Law in Quebec

News about Quebec legal developments

Quebec

  • Legal classification of cryptoassets in securities law re-examined following ruling by Tribunal

    The legal classification of cryptoassets in securities law has been brought into question following a ruling by the Quebec Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal that held that the nature of a crypto and its potential classification as an investment contract may vary depending on the “economic reality” surrounding each transaction, underscoring the need for Canadian and Quebec legislators to modernize the regulatory approach to crypto, according to legal pundits.

    The decision, depicted as a game-changer by legal experts, will hearten so-called “finfluencers” or social media financial influencers as it held that offering subscriptions to private groups on social media to receive buy-sell signals for crypto assets does not constitute an investment contract. The ruling also underlines that in cases that are not ex parte, the applicable burden of proof in cases seeking conservatory measures requires conclusive and preponderant evidence, and not prima facie evidence as Quebec’s financial watchdog maintained.

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  • Quebec Appeal Court rules conditional discharge may be granted in sexual assault cases, if circumstances warrant it

    An aspiring estate agent found guilty of sexually assaulting his ex-partner has had his eight-month imprisonment sentence to be served in the community overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal after it ruled that a conditional discharge, while a rare measure for sexual assault, may be granted when the circumstances warrant it.

    In a decision that examines the evolving and thorny notion of consent, the principle of proportionality in sentencing and to a lesser extent the concept of “best interests,” the Appeal Court held that the appellant’s lack of understanding of consent does not reduce his legal liability but reduces his moral responsibility, particularly in light of the introspection that followed and the remorse he felt. That is a finding that criminal lawyers will undoubtedly resort to, according to legal pundits.

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  • Provincial court judge exceeded limits of his jurisdiction, rules Quebec Appeal Court

    A controversial decision that ruled that a provision of the French language charter that calls for the “immediate and simultaneous” filing of English rulings into French cannot apply to criminal proceedings in the province was overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal after concluding that the provincial court judge exceeded the limits of his jurisdiction.

    The ruling, a second clear-cut and related missive over the past year aimed at provincial court judges, reaffirms that Court of Quebec judges may declare a provision of a statute inoperative on constitutional grounds but only in proceedings before them, said legal experts. The Appeal Court also castigated in obiter Court of Quebec Judge Dennis Galiatsatos for “relying on pure hypotheticals and adjudicating with a flawed procedural framework.” But the decision does not delve into substantive issues that may be elicited from the constitutionality of section 10 of the Charter of the French Language (C.F.L), added pundits.

    “The Appeal Court could have been much more scathing of the judge but was careful not to go too far because otherwise it would tarnish the reputation of the judge,” noted Stéphane Beaulac, constitutional law professor at the Université de Montréal, specializing in language law, and of counsel at Dentons Canada in Montreal. “The case was really decided on the basis of the question of jurisdiction. Court of Quebec judges can make declarations, but not formal declarations of a general nature.”

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  • Backing down

    A controversial bill that was intended to overhaul the forest industry was jettisoned by the Quebec government, the second time the provincial government has backed down the past week after weeks of steadfast opposition.

    Bill 97, An Act mainly to modernize the forest regime, was touted as an effort to protect the jobs of forestry workers who are threatened by the tariff war with the U.S. It would have divided the province’s public forest land into three zones: conservation zones (protected from industrial logging), multi-purpose zones (recreational, Indigenous, and mixed-use activities) and forest development zones where the forestry industry is prioritized.

    “Bill 97 provides a streamlined and effective framework for stakeholders, while upholding the importance of sustainable development,” said Maïté Blanchette-Vézina, then Quebec Minister of Natural Resources and Forests.

    But the legislative proposal faced stiff opposition, from the get-go. Environmentalists, labour, hunting and fishing advocates as well as the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL) and including the Innu, Atikamekw, and Algonquin First Nations vehemently opposed Bill 97.

    “This is a small victory, but above all, it is only the first step,” said the AFNQL on Facebook. “Now, words must turn into action. The government has the opportunity to co-construct, with all stakeholders, a truly sustainable forestry regime.”

    Bill 97 represented a clear violation of the rights of Indigenous peoples, asserts Karine Millaire, a constitutional and Indigenous law professor at the Université de Montréal. Bill 97 violates the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), adopted in 2007, which Canada has committed to implementing, says Millaire. The Supreme Court of Canada recently confirmed that UNDRIP “has real legal significance,” notes Millaire.

    The Quebec Environmental Law Centre said that Bill 97 risks causing “significant negative impacts” on biodiversity protection. “Several provisions of this bill are highly problematic, particularly those related to granting priority development zoning for forestry industries. In doing so, the government is compromising its ability to act in the public interest,“ warns executive director Geneviève Paul. ”This bill misses the mark and is a wasted opportunity to adopt forest management reform that would effectively address the serious and growing risks posed by climate change and biodiversity loss.”

    The Quebec Federation of Municipalities too denounced the bill as an effort to curb municipal powers in forest management. “This is a serious blow to municipal intervention powers on the territory, which is particularly incomprehensible,” said the organization in its official submission.

    The Quebec government also backed down from safety regulations that affected pool owners.

    Less than two weeks before the original Sept. 30 deadline, Municipal Affairs Minister Geneviève Guilbault announced that pool owners who have not yet complied with safety regulations requiring controlled access to outdoor pools have been given a one-year reprieve.

    A petition by Comité Citoyens Piscine, a citizen group advocating for pool owners, obtained more than 30,000 signatures in a petition calling for an extension of the regulation. The group denounced the high costs associated with securing a swimming pool, and the lack of clarity over the rules. According to a survey conducted by the group, homeowners who carried out the work without using the rear wall of their house within the pool enclosure spent an average of $10,980.

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  • Labour under the gun, again

    The Quebec government is considering adopting legislation that would allow union members to opt out of contributing financially to union activities that “are not directly related to labour relations,” marking the second time in months the provincial government is trying clamp down on the labour movement.

    Last May the Quebec government assented Bill 89, An Act to give greater consideration to the needs of the population in the event of a strike or a lock-out. The new law gives the Quebec Minister of Labour sweeping new powers to curb and limit strikes or lockouts by broadening the notion of essential services and granting the labour minister the power to refer labour disputes to an arbitrator. Critics have described the new law as a direct frontal attack on the constitutionally protected right to collective bargaining.

    Now the Quebec government is seeking to curb trade unions from mounting legal challenges. Quebec Premier François Legault has denounced the involvement of some unions in legal cases, notably the challenge to Quebec’s secularism law before the Supreme Court of Canada. The Fédération autonome de l’enseignement is a key appellant. “There is a problem, and we want to tackle it,” said Legault recently on the popular French-language television show “Tout le monde en parle.”

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  • Quebec Appeal Court rejects constitutional challenge over kafala

    A constitutional challenge against federal and Quebec regulations that allow Canadian residents to sponsor a child for family reunification only if the child is their biological or adoptive child was rebuffed by the Quebec Court of Appeal in a ruling that underlines the challenges facing Canadian citizens or residents of Muslim faith who want to sponsor a child though kafala, a form of legal guardianship in Muslim law countries.

    The decision, while not surprising, continues to put Canadians of Muslim faith in a bind as it compels them to transgress their religious beliefs to adopt, and is expected to make it more arduous for them to sponsor a child under kafala, according to legal experts. The ruling also confirms that only the Western family model is recognized as valid for starting a family in Canada, maintain some pundits.

    “If you’re a Muslim who respects your faith through kafala, a form of care deeply rooted in Islamic tradition, Canada is closing the door on you,” remarked Awatif Lakhdar, a kafala expert and a Montreal family lawyer with Lavery. “Unfortunately, kafala is not equivalent to full adoption, and the current sponsorship system does not facilitate family reunification for a person who has resorted to kafala.”

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  • Energy board commissioners lose key legal and political battles

    Quebec energy board commissioners have suffered major back-to-back legal and political losses after the Court of Appeal overturned a lower court decision that held they performed quasi-judicial functions and the provincial government passed a sweeping and controversial reform that fundamentally weakens the regulatory powers of the Régie de l’énergie.

    The Quebec government invoked closure in the wee hours of a weekend morning to fast-track a contentious energy bill that will introduce widespread changes to the way the province’s energy sector operates, giving Hydro-Québec free rein to increase its electricity production, with the utility expected to invest some $200 billion by 2025. Bill 69, introduced in June 2024 but passed with the addition of 52 amendments at the last minute without public consultation, allows Hydro-Québec to bypass tendering rules when awarding certain contracts.

    But most alarmingly for critics, the new law curbs the independent oversight imparted by the Régie de l’énergie, an economic regulatory administrative tribunal that oversees the energy sector in Quebec. The Régie, established in 1997, had up until the passage of Bill 69 the power to set the rates and conditions of services for Quebec electricity and natural gas consumers after holding public hearings. Under Bill 69, the provincial government has given itself the right to impose an annual cap on residential rates on the Régie, and that spells trouble for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). “The politicization of electricity rates” means that SMEs will be subsidizing lower electricity costs for other consumers, maintains the business group.

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  • Monday’s Medley – Issue 05

    Each Monday I intend to provide a potpourri of Quebec (and Canadian) legal developments. Issue 05 takes a brief look at calls to make lakes and river more accessible, rights of transgender inmates, and the frightful scheming of AI.

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  • Quebec ordered to pay $164 million for Charter breach in class action suit

    The Quebec government has been ordered by Superior Court to pay a staggering $164 million in compensatory damages, plus interest, for knowingly violating the rights of thousands of individuals who were arrested and illegally detained for a longer period of time permitted by the Criminal Code prior to appearing before a Justice of the Peace.

    The comprehensive decision by Quebec Superior Justice Donald Bisson reveals that during a five-year stretch, from 2015 to 2020, the Quebec government stopped offering court appearances on Sundays and statutory holidays due to austerity measures, and failed “in their obligation” to put in place a system that complies with section 503 of the Criminal Code, “knowing full well that their flawed appearance system led to the systemic violation of the fundamental rights” of some 24,000 individuals.

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  • Quebec judicial council launches enquiry against municipal judge

    A Court of Quebec judge from the small claims division on the cusp of retirement is the subject of an enquiry by the Quebec Judicial Council due to “certain” conduct that “likely” constitutes a breach of the Judicial Code of Ethics.

    The unnamed judge was hearing a dispute from a plaintiff who sought reimbursement of past and future expenses for the care of two cats allegedly afflicted with health problems after they were purchased.

    The plaintiff complained about the judge’s conduct, and alleged a lack of impartiality, a lack of respect, poor management of the hearing, and an unjustified refusal to consult his personal notes during his testimony, all of which demonstrated bias by the judge.

    A playback of the hearing recording “reveals a lack of restraint and an inappropriate attitude,” noted the Conseil de la magistrature du Québec in A et Juge, Cour du Québec, Chambre civile, Division des petites créances, 2025 CanLII 48055 (QC CM).

    “The attitude observed suggests a loss of control in the exercise of judicial authority,” added the Conseil. “The judge’s imminent mandatory retirement cannot constitute an argument for refusing to conduct an enquiry. This is particularly so because of the educational and preventive nature of judicial ethics.”

    The Quebec Judicial Council received 150 complaints in 2024, according to its annual report. In all, 122 judges were the subject of a complaint during the year, with nearly a quarter of the complaints lodged against a judge sitting in the Small Claims Division of the Court of Québec.

    Of the 150 complaints, 46 were deemed unfounded at the study stage, 84 held to be unfounded after review, 19 are still being examined, and only one was retained for enquiry.

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  • Drip pricing under the microscope following Quebec Court of Appeal ruling

    A Quebec Court of Appeal ruling that ordered Air Canada to pay more than $10 million in punitive damages in a class action lawsuit underscores the growing risks companies engaging in drip pricing face, according to legal pundits.

    The Appeal Court decision, following a long 15-year legal battle, marks the third significant case dealing with unbundled pricing over the past year, with the Competition Tribunal ordering Canada’s largest cinema chain, Cineplex Inc., to pay a record penalty of over $38.9 million for deceptive marketing practices by adding a mandatory $1.50 online booking fee, the first enforcement of the drip pricing provisions introduced by the amendments to Canada’s Competition Act. In June 2024, the Competition Bureau also reached an agreement with SiriusXM Canada, a subscription-based satellite radio and streaming content provider, over subscription price representations. Sirius agreed to pay a $3.3 million penalty, enhance its compliance program, and pledged not to engage in drip pricing.

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  • Monday’s Medley – Issue 04

    Each Monday I intend to provide a potpourri of Quebec (and Canadian) legal developments. Issue 04 takes a brief look at a rare public stance taken by the Court of Quebec, a college ordered to pay $10,000 in damages, and a popular online food delivery company accused of drip pricing.

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  • Provisions of provincial law abolishing school boards unconstitutional rules Quebec Appeal Court

    The Quebec Court of Appeal confirmed that certain provisions of a provincial law that abolished school boards unjustifiably infringe the rights guaranteed to Quebec’s minority language groups by the Canadian Charter, a ruling deemed by the English community as a sweeping win.

    In a “very-well written, well-reasoned judgment” that examined the nature and scope of the rights conferred by section 23 of the Charter, which guarantees minority language educational rights, the Appeal Court mostly upheld a lower court ruling that found sections of Bill 40 are inoperative to Quebec’s English-language school boards.

    The Quebec government announced in late May that it will seek leave to appeal before the Supreme Court of Canada.

    “It’s a perfectly sound, well-reasoned judgment from a legal standpoint, but I’m not surprised by the ruling,” remarked Érik Labelle Eastaugh, Dean, Faculty of law at the Université de Moncton and former head of the International Observatory on Language Rights. “Not surprising, but it’s an important judgment, given that it deals with certain issues that had never been squarely addressed by the courts until now.”

    Stéphane Beaulac, professor of constitutional law at the Université de Montréal, specializing in language law, and counsel at Dentons Canada in Montreal, too believes that the Appeal Court’s “well-reasoned” ruling “clears up questions” while “giving ample context” over the issues raised by s. 23 of the Charter. But Beaulac asserts that the Quebec Appeal Court may have too broadly defined the scope of the English-language minority community in Quebec covered by s. 23 of the Charter.

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  • Confidentiality breaches will no longer be published by Quebec privacy watchdog

    Québec’s privacy commissioner, the Commission d’accès à l’information (CAI), has had a change of heart, and announced it will no longer publish the list of organizations that have reported confidentiality incidents.

    Since 2022, all organizations operating in Québec had to report to the privacy watchdog any confidentiality breaches involving a risk of serious harm to the individuals concerned. The incidents were then published on CAI’s website as a list detailing the names of entities that had notified the CAI of a confidentiality incident involving personal information. The list also contained the nature of these entities as well as the date of receipt of the incident report.

    According to the Quebec privacy watchdog, the new policy is aimed at “enhancing the protection of personal information of citizens affected by confidentiality incidents.” The CAI maintains this new change will minimize the risk of harm to citizens, sidestep the possibility of inadvertently revealing the existence of technological vulnerabilities or cybersecurity concerns, and help management to deal with data breaches. The change is also intended to preserve CAI’s oversight functions and powers, particularly for ongoing or future investigations.

    But the CAI will however continue to publish statistical data on the incident reports it receives.

    Quebec privacy experts welcome the new policy. Some felt that the former practice of publishing a list of confidentiality incidents dissuaded organizations from reporting data breaches as they wanted to avoid at all costs being named by the CAI. “In our view, it will certainly increase the number of reports that organizations make” to the CAI, said Nareg Froundjian, a technology lawyer with Fasken’s privacy and cybersecurity group.

    Antoine Guilmain, co-leader, national cybersecurity & data protection group at Gowling WLG, too believes that Quebec is doing the right thing by following in the footsteps of Alberta, which put a halt to the practice in 2024. Any premature publication of information about a confidentiality incident, however limited, can hinder an organization’s crisis management process, encourage the malicious actor to exert pressure, or even further expose those affected, said Guilmain.

    He also points out that there is no specific legal regime that dictates that the CAI must “proactively publish” reports it receives, including those dealing with confidentiality incidents.

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  • Quebec legislative agenda raises concerns

    The Quebec government is on a disheartening roll.

    A series of legislative proposals introduced this year by the unpopular provincial government have dismayed First Nations, human rights advocates, labour organizations, legal actors and public figures over the dilution of long-standing rights, many of whom intend to mount legal challenges.

    In fact, it has already begun.

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Law in Quebec
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