The Complete Brief

  • October 21, 2026

    Manitoba cuts ‘above-guideline’ residential rent increases

    Manitoba has set new limits on “above-guideline” residential rent increases landlords put in place for capital expenses. The provincial government is “changing regulations” to cut above-guideline rent increases by up to 40 per cent in a bid to “strengthen protections for renters.”

  • October 21, 2026

    New judge appointed to Ontario court

    Sean Fraser, minister of justice and attorney general of Canada and minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, has announced that Karen P. Hulan has been appointed a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

  • October 21, 2026

    New electoral coalition says Ontario law society has lost its focus

    A new electoral coalition has formed ahead of next year’s Law Society of Ontario (LSO) bencher elections saying the regulator has lost its focus and needs to go back to the basics. The team, which refers to itself as CORE, is focusing on four commitments — focusing on the law society’s core function of regulation of the legal professions, open and transparent decision-making, restored accountability and ethical leadership.

  • October 21, 2026

    Feds launch new directive to reduce regulatory charges, enhance competition

    The federal government has announced a new Cabinet Directive on Regulatory Competitiveness and Red Tape Reduction, requiring regulators “to reduce regulatory burden costs by $2 for every $1 added.”

  • October 21, 2026

    Dementia Justice Canada calls for mandatory legal assessment for any advance MAID requests

    Dementia Justice Canada is urging Parliament to require an independent legal assessment before medical assistance in dying is administered under an advance request, warning that people who have lost decision-making capacity need protection from coercion, undue influence and abuse.

  • October 21, 2026

    Law firms, legal AI users must learn to spot subtle but significant output errors: expert

    As law firms and in-house teams increasingly adopt and experiment with artificial intelligence tools, there are less obvious risks they need to look out for, including minor shifts in contractual language, inconsistent model behaviour and potential client-data exposure, according to a legal tech expert. 

  • October 21, 2026

    Gathering of the Innocence Canada warriors

    The evening Of Oct. 8 saw a gathering at the Law Society of Ontario's Convocation Hall of an eclectic mix of those at the forefront of the innocence movement in this country. The occasion was the 12th anniversary of International Wrongful Conviction Day.

  • October 21, 2026

    Norton Rose Fulbright opens new Calgary office

    Norton Rose Fulbright Canada has opened a new office in Calgary.

  • October 21, 2026

    When the mortgage comes due: Managing estate-owned property amidst estate disputes

    Estate litigation can take months or years to resolve, but mortgage obligations do not wait. For estate trustees and beneficiaries, the core challenge is preserving the value of estate property while competing claims are litigated.

  • October 21, 2026

    Royal commission on immigration would promote public understanding, dialogue and law reform: expert

    A royal commission or national commission of inquiry into immigration could boost Canadians’ understanding of hot-button immigration issues and generate positive public dialogue as well as needed policy reforms, says an expert on Quebec’s uniquely autonomous immigration regime that sparks envy from other provincial leaders.

  • October 21, 2026

    Evidence must be considered cumulatively and contextually: Saskatchewan Court of Appeal

    A police officer investigating suspected drug trafficking does not have to eliminate every innocent explanation for a suspect’s behaviour before making an arrest. But an officer’s training and experience alone cannot justify depriving someone of liberty.

  • October 21, 2026

    Franchise surrenders: Goodwill, secured creditors and key lessons from Chooch’s

    What happens when a struggling franchisee exits the system and leaves its debt behind?

  • October 21, 2026

    Estate freeze doesn’t turn a pre-marriage gift into excluded property

    For decades, the estate freeze has been a staple of succession planning for Canadian business families. The mechanics are familiar to any tax or estate practitioner: the owner exchanges growth shares for fixed-value preferred shares, and a newly settled family trust subscribes for fresh common shares that will capture all future growth. The tax benefits are well understood.

  • October 21, 2026

    LIMITATION OF ACTIONS - When time begins to run - Discoverability

    Appeals by the appellants from the orders granting the respondents summary judgment and dismissing their product-liability actions as statute-barred under the Limitations Act (Act).

  • October 21, 2026

    Honest departure posts from lawyers

    I recently wrote about the spate of AI-generated departure posts on LinkedIn, in which lawyers thank everyone in the wonderful firms that they are leaving, lauding their phenomenal experience, and teasing the “next chapter of their journey.” I called it malarkey, but only because it is malarkey.

  • October 21, 2026

    APPEALS - Grounds - Misapprehension of or failure to consider evidence - Mixed question of law and fact

    Appeal by accused from convictions for sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching and forcible confinement.

  • October 20, 2026

    CLC urges government to scrap proposed framework for ending strikes

    The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is calling on Parliament to amend Bill C-39 to remove proposed changes to the Canada Labour Code that would establish a framework for the labour minister to intervene to end a strike or lockout.

  • October 20, 2026

    Canada-U.S. trade war could lower expected GDP by 1.4% over 5 years: PBO

    The ongoing Canada-U.S. trade conflict could leave Canada’s economy 1.4 per cent smaller after five years than it otherwise would have been and cost the country 185,000 jobs if current trade measures remain in place permanently, according to an Oct. 20 assessment note from the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).

  • October 20, 2026

    Ontario proposes changes to archaeological assessments to reduce approval times by 80%

    The Government of Ontario will be proposing legislative changes to the archaeological assessment process to make it “faster, fairer and easier to navigate.” According to a government release issued Oct. 20, the proposed changes will “reduce approval timelines by up to 80 per cent, increase sector capacity by 45 per cent and help get homes, infrastructure and other job-creating projects built faster while protecting the province’s cultural heritage resources.”

  • October 20, 2026

    Paul Reid joins Fasken as partner in Tsuut’ina

    Paul Reid has joined Fasken as a partner in its litigation and dispute resolution group, based in the firm’s Tsuut’ina, Alta., office.

  • October 20, 2026

    LSO honours Lesley Jacobs for access-to-justice scholarship

    The Law Society of Ontario (LSO) awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree to Lesley Jacobs at its Oct. 19 Call to the Bar ceremony.

  • October 20, 2026

    Ramani Nadarajah appointed to LCO board

    The Law Foundation of Ontario, a founding partner of the Law Commission of Ontario (LCO), has appointed Ramani Nadarajah as its representative on the commission’s board of governors, effective Oct. 1.

  • October 20, 2026

    Privacy commissioner launches Canada’s first Children’s Privacy Code

    In order to create a “safer, more transparent online environment for children and teens,” the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has launched the country’s first Children’s Privacy Code.

  • October 20, 2026

    McGill letter probes educational mission, treatment of a student, commitment to reconciliation

    An open letter, titled “Reconciliation and Reintegration Cannot Mean Exclusion,” challenges McGill University’s decision to exclude Jeffrey G. Ewert from campus after concerns about his presence were raised. The letter, addressed to the leadership of McGill University, notes that Ewert is an Indigenous man serving a life sentence, a survivor of the Sixties Scoop and was admitted to first-year law at McGill. The university’s Oct. 6, 2026, exclusion order barred him from campus until Oct. 28 and prohibited him from communicating with female students during that period.

  • October 20, 2026

    Compensation versus income: Federal Court of Appeal rejects CRA’s approach in Blue Jays’ tax dispute

    In the decision of Canada v. Martin, 2026 FCA 144, the Federal Court of Appeal was tasked with determining the scope of taxable Canadian source income earned by two professional baseball players employed by the Toronto Blue Jays: Russell Martin and Josh Donaldson. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) reassessed the players’ taxable income to increase the tax owing based on the differing treatment of a retirement compensation arrangement (RCA). The CRA’s position was rejected by the Tax Court of Canada in Martin v. Canada, 2024 TCC 153, which was appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal.