Coronavirus - Government measures in key jurisdictions - Flipbook - Page 22
Canada
6
Litigation
Are the courts
operating?
Courts across Canada have closed and nearly everything before them has been
adjourned indefinitely. Only urgent matters can be brought before a judge. Some
courts are now implementing email filing measures and holding hearings by video or
teleconference. But when the courts re-open, they are likely to prioritize criminal cases,
because of the constitutional obligation to resolve criminal cases within a reasonable
period of time.
Many commercial disputes are well-suited to being resolved through arbitration.
Arbitration’s traditional advantages of greater speed, lower costs, and greater flexibility
as compared to litigation give it an even greater edge when courts are closed.
More information can be found here.
The Ontario provincial government has activated its powers under the EMCPA, which
has had a significant impact on limitation periods in Ontario.
In accordance with the EMCPA, any limitation period has been suspended for the
duration of the emergency. This suspends any time-limiting provision in any statute,
regulation, rule, bylaw or order of the Ontario government for all proceedings in
Ontario. The order is retroactive to March 16, 2020.
British Columbia has suspended filing deadlines of Family and Civil claims until May 1,
2020, but all other filing deadlines and limitation periods continue to apply.
Further details of the temporary changes to limitation periods are located here.
7
Tax
The Canadian government has implemented a series of administrative tax measures as
part of the CERP, including:
Has any new
•
legislation been
introduced in light •
of COVID-19?
•
extension of filing deadlines,
tax audit deferral,
sales tax and customs duty payment deferrals,
•
income tax deferrals,
•
objections and appeals extension, and
•
collections activities on new debts will be suspended until further notice and
flexible payment arrangements will be available.
A summary of the key income tax measures can be found here and further details
regarding GST/HST relief and provincial income tax measures are discussed here.
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Government measures in key jurisdictions
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