Canada: Disclosure & Electronic Discovery & Privilege

The Supreme Court of British Columbia has ruled that video surveillance evidence obtained after defence counsel improperly shared a plaintiff's confidential mediation brief with private investigators must be excluded from trial. This decision reinforces the fundamental principle that settlement negotiation privilege protects parties engaging in good faith mediation, and violations of this privilege will result in strict exclusionary remedies to preserve the integrity of the settlement process.

A rear-end collision in Ontario evolved into allegations of insurance fraud and conspiracy after the defendant testified he was paid to participate in what may have been a staged accident. The court's April 2026 ruling addresses litigation privilege over pre-litigation investigations, the threshold for amending pleadings based on newly discovered evidence, and procedural rights for unrepresented third parties.

This comprehensive weekly summary provides detailed analysis of civil law decisions from the Ontario Court of Appeal for August 17-21, 2026, covering critical issues in solicitor-client privilege, international child abduction, and procedural matters. The summaries examine landmark rulings on the crime-fraud exception to privilege in civil fraud cases and the application of grave risk of harm exceptions under the Hague Convention.

The British Columbia Supreme Court decision in Lewis v. WestJet Airlines Ltd. (2025 BCSC 1565) clarifies the circumstances under which accountants' work may be protected by legal privilege.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently addressed whether written submissions filed by real estate agents in response to regulatory complaints are protected from disclosure in civil litigation.

In Nimish and Manjeet Gupta v. Amrit Pal Singh and Coldwell Banker Sun Realty Brokerage(2026), the Small Claims Court dismissed a Defendant’s Claim as statute-barred, reaffirming the principle...

Litigation routinely involves thousands or even tens of thousands of documents. Expensive and time-consuming disputes over what must be disclosed and what is protected by privilege are commonplace.

On May 14, 2026, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) issued a Notice and Request for Comment proposing wide-ranging amendments to the issuer bid, take-over bid, and early warning reporting regimes...

Two adult sisters accuse their uncle of sexually assaulting them as young children through spoken words and emails sent to family members. The uncle successfully sues them for defamation.