Arbitration Matters

February 12, 2026February 12, 2026

Ontario – Court dismisses review of leave decision finding no extricable error of law – #936

In Hilmer Motorsport GmbH v. Mason, 2025 ONCA 875, the Court dismissed an appeal from a summary judgment enforcing a German default judgment in which the appellants were found to have breached an agreement between the parties. The decision addresses the intersection between foreign judgment enforcement and arbitration agreements. The agreement provided that any dispute between the parties was to be resolved by arbitration and the appellants contended that it would therefore be against public policy to recognize and enforce the judgment of the German court. In its ruling, the Court held that the mere existence of an arbitration clause does not, without more, deprive a foreign court of jurisdiction or render its judgment unenforceable in Ontario. The appellants had failed to defend the German action and could not resist judgment on the basis of the arbitration agreement at the enforcement stage.

February 12, 2026February 12, 2026

Ontario – Court dismisses review of leave decision finding no extricable error of law – #935

In Lochan v Binance Holdings Limited, 2025 ONSC 6493, the Court granted an anti-suit injunction that prevents Binance Holdings Limited (“Binance”) and affiliates from pursuing arbitration in Hong Kong against the representative plaintiffs in a certified class action in Ontario. The Court determined that Binance was using an affiliated entity, Nest Services Limited (“Nest”), as an alter ego to bypass previous Ontario rulings that found the arbitration clause in its contract with members of the class to be unconscionable and void.

February 12, 2026February 12, 2026

British Columbia – On appeal, question of procedural fairness is question of law – #934

In Green Light Solutions Corp. v Kern BSG Management Ltd., 2025 BCCA 408 2025 BCCA 408 (CanLII) | Green Light Solutions Corp. v. Kern BSG Management Ltd. | CanLII, the applicant sought leave, pursuant to s. 29 of the Court of Appeal Act, S.B.C. 2021, c.6 SBC 2021, c 6 | Court of Appeal Act | CanLII, to vary the order of a chambers judge, who had denied it leave to appeal the costs portion of a final award. Applying s. 59(2) of the British Columbia Arbitration Act, SBC 2020 c. 2 SBC 2020, c 2 | Arbitration Act | CanLII, the chambers judge found that the applicant had failed to identify a question of law. The applicant’s complaint was that there was a breach of the parties’ right to make submissions on costs before the award was made. The Court of Appeal overturned that decision on the basis that the proposed appeal raised a question of procedural fairness, which is a question of law. Moreover, the legislation permits questions of law based on an allegation that a party was not given the opportunity to present its case to be raised in both an appeal and a set-aside application.

January 30, 2026January 30, 2026

British Columbia – Court dismisses review of leave decision finding no extricable error of law – #933

In Bear Mountain Resort & Spa Ltd. v. Ecoasis Resort and Golf LLP, 2025 BCCA 368, the B.C. Court of Appeal dismissed a review application from a Chambers Judge’s decision refusing leave to appeal an arbitral award under subsection 59(4) of B.C.’s Arbitration Act, SBC 2020, c 2 [Act]. The Court found no error in the Chambers Judge’s conclusion that the eight grounds the applicant raised concerned questions of mixed fact and law, which cannot be appealed under the Act.

January 30, 2026February 4, 2026

Alberta – Tribunal not functus officio when issuing award after final award – #932

In Lawrence v. Wood, 2025 ABKB 594, the Court dismissed an application for leave to appeal an award of an arbitral tribunal, or alternatively, to set it aside. The Applicants argued that that the tribunal was functus officio and lacked jurisdiction when it issued an award stating that a prior award was to be paid jointly and severally. The Court disagreed and held that the tribunal still had jurisdiction to make this clarification because this issue was dealt with “implicitly” in the first award, or alternatively, it was a new issue that was not before it when the first award was issued.

January 19, 2026January 19, 2026

Québec – New small claims arbitration in Québec – #931

In Multi Chariots Élévateurs inc. v. 9191-0216 Québec inc., 2025 QCCQ 6048, the Court granted the Defendant’s application to annul the arbitration award rendered in a small claims arbitration process due to non-compliance with the applicable procedure and violation of the Defendant’s right to be heard; the Defendant had no notice of the arbitration. Small claims arbitration in Quebec, as discussed in this decision, is a new procedure resulting from the coming into force of the Regulation respecting mediation and arbitration of small claims, C-25.01, r. 0.6.1. This regulation stipulates that a claim of less than $5,000 brought before the Court of Quebec Small Claims Division shall be referred to arbitration (at no cost) after mandatory mediation has failed to resolve the matter. The Rules provide for a specific arbitration procedure, requiring the state- appointed arbitrator to expressly validate the parties’ consent to proceed by way of arbitration, or the matter will proceed in the courts.

December 19, 2025December 19, 2025

Chris Reflects (2025) – On Court finding that 30-day deadline under Arbitration Act applies to cross-appeals – #930

In Sinclair v. T.D.M.C. Holdings Ltd., 2025 BCCA 402, the Court held that the 30-day time limit in s. 60(1) of the Arbitration Act, SBC 2020, c. 2 (“Arbitration Act”) applies to all appeals from arbitral awards, including cross-appeals. The Court quashed the application of the respondents (“TDMC”) for leave to file a cross-appeal outside that statutory period. It rejected an interpretation that would have allowed reliance on the 15-day cross-appeal timeline in the Court of Appeal Rules(the “Rules”). In doing so, the Court underscored the jurisdictional primacy of the Arbitration Act over procedural rules but urged the Legislature to consider amending the Arbitration Act to provide for a separate timeline to file a cross-appeal to address practical concerns.

December 19, 2025December 19, 2025

Lindsay Reflects (2025) – On Third Parties in Arbitration – #929

Issues related to the involvement of third parties in arbitration can be particularly challenging in practice given that few Canadian court decisions address this topic. The purpose of this blog is to address the following three key issues related to third parties in arbitration:

Compelling third parties to arbitrate;
Joinder of third parties and consolidation; and
Obtaining evidence from third parties in arbitration.

December 19, 2025December 19, 2025

Timothy Reflects (2025) – The (Sometimes) Long Tail of Disclosure Disputes – #928

Document production is a third rail to many arbitration practitioners, and not a likely topic for an annual reflection blog! The risk of provoking memories (possibly distant, but still visceral) of sifting through dusty boxes or their digital equivalent may be, for many potential commentators, too great. Privilege logs, relevance, and redactions, oh my!

November 28, 2025November 28, 2025

Philippe’s Reflections (2025): Québec courts find exceptions to the competence-competence principle – #927

In 2025, Québec courts have grappled with the exceptions to the competence-competence principle. It requires that any challenge to the arbitrator’s jurisdiction must be resolved first by the arbitrator. Competence-competence has long been enshrined in the Model Law and New York Convention and is codified in Québec at art. 632 C.p.c. Its exceptions have been established by case law, but the practical application of what constitutes a “superficial analysis of the evidence on the record” allowing a court to rule directly on a mixed question or law and fact rather than referring the matter to the arbitrator has resulted in different outcomes in 2025. As set out below, courts often apply the competence-competence principle, or one if its exceptions, by stating that either a superficial analysis is sufficient – or not – to resolve the matter, but without explaining their reasoning as to how this conclusion is reached.