Sinclair v. Amex Canada Inc., 2023 ONCA 142 – Decision Release

This appeal involved a jurisdictional issue with respect to a water taxi accident in Venice, Italy. The issue in this appeal was whether the fourth presumptive connecting factor in Club Resorts Ltd. v. Van Breda, 2012 SCC 17, a contract connected with the dispute was made in the province, gave the Ontario Superior Court of Justice jurisdiction over the appellants (3 Italian companies) with respect to the action commenced by the respondents. The Court of Appeal unanimously allowed the appeal and stayed the action against the appellants. The majority of the Court of Appeal found that the fourth presumptive connecting factor was not established and further found that in the alternative the appellants had rebutted the presumption. This is a significant decision in the context of jurisdictional claims. At paragraph 44 the Court noted that “If the decision of the motion judge were to be upheld, it would have sweeping implications. It would mean that any person who books a trip through a credit card company that provides travel services and carries on business in Ontario would, through that fact alone, extend the jurisdiction of this province’s courts to anyone who may subsequently become involved in those travel arrangements, regardless of where in the world that involvement occurs. In my view, that result would constitute the very type of jurisdictional overreach that the decision in Van Breda was cautioning against.”
To read the full decision, please click on the link below.