Publications

November 2, 2017

Investing in the health of your employees - a wise decision! The legal issues to consider

Numerous studies confirm that the poor health of workers, among other things caused by the increasingly sedentary nature of positions and the illnesses associated with this, will ultimately result in significant costs for businesses related to: Absenteeism; Compensation for work-related injuries (…)

October 27, 2017

Doing Business In Quebec

Download our complete guide to develop your business in Quebec Doing Business In Quebec

October 26, 2017

Employers and emergency call centre workers: your liability for property damage is limited

In May 12, 2017, the Court of Québec1 concluded that an emergency call centre had no liability for property damage caused by first responders who broke down the door of a residence in order to assist a user in respiratory distress. In this case, the Court held that a call centre who required the (…)

October 24, 2017

“Senior managerial personnel” status under the Act respecting labour standards

In Delgadillo c. Blinds To Go inc. and the Tribunal administratif du travail,1 the Court of Appeal of Québec rendered a very important decision regarding the concept of “senior managerial personnel” under the Act respecting labour standards (“ALS” or the “Act”). In the future, this decision should (…)

October 23, 2017

Comprehensive reform of the rules governing the regulation
and operations in the Québec financial sector

On October 5, 2017, Québec's Minister of Finance, Carlos J. Leitão, has tabled Bill 141 in Québec's National Assembly. The Bill, which is 470 pages long and includes some 750 sections, is entitled An Act mainly to improve the regulation of the financial sector, the protection of deposits of money (…)

October 17, 2017

The Supreme Court clarifies the circumstances in which the director
of a corporation can be held personally liable for oppression

While the Canada Business Corporations Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-44 (“CBCA”) is silent on the circumstances that will result in a director’s personal liability for oppression, and the Canadian courts have failed to agree on the application of the principles considered in the case law in this regard, in (…)

October 6, 2017

Managing potential conflicts of interest in investment funds

The high level of information asymmetry between investment fund managers and their investors1 can give rise to significant conflicts of interest which must be adequately managed. This article discusses the main conflicts of interest encountered in standard private equity, venture capital and hedge (…)

October 5, 2017

Intellectual Property and Artificial Intelligence

Although artificial intelligence has been evolving constantly in the past few years, the law sometimes has difficulty keeping pace with such developments. Intellectual property issues are especially important: businesses investing in these technologies must be sure that they can take full advantage (…)

October 2, 2017

Inappropriate conduct, lack of cooperation and insufficient availability
are sufficient grounds for a health institution’s to refuse to renew a physician’s practice privileges

On May 31, 2017, the Superior Court of Québec1 (the “Court”) dismissed a urologist’s application for judicial review of a decision of the Administrative Tribunal of Québec2 (the “ATQ”) upholding a decision made by the Board of Directors of a health institution (the “Board”) not to renew the (…)

September 21, 2017

The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is coming into force today!

It is today, September 21st 2017, that Bill C-30 1 comes into force. As a result of its provisions, several Canadian laws are amended in order to allow for implementation of the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement “CETA” 2. Chapter 20 of the CETA deals with the (…)

September 19, 2017

Substantial upcoming tax impact on investment funds’ management compensation

On September 8, 2017, the Minister of Finance introduced unexpected legislative and regulatory proposals regarding partnership distributions to a general partner, which will now be subject to GST/HST. On the other hand, the Québec government has yet to propose similar changes, but we believe it will (…)

September 19, 2017

Essential services in the health sector :
the Tribunal administratif du travail declares section 111.10
of the Labour Code unconstitutional

In a decision rendered this past August 31st by Justice Pierre Flageole,1 the Tribunal administratif du travail (the “Tribunal”) declared section 111.10 of the Labour Code2 to be constitutionally inoperative. This provision requires that a set minimum percentage of employees must remain on the job (…)

September 14, 2017

Class Actions - What’s on the radar for consumer class actions?

Over half of the applications for authorization to institute class actions filed in Québec since the beginning of 2017 are based on consumer law. There is no doubt that consumer class actions will continue to fuel discussions within the business and legal communities. We will continue to monitor the (…)