tax is generally payable on the earlier of when the consideration for the supply is paid and when it becomes due, the latter of which generally falls on the invoice date. However, in CFI Funding Trust v. The Queen, the Tax Court of Canada held that an invoice issued by the supplier is not necessary to claim an input tax credit and to satisfy requirements of the Excise Tax Act (Canada) and the Input Tax Credit Information (GST/HST) Regulations.

The general anti-avoidance rule in section 245 of the Income Tax Act is essentially an interpretive rule. In Canada Trustco, the Supreme Court adopted a single, unified approach to the misuse or abuse analysis, which rejected “abuse of the Act read as a whole” as a separate test. In the recent GAAR Consultation paper, the Finance expressed concern over the unified approach and considered codifying the “scheme” approach in Copthorne to give more weight to “abuse of the Act read as whole.”

Blockchain was first theorized as a concept in the early 1990s. However, it took 20 years before blockchain was utilized to create Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, in early 2009. While the use of blockchain to create cryptocurrencies took nearly 20 years, its popularity has exploded since the creation of Bitcoin. 

In the era of globalization and technology overtaking traditional business form, companies and individuals are spending more on obtaining intangible property in order to protect their unique identity by way of marks or patents or logos. With companies and businesses operating across the globe, the question arises as to which country has gained the right to levy taxes on profits arising out of intangible assets or property.