Out-Of-Province Class Actions Go To The Supreme Court Of Canada

On November 5, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada (the "SCC") granted leave to appeal in two related cases: Endean v. British Columbia, 2014 BCCA 61, and Parsons v. Ontario, 2015 ONCA 158. The resolution of these two cases will shape the scope of inter-jurisdictional coordination for national class actions in Canada by determining whether or not provincial judges may sit outside their own jurisdiction when supervising a settlement in a national class action.

These cases stem from multi-jurisdictional claims pertaining to individuals infected with Hepatitis C by the Canadian blood supply between 1986 and 1990. Separately, these claims were certified as class proceedings in the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. In 1999 the class proceedings culminated with the signing of a national settlement agreement. The Supreme Court of British Columbia, the Superior Court of Justice for Ontario, and...