Canadian Government Announces “First Set” of Competition Act Reforms
Sept. 19, 2023 – In a recent press release, Canada’s Prime Minister announced a “first set” of proposed changes to...
Insights
Our innovative thinking and legal analysis keep our clients up to speed. Browse our expert perspectives on the latest developments below.
Court of Québec Orders the Exclusion of Evidence Citing “Serious” and “Systemic” Breaches of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Aug. 03, 2023 – In the Bouchard1 case rendered in July 2023, many years after the Supreme Court...
Ownership of Privileged Communications in M&A Transactions: Practical Takeaways and Recent Case Law
July 13, 2023 – Can the buyer in a M&A transaction who takes possession of the seller’s or target company’s...
Employers Beware: Amendments to the Canadian Competition Act’s Criminal Conspiracy Provisions Take Effect
June 22, 2023 – Amendments to the Canadian Competition Act (Act), taking effect on June 23, 2023, will...
Canadian Mergers & Acquisitions: A Guide for Foreign Investment Banks and Bidders, 9th Edition
June 01, 2021 – Davies’ Canadian Mergers & Acquisitions draws on our multijurisdictional M&A experience to offer clear guidance on both the legal framework and the practical aspects of Canadian mergers and acquisitions, including critical tax and regulatory considerations. The recently updated guide is a...
Government Report Indicates Robust Foreign Investment Review in Canada
Dec. 01, 2022 – The Canadian government recently released the 2021-2022 Annual Report covering non-cultural1 foreign investment reviews under the Investment Canada Act (ICA) from April 1, 2021 through March 31, 2022. Given the government’s reluctance to publicize details of its ICA reviews,...
Pre-Merger Notification Guide: Canada’s Competition Act
Apr. 01, 2021 – Canada’s Competition Act provides that certain types of transactions exceeding monetary and other thresholds must be notified to the Competition Bureau prior to closing. Parties whose transactions exceed these thresholds and who fail to comply with the rules may face significant...
Latest
New GST Rebate for Purpose-Built Rental Property
Sept. 26, 2023 – As an incentive to builders to create more rental housing units, the federal government has announced the effective elimination of the goods and services tax (GST) payable on newly constructed rental housing, such as apartment buildings, student housing and senior residences built specifically...
Canadian Government Announces “First Set” of Competition Act Reforms
Sept. 19, 2023 – In a recent press release, Canada’s Prime Minister announced a “first set” of proposed changes to the Competition Act, with additional “comprehensive legislative reforms” to follow in the coming months. While the federal government launched a consultation process on Competition...
Government of Canada Releases Package of Proposed Domestic and International Tax Legislation
Aug. 16, 2023 – The Department of Finance (Finance) released draft tax legislation for public consultation on August 4, 2023, with a stated focus on promoting tax fairness and a clean economy. The most significant item released is the draft of a major new statute, the Global Minimum Tax Act,...
Court of Québec Orders the Exclusion of Evidence Citing “Serious” and “Systemic” Breaches of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Aug. 03, 2023 – In the Bouchard1 case rendered in July 2023, many years after the Supreme Court of Canada rendered the Jarvis decision,2 the Court of Québec concluded that the fundamental rights of medical specialists (i) against self-incrimination, (ii) to silence, (iii)...
Ownership of Privileged Communications in M&A Transactions: Practical Takeaways and Recent Case Law
July 13, 2023 – Can the buyer in a M&A transaction who takes possession of the seller’s or target company’s privileged communications on closing use those communications in a post-closing dispute against the seller? Can the seller assert privilege and demand return of the documents? In Dente v Delta...
Employers Beware: Amendments to the Canadian Competition Act’s Criminal Conspiracy Provisions Take Effect
June 22, 2023 – Amendments to the Canadian Competition Act (Act), taking effect on June 23, 2023, will make it a criminal offence for unaffiliated employers to agree, conspire or arrange to “fix, maintain, decrease or control salaries, wages or terms and conditions of employment” (wage-fixing...
Governance Insights: Charting a (Safe) Path Through the ESG Wilderness
June 08, 2023 – The rapid and growing recognition of the importance of accounting for ESG factors in strategic decision-making and corporate reporting has, perhaps predictably, been followed by a notable increase in anti-ESG sentiment and a questioning of the integrity of measures purported to advance...
Ontario Court of Appeal Issues Decision in The Catalyst Capital Group Inc. v West Face Capital Inc.
June 06, 2023 – The Ontario Court of Appeal, following the guidance issued by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1704604 Ontario Ltd. v Pointes Protection Association1 (Pointes Protection) and Hansman v Neufeld2 (Neufeld), has issued its much-anticipated...
Major Expropriation Reform on the Horizon in Québec
May 30, 2023 – On May 25, 2023, the Québec government tabled a bill to replace the current Expropriation Act. Like the current law, the bill will apply to expropriations initiated by both the provincial and municipal governments. The bill provides for major changes related to: contesting the right...
Canada’s Top Court Confirms Anti-SLAPP Motions Protect Speakers, Not Plaintiffs
May 25, 2023 – The Supreme Court of Canada, in commenting on anti-SLAPP1 legislation for the third time in the span of three years, has confirmed that even potentially meritorious claims must be dismissed if the public interest in the defendant’s expression outweighs the public interest in allowing...
Competition Bureau Tests Canada’s New Drip Pricing Law
May 25, 2023 – Canada’s Commissioner of Competition filed an application under the deceptive marketing provisions of the Competition Act (Act) on May 18, 2023, alleging that Cineplex Inc. is making false or misleading representations to the public on its website and mobile app about the prices of its...
Québec Court Tackles Novel Issues During Approval of the Second Remediation Agreement (a.k.a. Deferred Prosecution Agreement) Under the Canadian Criminal Code
May 23, 2023 – The Superior Court of Québec recently published its reasons1 approving Canada’s second remediation agreement under the Criminal Code, Canada’s version of a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA). In his reasons, Justice Marc David expanded on the principles applicable to...
Canada Imposes Forced and Child Labour Reporting Obligations
May 05, 2023 – The House of Commons has adopted Bill S-211, whose short title is Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act (the Bill). The Bill, which was adopted on May 3, 2023, will become law as soon as it receives royal assent and will enter into force on January 1, 2024....
OBCA Changes Could Be Used to Restrict Shareholder Rights
Apr. 28, 2023 – The Ontario government introduced an omnibus bill (Bill 91) on April 3, 2023 that proposes both welcome and concerning amendments to the Ontario Business Corporations Act’s (OBCA) regulation of shareholder meetings. The inclusion of a provision that authorizes corporations to limit...
Governance Insights: Trends and Developments in Diversity
Apr. 21, 2023 – Davies Governance Insights analyzes the top trends and issues most important to Canadian public companies and provides practical guidance for boards to meet these challenges head on. In the 2020 edition of Davies Governance Insights, we highlighted how boards and senior...
Two Percent Tax on Share Buybacks by Public Companies
Apr. 18, 2023 – As part of the 2023 federal budget, tabled on March 28, 2023, the government has introduced draft legislation to implement a new 2% tax on share buybacks that was first announced in November 2022 as part of the government’s Fall Economic Statement. This tax (referred to below as the “Buyback...
Federal Budget 2023 – Major Changes for Business and High Net Worth Individuals
Mar. 28, 2023 – On March 28, 2023 (Budget Day), the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada and Minister of Finance, delivered the Liberal Party’s federal budget (Budget 2023). Budget 2023 does not change the corporate and personal tax rates under the Income Tax Act (Act). Instead...
Federal Courts Weigh in on the FBAR: Providing Relief from Outrageous Penalties
Mar. 22, 2023 – In this bulletin, we highlight two recent federal court cases in which U.S. taxpayers won major victories against the United States with respect to their obligations to report non-U.S. accounts on FinCEN Form 114 – Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, more commonly referred to...
NYSE and Nasdaq Propose Listing Standards Requiring Issuers to Adopt Clawback Policies to Recover Erroneously Awarded Incentive-Based Executive Compensation
Mar. 17, 2023 – The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq) recently proposed new listing standards to implement the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules regarding the recovery of erroneously awarded incentive-based executive compensation (SEC Rules). As described in...
Rolling Into 2023: Mild Slumps and Jumps in Insolvency Numbers
Davies Insolvency Now, Issue 8Mar. 09, 2023 – What does a “rolling recession” mean from an insolvency perspective? In this issue of Davies Insolvency Now, we look to the 2022 Q4 data from across Canada for answers. We also set out the court-supervised arrangement process under the Canada Business Corporations Act, an...
Section 1446(f) – The Confounding and Unavoidable US Tax Withholding Regime That Applies to Nearly All Transfers of Partnership Interests
Mar. 09, 2023 – In this article, originally published in Tax Management International Journal, Davies lawyers Zachary Kling, Jonathan Rhein, Jennifer Lee and Peter Glicklich explain what foreign partners, including Canadians, investing in U.S. partnerships need to know about Section 1446(f) of the...
Continuation Funds: Key Considerations
Mar. 07, 2023 – Continuation funds, commonly referred to as General Partner (GP)-led secondaries or restructurings, have long divided sponsor and investor opinion. While a leading European pension fund investor recently described them as part of a broader industry “pyramid scheme,” others view them positively,...
U.S. Tax Laws: A Review of 2022 and a Look Ahead to 2023
Feb. 21, 2023 – As we settle into the new year, let’s take a moment to first consider last year’s tax developments and then take a look ahead to what 2023 might have in store for us. Review of U.S. Tax Developments in 2022 In 2022 we finally saw some movement on President Biden’s tax policy with the...
Québec’s Enterprise Transparency Regime Is Coming Into Force
Feb. 15, 2023 – Amendments to the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises (LPA), which require registrants (described below) to declare their “ultimate beneficiaries,” will come into force on March 31, 2023. Corporate ownership transparency requirements are being mandated across Canada to...
First OPC Ruling for 2023 Will Impact Third-Party Processor Contracts
Feb. 08, 2023 – The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) recently released findings stemming from a customer complaint that Home Depot of Canada (Home Depot) had violated the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) by disclosing customers’ personal information...
Time (and Process) of the Essence: Ontario Court Accelerates Timing of Requisitioned Meeting
Feb. 08, 2023 – A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice represents a rare victory for activists in overturning a target board’s proposed timing for setting a requisitioned meeting. While Canada is generally viewed as an activist-friendly jurisdiction, due in part to the relative ease with which...
Canadian Competition Law Trends for 2023: Significant Amendments and More Change Ahead
Feb. 03, 2023 – Significant amendments to Canada’s Competition Act (Act) dominated discussion about Canadian competition law policy and enforcement in 2022. Given the full implementation of the first round of amendments and the formal commencement of public consultation on further amendments,...
Canadian Foreign Investment Law in 2023: National Security Is (Still) Paramount
Feb. 03, 2023 – In this annual review of Canadian foreign investment law, we discuss developments over the past year, including proposed amendments to the Investment Canada Act (ICA) and new government policies on the treatment of specific categories of investments. We also consider how these trends...
SEC Adopts Amendments to Insider Trading Rules and Reporting Requirements
Jan. 20, 2023 – In late 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final amendments to certain rules and reporting requirements concerning insider trading arrangements, including Rule 10b5-1(c) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act). Rule 10b5-1(c) provides...
Federal Trade Commission Proposes Rule to Ban Non-Compete Clauses
Jan. 19, 2023 – The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued a proposed rule that, if adopted, would broadly prohibit employers from entering into post-employment non-compete agreements with workers, and would also require employers to rescind any such existing non-compete agreements. The...
The CRA’s New Power to Compel Oral Interviews
Jan. 17, 2023 – The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) can now require taxpayers or any other person to answer “all proper questions” and provide all reasonable assistance for any purpose relating to the administration or enforcement of the Income Tax Act (ITA), including by submitting to oral questioning at...
Upcoming Proposed Regulatory Changes to Stock Buyback Excise Tax
Dec. 29, 2022 – With another new year nearly upon us, we call attention to regulatory changes to the Stock Buyback Excise Tax that will be proposed to take effect on January 1 and the implications on more non-U.S. corporations. Specifically, we address exceptions for (i) a broad new per se funding rule...
New Rules and Reporting Requirements Coming for the Real Estate Sector
Dec. 23, 2022 – As 2022 comes to a close, we draw your attention to certain new and proposed legislation that the Canadian federal government has introduced and that will have important implications for Canadian residential real estate and the Canadian real estate sector more broadly. Specifically, we offer...
Canada Moves to Strengthen National Security Review of Foreign Investments
Dec. 14, 2022 – The Canadian government has proposed legislation to update and reinforce its national security review process under the Investment Canada Act (ICA). The proposed changes contained in Bill C-34, National Security Review of Investments Modernization Act (Bill) are the most...
The International Investigations Review: Canada
Dec. 12, 2022 – In the 12th edition of The International Investigations Review, Davies partners Léon Moubayed and Corey Omer highlight the major issues with and critical characteristics of criminal and regulatory investigations that corporate counsel face in Canada's legal system.
Canada Releases Revised Draft Legislation on New Interest Deductibility Rules
Dec. 08, 2022 – The Department of Finance (Canada) (Finance) has released revised draft legislation on the proposed rules regarding excessive interest and financing expenses limitation (EIFEL). The revised draft legislation, released on November 3, 2022, contains several significant updates to Finance’s...
SEC Adopts Final Rules for Recovery of Erroneously Awarded Compensation
Dec. 06, 2022 – After years of deliberations and delays, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules on clawbacks in October 2022. The new rules (known as Rule 10D-1) require U.S. national securities exchanges and securities associations to establish standards requiring listed issuers...
Government Report Indicates Robust Foreign Investment Review in Canada
Dec. 01, 2022 – The Canadian government recently released the 2021-2022 Annual Report covering non-cultural1 foreign investment reviews under the Investment Canada Act (ICA) from April 1, 2021 through March 31, 2022. Given the government’s reluctance to publicize details of its ICA reviews,...
Canadian Government Consults on Far-Reaching Changes to Canada’s Competition Law
Nov. 24, 2022 – Canada’s federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry formally announced on November 17, 2022 that the federal government is launching a comprehensive review of the Competition Act (Act) and Canadian competition policy. This announcement follows through on the Minister’s...
Financial Gloom and the Increase in Insolvency Filings
Davies Insolvency Now, Issue 7Nov. 16, 2022 – In this issue of Davies Insolvency Now, we highlight the significant data points in rising insolvency filing rates and provide a Canadian lens on the digital asset marketplace. With recent drops in crypto prices severely affecting several digital asset lenders and exchanges, we explore...
Canada Clamps Down on Foreign SOE Investments in Critical Minerals
Nov. 15, 2022 – The Canadian government announced a new policy on October 28, 2022 (the Policy) under the Investment Canada Act (ICA) governing investments by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Canada’s critical minerals sector. The government followed the issuance of the Policy with an announcement on...
Round One: Canada Takes a Big Swing At Its Competition Act, with More to Come
Oct. 28, 2022 – In this article originally published in the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Magazine Online, Alysha Manji-Knight and Joshua Hollenberg outline significant recent amendments to Canada’s Competition Act, including expanded abuse of dominance provisions, a new private right...
Seeing Green: Sustainability Remains of Interest to the Competition Bureau
Oct. 03, 2022 – Canada’s Competition Bureau (Bureau) hosted a summit in late September, its first in-person event in more than two years. The summit explored the intersection between competition law and environmental and sustainability objectives, indicating that this area remains a high enforcement priority for...
Citibank Gets Its Money Back
Sept. 15, 2022 – A February 16, 2021 decision of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York held, in In re Citibank August 11, 2020 Wire Transfers, 520 F. Supp. 3d 390, that lenders who received almost $900 million mistakenly wired to them by Citibank (the administrative...
Davies Governance Insights – September 2022
Sept. 06, 2022 – Davies Governance Insights analyzes the top trends and issues most important to Canadian public companies and provides practical guidance for boards to meet these challenges head on. In this edition: Ten Regulatory and Judicial Developments That GCs and Boards Need to...
Highlights of Canada’s Latest Legislative Tax Proposals
Aug. 23, 2022 – The Department of Finance recently released a package of materials containing potential changes to the Canadian tax system (Tax Proposals). The materials, released on August 9, 2022, include draft amendments to the Income Tax Act (Tax Act) to implement certain measures from the 2022...
U.S. Climate Change and Healthcare Bill Moves Democrats’ Tax Policy Forward
Aug. 18, 2022 – The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Act), which was signed into law on August 16, is intended to fight inflation and address climate change. The Act provides for over $360 billion in energy- and climate-related investments, including the expansion, extension and creation of numerous...
No Need to Disclose “Unsolicited, Inexpert, Premature and Unreliable” Opinions
Aug. 16, 2022 – Overview The Court of Appeal for Ontario has confirmed that a public company acted properly and lawfully when it decided not to disclose to the investing public an opinion received from an external consultant that questioned the economic viability of the company’s main asset, in...
Canada’s Shifting Credit and Insolvency Landscapes
Davies Insolvency Now, Issue 6July 27, 2022 – In this issue of Davies Insolvency Now, against a backdrop of rising inflation and interest rates, we take a deep dive into the legislation that regulates rates of interest in Canada, drawing on recent court decisions to help parties avoid common pitfalls in structuring deals. We then...
Corporate Transparency: What’s Happening Across Canada?
July 12, 2022 – Recent amendments to the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) will require private corporations to report information regarding individuals with significant control to Corporations Canada. These amendments form part of the federal government’s long-term corporate transparency...
Federal Government Enacts Significant Amendments to Canada’s Competition Act
June 24, 2022 – Significant amendments to Canada’s Competition Act (Act) were enacted on June 23, 2022, with the passing of the federal government’s 2022 budget implementation legislation. The amendments foreshadow more aggressive Competition Bureau (Bureau) enforcement of the Act, especially regarding...
It Ain’t Easy Being Green: Raising Funds in the Age of Decarbonization and Electrification
June 23, 2022 – Any fund manager that has raised capital in the last 10 years will tell you that environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles have gained increased prominence with investors globally. But has ESG given rise to a new asset class? Recent history might suggest that it has: Generation...
Canada's Top Court Decides Against Equitable Rescission in Collins Family Trust
June 21, 2022 – “Equity has no place here,” held the Supreme Court of Canada in its 8-1 decision in Canada (Attorney General) v Collins Family Trust (Collins), 2022 SCC 26, on June 17. Reversing the decisions of the British Columbia courts below, Collins holds that the equitable remedy of rescission...
First Remediation Agreement under the Canadian Criminal Code: Key Takeaways
June 14, 2022 – The Superior Court of Québec recently published its reasons1 approving Canada’s first remediation agreement under the Criminal Code, which is Canada’s version of a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA). In his reasons, the Honourable Justice Eric Downs provided an extensive...
Canada Confirms Intention to Institute New Interest and Deductibility Rules
June 07, 2022 – Overview The Department of Finance (Canada) (Finance) released draft legislation on February 4, 2022 that would limit the deduction of “interest and financing expenses” to a fixed percentage of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for Canadian income...
Filling the Gap: Scope of Canadian Anti-Money Laundering Laws Expanded
June 07, 2022 – The Canadian federal government has fulfilled its promise to expand Canada’s anti-money laundering (AML) regime to cover crowdfunding platforms and certain payment service providers (PSPs) that previously operated outside the scope of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and...
Canada Proposes Significant Amendments to the Competition Act
Apr. 29, 2022 – Earlier this week, the Canadian government introduced the Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No. 1 (Bill) to enact measures announced in its April 7, 2022 budget (Budget). The Budget foreshadowed that the Bill would contain amendments to the Competition Act (Act) that are...
Federal Budget 2022: Tax Highlights
Apr. 08, 2022 – On April 7, 2022 (Budget Day), the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada and Minister of Finance, delivered the Liberal Party’s federal budget (Budget 2022), the second budget since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the Trudeau government’s plan to “grow...
Insolvencies in 2021: A Look Back and the Road Ahead
Davies Insolvency Now, Issue 5Apr. 06, 2022 – As government supports recede and the focus shifts toward economic recovery, in this issue of Davies Insolvency Now, we take a deep dive into the implications of 2021 insolvency data for 2022, and explore the Canadian application of two key themes emerging from the 2022 World...
U.S. Tax Laws: A Review of 2021 and a Look Ahead to 2022
Mar. 03, 2022 – Review of U.S. Tax Developments in 2021 Last year, we predicted that the biggest U.S. tax news in 2021 would be revenue-raising legislation that the Democrats would put forward after the election of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States. As we went to press last year, runoff...
Foreign Investment Review in Canada: Top Trends and Developments for 2022
Mar. 01, 2022 – The past year generated substantial interest in the operation of the Investment Canada Act (ICA), especially the national security review process, against the backdrop of changes in government policy that purport to articulate a more expansive view of Canada’s national security interests. ...
If It Ain’t Broke… Davies Comments on Draft Capital Markets Act
Feb. 25, 2022 – Davies has submitted a comprehensive comment letter on a new Capital Markets Act (CMA) proposed by the Ontario Ministry of Finance, on the recommendation of the Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce, to replace the Ontario Securities Act. Although some modifications to...
Following the Money: Emergencies Act Invoked to Expand Anti-Money Laundering Rules
Feb. 17, 2022 – The Canadian federal government announced this week that it was invoking the never-before-used Emergencies Act1 in response to ongoing blockades and occupations arising out of the self-titled “Freedom Convoy” protests. As part of the emergency declaration, the government...
COVID-19 Resource Hub
Feb. 17, 2022 – Here you will find up-to-date information and comprehensive insights on a range of issues related to COVID-19 and their implications for businesses. Select one of the following areas to be directed to our latest guidance on a particular subject or scroll down for our full list of insights and...
Canadian Competition Law Reform and Trends in 2022
Feb. 14, 2022 – As we look ahead to the trends and issues likely to be at the forefront of Canadian competition law policy and enforcement in 2022, it is clear that discussion of significant potential legislative reforms will be an important focus. In addition, key developments in merger review and class...
International Views: A Canadian Playbook for 2022
Davies Insolvency Now, Issue 4Feb. 09, 2022 – In 2022, we expect to see an uptick in restructurings and insolvencies as fiscal protections expire and businesses face continued cash shortfalls, mounting debt obligations, altered consumer behaviours and rising interest rates. Despite these challenges, while we recognize the immeasurable...
COVID-19 and the Courts: What You Need to Know
Dec. 22, 2021 – Across the globe, courts have rapidly adapted their practices and procedures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As waves of infections have spread throughout Canada, its courts have fluctuated between resuming activities and easing restrictions, then scaling back services and reintroducing...
China Mobile Case Illustrates Breadth of Canada’s National Security Review Regime
Dec. 20, 2021 – After operating in Canada for five years, China Mobile International (Canada) Inc. (CMI) was ordered by the Canadian government in August 2021 to shut down or divest its Canadian operations because of national security concerns. CMI has applied for judicial review of the government’s decision...
Top Court Blesses Treaty-Shopping Arrangement: The Alta Energy Decision
Dec. 14, 2021 – The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) recently rendered its eagerly awaited decision in Canada v Alta Energy Luxembourg S.A.R.L., 2021 SCC 49 (Alta Energy). Six of the nine justices held that the Canadian statutory general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) did not apply to deny treaty...
CSA Introduces a Streamlined Shelf Prospectus Regime for “Well-Known Seasoned Issuers”
Dec. 13, 2021 – The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) recently announced that each of its members has adopted a blanket order (collectively, Blanket Orders) to make available to “well-known seasoned issuers” (WKSIs) a streamlined shelf prospectus qualification procedure (WKSI regime). This regime is...
Ontario Legislation Prohibits Non-Competition Provisions and Introduces Employees’ Right to Disconnect
Dec. 06, 2021 – The Ontario government’s Bill 27, Working for Workers Act, 2021, received royal assent on December 2, 2021. The bill contains a broad range of amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), including non-competition provisions and the “right to disconnect” from work. ...
Revised U.S. Tax Proposals Will Affect Foreign Investment
Nov. 08, 2021 – The U.S. House Committee on Rules recently released an updated version of the Build Back Better Act (Act) to reflect the White House’s Build Back Better framework (Framework) announced on the same day (October 28, 2021). The Framework reflects a significant reduction in the scope of...
Commissioner of Competition Urges Reboot of Canadian Competition Law
Oct. 28, 2021 – In his annual address to Canada’s competition bar last week, the Commissioner of Competition, Matthew Boswell, offered a full-throated defence of vigorous competition law enforcement as a key driver of Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery. Rather than outlining the Competition Bureau’s...
Taxpayers Must Pay Interest on Non-Existent Tax Debts
Oct. 26, 2021 – In The Bank of Nova Scotia v The Queen, the Tax Court of Canada (TCC) considered how to calculate arrears interest on an audit adjustment that is offset by a loss carryback. The Court endorsed the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA’s) practice of charging arrears interest on the adjustment...
Q2 2021 Insolvencies: Crunching the Numbers and Keeping Good Faith
Davies Insolvency Now, Issue 3Oct. 21, 2021 – Most of us have stopped asking, “When will it be over?” and have started wondering how we can live with COVID-19 – and how it will change our behaviour from now on. In the context of restructuring, as we saw during the recent Canadian federal election, bankruptcy and insolvency have become topics...
Québec Court Refuses to Certify Class Action for Recovery of COVID-Related Business Interruption Losses
Sept. 30, 2021 – The Québec Superior Court has refused to certify a class action proceeding seeking the recovery of business interruption losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision, in Centre de santé dentaire Gendron Delisle inc. v La Personnelle, assurances generales inc., is among the...
Québec Ushers in a Brave New World of Privacy
Sept. 24, 2021 – The Québec National Assembly has passed and the Lieutenant-Governor has assented to Bill 64, An Act to modernize legislative provisions as regards the protection of personal information (Act). The Act, which became law on September 22, 2021, contains a broad range of important amendments...
Canadian Securities Regulators Adopt Harmonized Crowdfunding Rules to Promote Access to Capital for Startups
Sept. 21, 2021 – On June 23, 2021, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced the adoption of National Instrument 45-110 – Start-up Crowdfunding Registration and Prospectus Exemptions (NI 45-110) in an effort to adopt a harmonized national regime for startup crowdfunding. NI 45-110, which...
House Democrats Release Details on Proposed Tax Increases
Sept. 16, 2021 – Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee have released a package of tax provisions (Ways and Means Proposal) that, if enacted, would provide funding for the infrastructure legislation that has been making headlines all summer (Infrastructure Legislation). The changes to the current tax...
Québec Enacts New Corporate Transparency Rules
Aug. 16, 2021 – The National Assembly of Québec has assented to Bill 78, An Act mainly to improve the transparency of enterprises. As its name indicates, Bill 78 aims to increase the transparency of enterprises operating in Québec as part of a wave of international efforts directed at countering tax...
Parliament Votes to Facilitate Intergenerational Business Transfers
July 23, 2021 – Bill C-208, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (transfer of small business or family farm or fishing corporation), which aims to amend section 84.1 of the Income Tax Act (Act) received royal assent on June 29, 2021. A majority of the House of Commons had voted in May...
Pulling Out All the Swaps: Alberta Securities Commission Finds Total Return Swaps Abusive
July 20, 2021 – The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) recently ruled that certain Brookfield entities’ (Brookfield’s) conduct and disclosure in connection with its hostile takeover bid for Inter Pipeline Ltd. (IPL) were clearly abusive to IPL shareholders and the capital markets, and therefore contrary to...
The Journalistic Sources Protection Act: How Does the Scheme of New Law Influence Search Warrant Authorization?
July 13, 2021 – In the recent decision in R v Laffont,1 the Court of Québec (CQ) quashed a number of search warrants on the basis that they had been improperly authorized under the general Criminal Code2 regime instead of under the specific regime introduced by the...
Rehabilitation Work in Québec: New Requirements for Traceability of Excavated Contaminated Soils
July 09, 2021 – The Québec government published, on July 7, 2021, the Regulation respecting traceability of excavated contaminated soils (Regulation). Once in force, the Regulation will apply to excavated soils containing contaminants from human activities, regardless of the concentration value of...
Mind the GAAP: Don’t Get Tripped Up by the New Financial Measure Disclosure Requirements
July 06, 2021 – Before the year-end, Canadian reporting issuers will have to contend with new rules that govern the disclosure of non-GAAP and other financial measures.1 These new Financial Measure Rules mark a significant departure from the policy-based approach that has shaped non-GAAP financial...
Monetizing Public Listings in Receiverships
June 21, 2021 – The Commercial List of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently granted an order structurally similar to a reverse vesting order in the receivership proceedings of Vert Infrastructure Ltd. (Vert). This first-of-its-kind order was granted on the motion of Vert’s receiver, KSV Restructuring...
Davies Restructuring Review 2021: Issue 2
Emerging Trends for the Short and Long TermsJune 17, 2021 – Canada’s economy has continued to fare surprisingly well since we published the first issue of our 2021 Restructuring Review in March, despite continuing pandemic restrictions. However, insolvency-related concerns, such as long-term unemployment and the continued struggles of locked-down...
Environmental Legislative and Regulatory Developments: Québec Keeps Up the Pace
June 09, 2021 – Québec’s legislative activity in environmental law continues to be prolific. This bulletin sets out some of the major recent developments in this area, including the designation of protected areas on private lands, the rules governing the flood zones of lakes and watercourses and activities...
Ignore at Your Own Risk: OSC Accuses Crypto Exchange Poloniex of Disregarding Securities Laws
June 04, 2021 – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) recently made good on its promise to hold crypto asset trading platforms (CTPs) operating in Ontario accountable for failing to comply with Ontario securities laws. In a hard-hitting statement of allegations issued on May 25, 2021, the OSC initiated...
Biden Proposes to Sharply Increase Taxes on Corporations and High-Income Individuals, While Encouraging Investment in Renewable Energy
June 03, 2021 – As expected, President Biden’s administration released a $6-trillion budget proposal for the coming fiscal year (Budget), including $3.6 trillion of tax increases over 10 years and generous tax credits to incentivize clean energy and certain infrastructure projects. The Treasury Department...
Canadian Mergers & Acquisitions: A Guide for Foreign Investment Banks and Bidders, 9th Edition
June 01, 2021 – Davies’ Canadian Mergers & Acquisitions draws on our multijurisdictional M&A experience to offer clear guidance on both the legal framework and the practical aspects of Canadian mergers and acquisitions, including critical tax and regulatory considerations. The recently updated guide is...
Modernizing Canada’s Retail Payments Ecosystem: Draft Retail Payments Activities Act Introduced
June 01, 2021 – The year 2020 will be remembered as a watershed for many reasons, including being the year that the world was forced to move online to an extent never seen before. Online commerce rose to stratospheric levels in 2020 – Amazon’s earnings report for the fourth quarter of 2020 showed that it was...
Start Your (Little) Engines: Activist Investor Wins Exxon Board Seats
June 01, 2021 – Against a backdrop of numerous recent key climate announcements, May 26, 2021, marked a bad day for Big Oil. Engine No. 1, an activist investor with a keen Environmental, Social and Governance focus, won at least 2 of 12 seats on ExxonMobil’s board in a proxy fight. Royal Dutch Shell was...
The Right Not to Be Subjected to Cruel and Unusual Treatment or Punishment: The Case of Minimum Fines
May 18, 2021 – The Court of Appeal of Québec (CAQ) handed down its decision in Bédard c. Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales on 4 March 2021 (Bédard).1 The judgment contains an interesting consideration of section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and...
Canadian Competition Bureau’s Updated Competitor Collaboration Guidelines: Practical Tips for Businesses
May 11, 2021 – More than a decade after the Canadian Competition Bureau released its 2009 Competitor Collaboration Guidelines (CCGs), which described its general approach to assessing collaborations between competitors under the Competition Act (Act), the Bureau has released updated...
Top Court Denies Leave to Appeal in Contested Application for a Reverse Vesting Order in Nemaska Restructuring Proceedings
Apr. 30, 2021 – The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has denied leave to appeal in the proceedings of Nemaska Lithium Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, Nemaska) under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). In November 2020, the Québec Court of Appeal (QCA) dismissed leave applications...
Be Prepared: Audits of Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy Claims Underway
Apr. 28, 2021 – A key part of the Canadian government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS). Although the CEWS has undergone a number of changes over the past year, its basic framework has remained the same: a wage subsidy of up to 75% of eligible remuneration...
2021 Federal Budget: Tax Highlights
Apr. 20, 2021 – The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, delivered the Liberal Party’s first federal budget (Budget 2021) in over two years and the first since the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic. As part of a recovery plan for “jobs, growth and...
Time to Talk: CSA Threatens Enforcement Against Unregistered Crypto Trading Platforms
Apr. 15, 2021 – The regulation of crypto asset trading platforms (CTPs) has been a recent focus of Canadian securities regulators, due in part to the popularity of crypto assets among new investors, high profile failures of Canadian CTPs and the heightened risks related to the loss and theft of crypto assets. ...
CRA Turns Its Focus to Cryptocurrency Transactions
Apr. 13, 2021 – The Federal Court (FC) recently authorized the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to issue an “unnamed persons requirement” (UPR) to Coinsquare Ltd. for information and documentation relating to users of Coinsquare, a cryptocurrency exchange operating in Canada. This UPR is part of an on-going CRA...
Our clients count on us to deliver insightful programming that advances their professional knowledge and helps them meet their continuing professional development requirements. Our seminars are CLE/CPD accredited.
Directors’ Duties in Turbulent Times: Special Committee to the Rescue?
Toronto, Montréal
Mar. 28, 2023
1.25 substantive hour(s); Ontario
0.25 professionalism hour(s); Ontario
1.5 CLE hour(s); Québec
Antitrust in a Time of Activism: Recent and Proposed Amendments to the Competition Act
Toronto, Montréal
Oct. 12, 2022
1.5 substantive hour(s); Ontario
1.5 CLE hour(s); Québec
Is Canada's Electricity Sector Ready for a Zero-Carbon Future?
Toronto, Montréal
Jan. 27, 2022
1.5 substantive hour(s); Ontario
1.5 CLE hour(s); Québec
Competition Law in the Post-Pandemic Economy
Toronto, Montréal
Oct. 13, 2021
1.5 substantive hour(s); Ontario
Zooming In: Canadian Capital Markets in 2021
Toronto, Montréal
June 17, 2021
1.5 substantive hour(s); Ontario
1.5 CLE hour(s); Québec
Private Equity Beyond the Pandemic: Issues and Trends to Consider
Toronto, Montréal
May 13, 2021
1.5 substantive hour(s); Ontario
1.5 CLE hour(s); Québec
Canadian Insolvency Landscape During the Pandemic
Toronto, Montréal
Mar. 11, 2021
1.5 substantive hour(s); Ontario
1.5 CLE hour(s); Québec
M&A in the Age of COVID-19
Toronto, Montréal, New York
Feb. 11, 2021
1.5 substantive hour(s); Ontario
1.5 CLE hour(s); Québec
Top Decisions of 2020 in Commercial Law
Montréal
Jan. 19, 2021
1.25 substantive hour(s); Ontario
1.25 CLE hour(s); Québec
Top Commercial Cases of 2020
Toronto
Jan. 14, 2021
1.5 substantive hour(s); Ontario
For further information on the Davies Academy please contact Suzanne Donnels, Chief Business Development and Marketing Officer, at sdonnels@dwpv.com.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Downloading presentations from this page does not entitle you to claim CPD/CLE credits. For Toronto sessions, we will provide attendance confirmation and session details via email, for use in updating the member’s LSO CPD portal. For Montréal sessions, we will provide official attendance certificates, as required by the Barreau du Québec.
The information and comments herein are for the general information of the reader only and do not constitute legal advice or opinions to be relied upon in relation to any particular issue or circumstance. For particular applications of the law to specific situations, the reader should seek professional advice.
