On January 1, 2017, amendments to the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act and the Private Career Colleges Act, 2005 made by Bill 132 (Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act (Supporting Survivors and Challenging Sexual Violence and Harassment), 2015) come into force…
Industry: Education
An Update on “Minimum Standards Only” Termination Clauses
The Ontario Superior Court has issued several decisions over the past few years which have found “minimum standards only” termination provisions in employment contracts to be unenforceable. Thus, employers are in the unexpected position of being liable for reasonable notice at common law…
New Definition of “Spouse” in Ontario to Affect Plan Administration, Insurance & Succession Rules
Pending legislative changes to the definition of “spouse” in Ontario are set to impact pension plan administration and insurance claims in Ontario, further to amendments recently enacted by Bill 28, All Families Are Equal Act (Parentage and Related Registrations Statute Law Amendment), 2016…
Ten Incident Response Tips – Part 2
In Part 1 of this two-part series on data security incident response, we identified five “norms” to guide your incident response process…
Appellate Court Clarifies Use of Subsequent Conduct Evidence in Resolving Ambiguous Contract
In an important decision regarding the law of contractual interpretation, Shewchuk v. Blackmont Capital Inc., the Ontario Court of Appeal considered when the subsequent conduct of parties can be considered in interpreting a contract made between those parties…
Ten Incident Response Tips – Part 1
Responding to a data security incident is as much art as science. Whatever size your organization and whatever risks you face, you should have a detailed incident response plan to guide the efforts of a defined incident response team…
Appellate Court Refuses to Extend Time for Filing of Leave to Appeal: Case Lacked Merit
In Reid v College of Chiropractors of Ontario, the Ontario Court of Appeal recently reviewed the test for extending time to file leave to appeal. The Court dismissed the motion for an extension of time on the basis that the proposed appeal lacked merit. The decision provides a helpful summary of the test for extending…
Supreme Court Affirms Supremacy of Solicitor-Client Privilege
In Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v. University of Calgary, a majority of the Supreme Court of Canada (with two justices partially concurring) affirmed that the University of Calgary was justified in its refusal to produce certain documents over which it had claimed solicitor-client privilege to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta (Commissioner). The…
Protecting Students Act Passes Third Reading
On November 15, 2016, Bill 37, Protecting Students Act, 2016, passed Third Reading…
Post-Retirement Benefits Changes Affecting Members of the Ontario Public Service
On November 11, 2016 the government of Ontario and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) reached an agreement regarding post-retirement benefits (PRBs) for members of the OPSEU Pension Plan. The Ontario government subsequently announced that the terms of that agreement would be extended to members of the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP), subject to…