Canada: Arbitration & Dispute Resolution

British Columbia's Construction Prompt Payment Act introduces mandatory payment deadlines and fast-track adjudication for construction disputes. Owners must pay contractors within 28 days, contractors must pay subcontractors within seven days, and payment disputes can be resolved through binding adjudication outside the courts. The legislation also shortens the holdback period under the Builders Lien Act and eliminates standalone liens against holdbacks.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario's recent decision in Minotar Holdings Inc. v. Ontario examines the constitutional limits of provincial legislation that shields the Crown from civil liability, particularly for claims of misfeasance and bad faith by government officials. With a 2:1 split decision upholding broad immunity provisions in the Greenbelt Act, the case raises fundamental questions about the balance between legislative supremacy and the superior courts' constitutionally protected role as guardians of

A recent Quebec arbitration decision provides important guidance on an issue that occasionally arises in the workplace: when an employer discovers that an employee received a benefit to which they were not entitled, is the employer barred from taking action by the six-month prescription period set out in the Quebec Labour Code? The answer is not always what one might expect.