Leave To The Supreme Court Denied: Latest On Pre-Certification Stays In Multijurisdictional Class Actions

• Published date: 27 May 2021
• Subject Matter: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Class Actions, Trials & Appeals & Compensation
• Law Firm: Bennett Jones LLP
• Author: Mr Ranjan Agarwal, Keeley Cameron, Michael A. Eizenga, Justin R. Lambert and Ashley Paterson

We previously discussed the Alberta Court of Appeal's decision in Ravvin v Canada Bread Company, Limited, 2020 ABCA 424, which arose out of an alleged packaged bread price-fixing conspiracy. Plaintiffs started class proceedings in multiple provinces but stays were granted in most actions in favour of a national class proceeding before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The defendants similarly moved to stay the two proposed class proceedings in Alberta on the basis that they overlapped with the Ontario proceedings, which were more advanced. The plaintiff opposed the stay arguing that the certification application needed to proceed first.

The Alberta Court of Appeal upheld the case management judge's decision to grant the stay of proceedings. In doing so, the Alberta Court of Appeal confirmed the jurisdiction of a case management judge to grant a stay of proceedings under section 5 of the Class Proceedings Act before hearing the certification application. In its reasons, the Alberta Court of Appeal emphasized the importance of judicial economy, one of the three public policy objectives of class proceedings. On May 20, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the plaintiff's leave application with costs.

Since the Court of Appeal's decision, the Alberta courts have applied Ravvin in two proceedings:

In McColl v Air Canada, 2021 ABPC 120, the plaintiff commenced an individual claim against Air Canada for breach of contract because Air Canada issued him a voucher rather than a refund for flight tickets canceled because of COVID-19. Air Canada sought a stay of McColl's action on the basis that there were class actions underway in other jurisdictions. The Court granted the stay, relying on Ravvin for the proposition that the lack of certification was not a barrier to granting a stay where the Court can obtain sufficient understanding of the nature and...