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Disputes between shareholders of a corporation, and shareholders and their corporation, are stressful and complicated, and often attract…

In early April 2024, Nova Scotia’s Energy Reform (2024) Act (Bill 404) passed, marking the beginning of a new direction for Nova Scotia’s…

The nature of the construction industry, especially when it comes to seasonal work and where the labour needs and costs must be estimated in…

In a typical construction project, the owner has a contract with the prime contractor, the prime contractor has a contract with the…

Canadian provinces and territories continue to swiftly legislate prompt payment requirements – though not all are taking effect quite so…

Updated April 17, 2024. By May 31, 2024 (or possibly earlier for federally incorporated Reporting Entities), Reporting Entities under the…

On October 13, 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its judicial reference opinion: a significant portion of Canada’s federal…

Updated February 9, 2024. On December 15, 2023, Bill C-56, the Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, became law, giving developers of…

There’s a new scam on the web: Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) scams. Most are familiar with established scams like phishing and ransomware and…

Owning your own business offers many opportunities. But it also carries inherent risks, including exposure to personal liability. These three…

Effective June 23, 2023, Section 45(1.1) of the Competition Act makes it a criminal offence for all unaffiliated employers to enter into…

Updated April 17, 2024. On January 1, 2024 the federal Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act (Bill S-211)…

Effective April 27, 2023 the federal Pension Protection Act (Bill C-228), granting pensions “super priority” status over other secured and…

The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has made it clear that, while the burden is high, pre-emptively vacating or discharging a builders’ lien is a…

All businesses need written contracts. Determining what written contracts are essential depends on many factors, including the nature of the…

Updated July 7, 2023. Bill 24 An Act to Amend the Business Corporations Act effected significant amendments to the New Brunswick Business…

On November 10, 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada examined the interaction of arbitration and bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings, deciding a…

Finally closing on October 27, 2022, the tumultuous Elon Musk/Twitter M&A deal drama has been unfolding for months, with both sides making…

On May 22, 2010 (affectionately known as “Bitcoin Pizza Day”), a Floridian bought two Papa John's pizzas with Bitcoin. The day is famous…

On April 14, 2022, the New Brunswick Court of Appeal released its decision in Royal Bank of Canada v. Estate of Susan Lynn Williams, revisiting…

On April 1, 2022, changes to the Newfoundland and Labrador Corporations Act proposed in Bill 24 An Act to Amend the Corporations Act will take…

More and more people are using smart contracts: the global smart contracts market was valued at USD $145M in 2020; it’s projected to be valued…

On November 5, 2021, the Province of Nova Scotia passed the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act. The Act will serve as the…

The New Brunswick Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Regulation, effected under the N.B. Climate Change Act, establishes specific…

Updated February 28, 2024. The New Brunswick Construction Remedies Act substantially came into effect on November 1, 2021, and took full…

On July 28, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada issued a decision protecting the status of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) as a…

Merger and acquisition deals are still happening across all sectors, perhaps at an even higher rate than pre-COVID-19 pandemic, even if the…

The Supreme Court of Canada continues to develop and clarify the organizing principle of good faith performance in contract law. In its 2014…

In the first update to the CCDC 2 since 2008, in December 2020 the Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC) published the CCDC 2 (2020).…

The Supreme Court of Canada, in the 2014 case of Bhasin v. Hrynew, recognized a general organizing principle of good faith performance in…

An economic downturn can result in an M&A uptick: there can be more attractive targets on the market, and sellers can be more motivated to…

We updated this publication on July 11, 2023. Spurred by the COVID-19 Pandemic and bricks-and-mortar closures, businesses – from SMEs to…

On October 2, 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada clarified the existence and application of the anti-deprivation rule in Canadian bankruptcy law.…

Updated August 1, 2024. The rapid adoption of ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) principles and the growth of mandatory disclosure…

The financial technology (Fintech) industry uses technology to support and enhance financial and banking services.

McInnes Cooper partner Michael Melvin and Student-at-Law Myriam Whalen provide a detailed Legal Digest in the Spring 2020 Edition of The…

The Supreme Court of Canada recently released a much-awaited decision regarding the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). The CCAA is…

Business corporations laws and stock exchange policies mandate that issuers hold annual general meetings (AGM) and set requirements for when and…

The global COVID-19 (a.k.a. Coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2) outbreak has implications for many commercial relationships, its evolving nature and…

Intellectual property (IP) can be a business’s most valuable (even only) asset. Once you’ve taken steps to understand what the five main IP…

Intellectual property (IP) can be an important source of revenue to a business. There are three main ways intellectual property (IP) owners…

Canada’s construction industry is abuzz with the latest innovation in lien legislation. Prompt payment requirements are being added to…

All issuers must comply with both periodic and ongoing securities law corporate governance (and other) disclosure requirements. This can,…

The Environmental Emergency Regulations, effected under section 200(1) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) and in force since…

Information disclosure is a key theme that emerges from Canada’s new cannabis regulatory regime: the government wants lots of information from…

Updated July 10, 2024. If you “own” a company incorporated under either the Canada Business Corporations Act or under the corporate…

The growing global population is feeding global demand for seafood. Growing demand is likely to drive investment, particularly mergers and…

On June 17, 2019, big changes to Canada’s Trademarks Act (the law that protects, essentially, a brand) fundamentally altering Canada’s…

Updated January 26, 2023. Prince Edward Island corporations were formerly governed by the P.E.I. Companies Act – legislation that was…

This publication has been updated as at July 8, 2022. Changes to the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) over the past several years have…

Blockchain technology has already been a transformative force in a number of sectors. Its most prominent use to date has been as the…

On November 30, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada denied Geophysical Service Incorporated’s (GSI) application for leave to appeal the decision…

It’s official: as of October 31, 2017, “facilitation payments” contravene Canada’s Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act (CFPOA).…

On October 27, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that a bank that pays out on a fraudulent cheque has the protection of section 20(5)…

Intellectual Property (IP) can be a valuable asset – even the most valuable asset – of a business. So it’s worth making sure the business…

Atlantic Canada is at a turning point. The region’s history and economic development have historically been inextricably linked to the ocean.…

Recently, the Federal Court of Appeal confirmed that a tax debtor’s bankruptcy does not extinguish the federal Crown’s priority to proceeds…

In the not-so-distant past, Canadian enforcement of its anti-corruption and anti-bribery legal regime has been relatively laid-back. But the…

All stakeholders in any major project development already know that adequate consultation before - rather than after - a project is approved is…

A corporation does not always sail in calm or safe waters. Cash shortages, unattainable or unmet goals, Board disagreements over the best course…

When growing your business, you face many decisions, including choosing the business structure that is right for you. Your legal team can be…

On June 28, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed a Canadian court can issue an interlocutory injunction (an order requiring an entity or…

On June 23, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that in a contest between the choice of forum clause in Facebook’s online terms of use…

The Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act is one of several anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws aimed at fighting corruption in the…

NOTE: On November 30, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada denied Geophysical Service Incorporated’s (GSI) application for leave to appeal the…

In three years (lightning speed in the law), medically assisted dying went from being illegal to being legal. A great deal has changed, a great…

On April 13, 2017, Canada’s federal government introduced legislation that, if passed into law, will legalize recreational cannabis in Canada.…

Social media platforms, like Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and GooglePlus, arguably have more followers and are more closely…

Updated January 29, 2024. Most organizations (72%) store the personal information of customers. employees, suppliers, vendors or partners,…

Doing business with the public sector creates an often overlooked – but very real – risk that the confidential information a business…

On November 17, 2016 the Supreme Court of Canada decided a mortgagee has the mortgagor’s implied consent to disclose its discharge statement…

The balance between the public’s interest in accessing offshore petroleum resources data and operators’ commercial interests is at the heart…

Updated August 19, 2024. All shareholders – whether in a startup, a small or large business or a family-owned business – can benefit from…

We updated this publication on January 17, 2023. For many businesses, large and small, their “Intellectual Property” (IP) is one of their…

Updated January 27, 2023. A key legal decision in starting or growing your business is choosing the business structure that’s right for…

The condo real estate market, both retail and commercial, is hot. But condo developers and unit buyers need funding. Here’s the legal…

In its June 16, 2016 decision in Rogers Communications Inc. v. Châteauguay (City), the Supreme Court of Canada decided a municipality’s…

Administrative monetary penalties, or “AMPs”, are a new phenomenon in the Canadian offshore. AMPs were introduced to the Newfoundland &…

On May 6, 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada generally affirmed the common law rule that positive covenants do not run with the land. More…

Updated October 4, 2023. Workplace accidents regularly lead to charges under occupational health and safety (OHS) law. These charges can be…

When a business responds to a public sector Request for Proposal or Expression of Interest (both of which we’ll refer to as an RFP for these…

On January 11, 2016, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice sentenced a front-line supervisor to imprisonment for 3½ years for four counts of…

On February 26, 2016, the bulk of the offshore-related amendments of the Energy Safety and Security Act (ESSA, formerly known as Bill C-22) take…

A practical and current guide created to help you navigate the increasingly important issues surrounding offshore decommissioning and…

On the heels of National Aboriginal Day, we pause to take a look back at two significant Aboriginal law cases decided in the last year, how…

On April 15, 2015, British Columbia’s Court of Appeal confirmed that First Nations can make certain legal claims grounded in Aboriginal rights…

Updated October 4, 2023. Most people know a company itself has occupational health and safety (OHS) obligations and risks corporate liability…

We updated this publication on July 21, 2022. Every party to a Right of Way has some idea of what that Right of Way is – but many times,…

Hindsight is 20/20. Lawyers can’t always predict the outcome of a legal claim. But when a dispute between an investment client and their…

Snow can be a big nuisance at this time of year, but snow load - the weight of the snow, usually measured in pounds per square foot - can be…

“Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR) as a concept has been floating around in business-speak for years – but stakeholders in the mining…

The construction industry - project owners, contractors, subcontractors and trades - might be relaxing, ignoring the hype around Canada’s…

On November 13, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) effected a significant development in Canadian contract law by recognizing the…

CASL’s anti-spam sections came into force on July 1, 2014. Every organization that CASL affects should now be complying with it – and their…

Updated August 25, 2022. Many believe that only public companies or large, established companies with many shareholders need to be concerned…

On July 11, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that the “Crown” in historical treaties with First Nations groups includes both the…

On June 26, 2014, in its groundbreaking decision on Aboriginal title in Tsilhqot’in Nation v. B.C., the Supreme Court of Canada …

Lenders are often faced with a situation where a customer (Borrower) approaches them for funds to complete an acquisition of the shares of a…

Updated June 5, 2024. A general security agreement (GSA) is the most common form of personal property security to secure commercial loans and…