Legal Research

Class Actions and the Competition Act ? Will the SCC Take a Bite Out of Quizno?s?

By Ted Tjaden

Many class action and competition law lawyers will be anxiously awaiting whether the Supreme Court of Canada will grant leave tomorrow regarding the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in Quizno’s Canada Restaurant Corporation v 2038724 Ontario Ltd, 2010 ONCA 466.

Most commentators regard the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal as making it easier for plaintiffs to have their class action lawsuits certified when claiming damages under the Competition Act.

At issue in that decision were allegations by some franchisees that the franchisor was overcharging for the food and supplies provided to franchisees and that this constituted, among other things, illegal price maintenance under the Act.

For an excellent summary of the issues, see Katharine MacLellan’s excellent post from last Fall at the The Court blog: Lunchtime Price Gouging: A Possible Sandwich Conspiracy? Ont CA Upholds Class Certification in Quizno?s Canada Restaurant Corporation v 2038724 Ontario Ltd.

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on February 02, 2011 (boomark / email).