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Daoust Vukovich is pleased to announce recognition of seven lawyers selected in the 2024 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, highlighting their expertise and leadership in the Commercial Leasing...
Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, countless businesses have closed to comply with governmental restrictions. Leases are still in place, commercial properties are still operating (at low to zero occupancy), but landlords and tenants are scrambling to survive the “temporary apocalypse”. Some tenants have declared they cannot pay rent, some landlords have offered or accepted rent deferrals, and courts across the country are only welcoming litigants with significant disputes requiring urgent attention. It’s not very likely that bickering landlords and tenants will make it onto a hearing list.
Read the full article here: Force Majeure and Doctrine of Frustration
When dealing with limitation periods, once it is determined whether the 2-year or 6-year period applies, it’s critical that the parties turn their mind to the question of: “starting when?”.
The 1971 landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision in Highway Properties Ltd. v. Kelly, Douglas and Co. Ltd., transformed the commercial leasing landscape by adding a fourth option of relief provided to landlords. Prior to this, landlords had three options available: do nothing and demand payment when due, terminate the tenancy and elect to pursue a claim for arrears, or re-enter the premises and re-let on the tenant's behalf. In this decision, a fourth option was introduced, affording landlords the option to terminate the lease and pursue a claim for both arrears and damages. The decision affirms that commercial leases, similar to a contract, ought to be recognized and treated as such, which affords landlords the full remedies under both contract and conveyance laws. However, a recent claim was brought before the courts, where a tenant challenged the decision in Highway Properties, requesting the previous decision be overturned.
On June 27, 2023, the Bureau released the Competition Bureau Retail Grocery Market Study Report aptly named “Canada Needs More Grocery Competition”. This report contained recommendations to the government, including that the Tribunal take measures to limit exclusive use covenants (referred to in the Bureau’s report as “property controls”) in the grocery industry.
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