Ontario Court Weighs In On Assuming Jurisdiction Over Tort Claims Against Foreign Defendants

• Author: Mr Robert Love, David Elman and Aidan Fishman
• Law Firm: Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
• Published date: 24 March 2023

On March 2, 2023, the Court of Appeal for Ontario released its decision in Sinclair v Amex Canada Inc.,2023 ONCA 142, grappling with the application of the test for determining whether a Canadian court should assume jurisdiction over an out-of-province defendant (Van Breda test). Specifically, the Court examined the extent to which a contract made in Ontario with one defendant might extend an Ontario court's jurisdiction over other defendants that were not parties to the contract, although providing services that were tangentially related.

While the court unanimously agreed that the Ontario court did not have jurisdiction, the existence of concurring reasons suggests that the application of the Van Breda test may continue to be the subject of judicial debate.

Background

The action arose out of an accident on July 25, 2017 in Venice, Italy. The plaintiffs are two Ontario residents who travelled to Europe to celebrate their son's high school graduation. They were injured when a water taxi hired to take them from the airport to their hotel was involved in a collision.

The plaintiffs sued Amex Canada Inc., which operates the travel service through which they had arranged their trip. They also sued the Italian water taxi driver, as well as four Italian...