Articles 2020

It was a light, yet eventful week at the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

Pre-Eng is one of a growing number of cases to adopt a narrower interpretation of the wording of a builder's risk insurance policy, finding that only the insured's actual interest in the property insured was covered by the policy.

Ever since the 1992 decision in Southridge Construction Group Inc. v. 667293 Ontario, section 48 of the Construction Act has been interpreted to the effect that once a lien is discharged, a claimant cannot lien again for services performed prior to the date of the perfection of the first, discharged lien. How has the uniform application of Southridge changed as a result of the recent decision in 9585800 Canada Inc. v. JP Gravel Construction, 2019 ONSC 3396 (S.C.J.)

Author Margaret Nixon, of Stikeman Elliott LLP, reviews the recent decision of the Tax Court of Canada in Prairielane Holdings Ltd. v. The Queen, 2019 TCC 157. In this case, the Court considers the deemed association rule in subsection 256(2.1) of the Income Tax Act and provides useful guidance on the legal principles that are applicable in determining whether one of the main reasons for the separate existence of two or more corporations is the reduction of tax.

This was a light week for the Court of Appeal. Topics covered included the rescission of agreements of purchase of sale of condos arising out of material changes, and the allocation of parenting time and decision-making responsibilities. The Court also clarified that “unlawful gambling”, as defined by the Criminal Code, includes games of mixed skill and chance.

On June 20, 2019, the Special Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector released its final report, Catalyst for Change: A Roadmap to a Stronger Charitable Sector, setting out its findings from a year-long study with respect to the charitable and non-profit sector and making 42 recommendations to the Government of Canada. Following is a brief summary of the discussions and recommendations made in the Report.