Articles 2022

Today
Today

Property “Owners” May Constitute “Employers” Under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act

  • February 20, 2024
  • Diana Pegoraro, Torys LLP

In R. v. Sudbury Greater Sudbury (City), the Supreme Court of Canada expanded a property owner’s potential legal liability with respect to a construction project at its property, four justices finding that a property owner can breach its obligations as an “employer” under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (the “OHSA”) even where another party has expressly agreed to be the constructor pursuant to a written agreement with the property owner.

Real Property Law, Student Forum
head-shot photo of author Olivia Koneval-Brown

Cautions of Buying a Home after Separating

  • February 01, 2024
  • Olivia Koneval-Brown

In this article, Olivia Koneval-Brown provides an insightful overview of considerations -- both practical and legal -- that newly separated individuals should take into account before jumping to purchase a new home.

Real Property Law, Student Forum, Young Lawyers' Division

LSO Virtual Authentication Requirements

  • January 19, 2024
  • Mathew Seeburger

Effective January 1, 2024, the Law Society’s temporary emergency measure allowing licensees to virtually verify client identity without authentication ended. Licensees must now authenticate an individual’s government-issued ID, meaning the licensee must use a process or method to determine if the ID is true and genuine and cannot do so virtually. Bylaw 7.1 (made under the Law Society Act) allows two methods of verification virtually: the credit file method and the dual process method.

Real Property Law, Student Forum

A Brief Overview of the New Toronto Vacant Home Tax 

  • January 16, 2023
  • Birute Luksenaite

Effective January 1, 2022, the City of Toronto has begun to levy an annual 1% property-value-based tax on vacant residential properties (the Vacant Home Tax or “VHT”). VHT was codified in the new Chapter 778 of Part 2 (General By-Laws) of the Municipal Code, which Part already contained, inter alia, the City’s property tax and land transfer tax provisions. 

Real Property Law, Student Forum, Taxation Law

Foreign Property Buyer Tax Traps: Taxable Trustees and Resulting Trusts

  • January 05, 2023
  • Milosz Zak, BDO Law LLP

Applicable to contractual obligations arising or assumed as of January 1, 2023, pursuant to the Federal Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act, (the “Federal foreign buyer ban”) non-Canadian citizens, non-permanent residents, and others deemed to be “non-Canadian” have been barred from purchasing residential property across Canada for two years.

Real Property Law, Student Forum, Taxation Law

What We Know So Far about the Prohibition of the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians

  • October 26, 2022
  • Olohirere Musa & Shereen Shaath

Section 235 of Bill C-19 (which received royal assent on June 23, 2022) introduced the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act, which prohibits Non-Canadians from purchasing, directly or indirectly, any residential property in Canada. The introduction of the bill is in accordance with one of the federal government’s primary goals of stabilizing the housing market and providing more affordable housing to Canadians.

Sole, Small Firm and General Practice, Real Property Law, Student Forum

The Ontario HVAC Rental Scam

  • March 17, 2022
  • Dennis G. Crawford, MONTEITH RITSMA PHILLIPS PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION

This article outlines the "Ontario HVAC Scam," which exploits loopholes in consumer protection laws and the real property registration system to dupe unsuspecting homeowners.

Real Property Law, Student Forum

Municipalities Do Not Owe a Duty of Care to Developers to Protect their Economic Interest during Rezoning Application Process

  • February 14, 2022
  • Faiza Tariq, articling student, Teplitsky, Colson LLP

This article summarizes a recent court of appeal decision where the court ruled that a municipality's undertaking to process a zoning application for the developer does not include protecting the developer's economic interests. In other words, the municipality is not liable for damages the developer incurs due to the municipality's provision of inaccurate information when processing the zoning application.

Real Property Law, Student Forum