Publications

March 23, 2017

Artificial Intelligence and the 2017 Canadian Budget: is your business ready?

The March 22, 2017 Budget of the Government of Canada, through its “Innovation and Skills Plan” (http://www.budget.gc.ca/2017/docs/plan/budget-2017-en.pdf) mentions that Canadian academic and research leadership in artificial intelligence will be translated into a more innovative economy and (…)

March 21, 2017

Authorization of care and placement: the Québec Court of Appeal rules on alternative therapies, the duration of orders and provisional enforcement notwithstanding appeal

On February 17, 2017, the Québec Court of Appeal1 upheld a decision of the Superior Court of Québec granting an application for authorization of care presented by the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux du Bas-Saint-Laurent. In this case, the patient attempted to assert the following (…)

March 7, 2017

Federal budget and capital gain: Time for tax planning

There is currently speculation in the media that Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s next federal budget will increase the capital gain inclusion rate from 50% to 75%.The combined marginal tax rate on capital gains is currently 26.7% for a resident of Québec. This rate would reach nearly 40% if (…)

March 6, 2017

Passage of Bill 87: A step towards a more ethical governance of the public sector

Last December 9, the Lieutenant Governor assented to Bill 87 entitled An Act to facilitate the disclosure of wrongdoings relating to public bodies (the “Act”), whose purpose, as the name indicates, is to facilitate the disclosure of wrongdoing within public bodies, but also to establish a protection (…)

March 1, 2017

The insured is responsible for the cost of bringing its building up to construction standards

On December 19, 2016, the Alberta Court of Appeal allowed the appeal1 of the insurer which had excluded from its policy coverage the rebuilding costs associated with bringing the insured building up to by-law standards. The Court of Appeal unanimously maintained the exclusion for damages resulting (…)

February 21, 2017

Social media: when the court declares the evidence inadmissible

Social media sites, like Facebook, are inexhaustible sources of personal information which can constitute evidence in the context of employer-employee disputes. In matters related to evidence, the general rule is that any relevant evidence is admissible.1 Moreover, the courts have ruled that an (…)

February 17, 2017

The latest news from the Canadian infrastructures market / Major trends in the infrastructures market for 2017

TABLE OF CONTENTS The latest news from the Canadian infrastructures market Defense Construction Canada issues Request for Expressions of Interest for an energy performance contract Boralex completes financing of the Yellow Falls hydro project in Ontario Boralex and AWEC announce a new (…)

February 9, 2017

Disqualification of a law firm: the Superior Court broadens the spectre of conflicts of interest

In a decision rendered on December 1, 2016, the Superior Court of Québec had to rule on a situation which, until that time, was completely novel, and to determine whether lawyers can act in a court action against former employees of a client whom they still have to work with in connection with (…)

February 3, 2017

Autonomous vehicles in Québec: unanswered questions

According to a recent study, 25% of new cars sold around the world will be self-driving by 20351. A group of researchers from Princeton University estimates that by 2035-2050 over half of American cars will be self-driving2. Smart cars are currently being sold in Québec and their advent is sure to (…)

February 1, 2017

The judicial review of a decision rendered by the Court of Québec in civil matters: an unusual remedy, although possible in some circumstances

The superintending and reforming power of the Superior Court of Québec over the decisions of the Court of Québec is indisputable. It is furthermore confirmed by article 34 of the Code of Civil Procedure1, which grants to the Superior Court powers to judicially review decisions made by the Québec (…)

January 23, 2017

First-aid course required by the ministère de la Famille: is the employer required to pay for the training time?

The Educational Childcare Regulation1 (the “Regulation”) requires every permit holder to ensure that each member of its childcare staff holds a certificate not older than 3 years which must have been obtained through the successful completion of an early childhood first-aid course of a minimum of 8 (…)

January 23, 2017

Exemptions to infringement for research under Canadian law

Various jurisdictions provide exemptions to patent infringement based on research or non-commercial activities.  Canada is no exception (pun intended) and provides both statutory and common law exemptions to patent infringement. Statutory Exemption The statutory exemption to infringement under (…)

December 20, 2016

New regulations for the owners of non-French trade-marks

On November 24th, 2016, the Quebec government has adopted new regulations regarding the public display of non-French trade-marks in Quebec. The new regulations may be summarized as follows: trade-marks do not have to be translated into French but French language must be sufficiently present in all (…)