Supreme Court of Canada - Year in Review 2018

Decisions

Notable Decisions

A New Brunswick law preventing residents from stocking up on alcohol from another province was found to be constitutional. Provinces have flexibility to make laws to address particular conditions and priorities within their borders, even if those laws may incidentally restrict the movement of goods across their borders.
R. v. Comeau
Law Societies in B.C. and Ontario had the power to refuse approval to a proposed law school that made students follow a religiously-based code of conduct regulating sexual behaviour that discriminated against same-sex couples.
Law Society of British Columbia v. Trinity Western University and Trinity Western University v. Law Society of Upper Canada
The Constitution allows the federal, provincial and territorial governments to work together to regulate securities trading under a single, unified system.
Reference re Pan-Canadian Securities Regulation
Courts can’t interfere with religious groups’ decisions on purely religious questions, even if they don’t follow the same fair procedures as public bodies.
Highwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Judicial Committee) v. Wall
The Crown has to act honourably toward Canada’s Indigenous peoples, but this does not mean Parliament has to consult them when passing laws.
Mikisew Cree First Nation v. Canada (Governor General in Council)

The choice to speak either English or French in certain courts is a protected right. When this right is not respected, there might have to be a new hearing.
Mazraani v. Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc.
Courts can’t force parties to renegotiate contracts, so unexpected changes in electricity prices didn’t mean that Hydro-Québec had to share its profits from the Churchill Falls power station.
Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corp. v. Hydro-Québec
Prison authorities must show that psychological and statistical tools used to make decisions about Indigenous inmates are effective for them.
Ewert v. Canada (Correctional Service)
A lawyer’s uncivil behaviour in court may not amount to professional misconduct if it was based on a mistaken understanding of the law. All the circumstances must be taken into account.
Groia v. Law Society of Upper Canada
A person who shares an electronic device (like a computer or phone) with someone else can’t waive the other user’s Charter privacy rights.
R. v. Reeves
The mandatory victim surcharge that everyone convicted of a crime had to pay was found to be unconstitutional, and struck down as cruel and unusual punishment.
R. v. Boudreault
A law dealing with pay equity in Quebec continued women’s disadvantage in the workplace, and so was unconstitutional.
Quebec (Attorney General) v. Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux

All Decisions

Number	Case Name	Origin	Decision Date
1	R. v. Seipp	British Columbia	Jan. 16
2	Delta Air Lines Inc. v. Lukács	Federal Court of Appeal	Jan. 19
3	Quebec (Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail) v. Caron	Quebec	Feb. 1
4	Williams Lake Indian Band v. Canada (Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development)	Federal Court of Appeal	Feb. 2
5	R. v. Canadian Broadcasting Corp.	Alberta	Feb. 9
6	R. v. A.R.J.D.	Alberta	Feb. 9
7	R. v. G.T.D.	Alberta	Feb. 14
8	Valard Construction Ltd. v. Bird Construction Co.	Alberta	Feb. 15
9	R. v. A.G.W.	Alberta	Feb. 16
10	R. v. Black	Ontario	Mar. 13
11	International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 773 v. Lawrence	Ontario	Mar. 20
12	R. v. Carson	Ontario	Mar. 23
13	R.A. v. Her Majesty The Queen	Ontario	Mar. 23
14	R. v. Magoon^†	Alberta	Nov. 27，2017
Decision rendered from the bench (written reasons Apr. 13, 2018)
15	R. v. Comeau*	New Brunswick	Apr. 19
16	Office of the Children’s Lawyer v. Balev	Ontario	Apr. 20
17	Quebec (Attorney General) v. Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux*	Quebec	May 10
18	Centrale des syndicats du Québec v. Quebec (Attorney General)	Quebec	May 10
19	Rankin (Rankin’s Garage & Sales) v. J.J.	Ontario	May 11
20	R. v. Cain	Nova Scotia	May 14
21	R. v. Stephan^†	Alberta	May 15
22	West Fraser Mills Ltd. v. British Columbia (Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal)	British Columbia	May 18
23	R. v. Colling	Alberta	May 18
24	R. v. Gulliver	Alberta	May 18
25	R. v. Wong	British Columbia	May 25
26	Highwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Judicial Committee) v. Wall*	Alberta	May 31
27	Groia v. Law Society of Upper Canada*	Ontario	June 1
28	Haaretz.com v. Goldhar	Ontario	June 6
29	Montréal (Ville) v. Lonardi	Quebec	June 8
30	Ewert v. Canada*	Federal Court of Appeal	June 13
31	Canada (Canadian Human Rights Commission) v. Canada (Attorney General)	Federal Court of Appeal	June 14
32	Law Society of British Columbia v. Trinity Western University*	British Columbia	June 15
33	Trinity Western University v. Law Society of Upper Canada*	Ontario	June 15
34	R. v. Suter	Alberta	June 29
35	Lorraine (Ville) v. 2646‑8926 Québec inc.	Quebec	July 6
36	British Columbia v. Philip Morris International, Inc.	British Columbia	July 13
37	R. v. Brassington	British Columbia	July 20
38	Rogers Communications Inc. v. Voltage Pictures, LLC	Federal Court of Appeal	Sept. 14
39	Chagnon v. Syndicat de la fonction publique et parapublique du Québec	Quebec	Oct. 5
40	Mikisew Cree First Nation v. Canada (Governor General in Council)*	Federal Court of Appeal	Oct. 11
41	R. v. Gagnon	Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada	Oct. 16
42	R. v. Normore	Newfoundland and Labrador	Oct. 17
43	3091-5177 Québec inc. (Éconolodge-Aéroport) v. Lombard General Insurance Co. of Canada^†	Quebec	Oct. 19
44	R. v. Gubbins^†	Alberta	Oct. 26
45	R. v. Awashish	Quebec	Oct. 26
46	Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corp. v. Hydro‑Québec*	Quebec	Nov. 2
47	Callidus Capital Corp. v. Canada	Federal Court of Appeal	Nov. 8
48	Reference re Pan‑Canadian Securities Regulation*	Quebec	Nov. 9
49	R. v. Youssef	Ontario	Nov. 9
50	Mazraani v. Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc.*	Federal Court of Appeal	Nov. 16
51	R. v. Ajise	Ontario	Nov. 16
52	Moore v. Sweet	Ontario	Nov. 23
53	R. v. Vice Media Canada Inc.	Ontario	Nov. 30
54	R. v. Cyr-Langlois	Quebec	Oct. 15
Decision rendered from the bench (written reasons Dec. 6)
55	Brunette v. Legault Joly Thiffault	Quebec	Dec. 7
56	R. v. Reeves*	Ontario	Dec. 13
57	R. v. Culotta	Ontario	Dec. 13
58	R. v. Boudreault* ^†	Quebec, Ontario	Dec. 14
59	R. v. Quartey	Alberta	Dec. 14
* See Notable Decisions ^†Some decisions cover more than one case. In 2018, the Court issued 59 decisions that decided a total of 64 cases. R. v. Magoon counts as two cases decided in 2017, even though reasons were issued in 2018.

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Supreme Court of Canada: Year in Review 2018

Decisions

Notable Decisions

All Decisions