Search results
Dec 21, 2020 · In Callow, the Supreme Court of Canada held that: Parties to a contract have a duty of honest performance, as the Court first recognized six years ago in Bhasin v. Hrynew. [2] This duty “applies to the performance of all contracts and, by extension, to all contractual obligations and rights”. [3] Further, parties are “not free to exclude ...
- Brandon Kain
Speaker, Law Society of Prince Edward Island, Professional...
- Brandon Kain
Oct 19, 2021 · Zollinger, 2020 SCC 45, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) expands on the scope of the duty of honest performance in contractual relationships, previously established by the SCC ruling in Bhasin v. Hrynew, 2014 SCC 71, [2014] 3 S.C.R. 494. Our firm previously blogged about the Court of Appeal Ruling in this case. See the previous blog here.
The duty of honest performance underpins all contractual rights and obligations. Eight of nine judges of the Supreme Court (Côté J. dissenting) allowed the appeal and found in favour of Callow. Baycrest breached its duty of honest performance by deliberately misleading Callow about Baycrest’s decision to terminate the winter contract.
Dec 18, 2020 · The duty of honest performance means that “parties must not lie or otherwise knowingly mislead each other about matters directly linked to the performance of the contract”. This prohibits not only overt lies but also “half-truths, omissions, and even silence, depending on the circumstances”, about “the exercise of a particular right under a particular contract”.
- Background
- The Decision
- Key Takeaways
The case involved a dispute between therespondent, a group of condominium corporations (“Baycrest”), and theappellant, C.M. Callow Inc. (“Callow”), regarding a two-year wintermaintenance contract (the “Contract”) and separate summer maintenancecontract, both executed in 2012.TheContract stipulated that Baycrest was entitled to terminate the Contrac...
With only one dissent,the Supreme Court set aside the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal andfound that the duty to act honestly in performance of the contract precludedthe active deception by Baycrest by which it knowingly misled Callow intobelieving that the Contract would not be terminated. At the outset of its decision, the SupremeCourt rei...
The decision in Callow, and inparticular its expansion of the duty of honest performance to prohibithalf-truths, omissions, or silence, under certain circumstances, and not merelyovert dishonesty, will require parties to a contract to tread very carefullywhen engaging with counterparties when termination, contract renewal, or othermaterial matters,...
In Bhasin v Hrynew, [1] a unanimous Supreme Court of Canada recognized that good faith contractual performance is a general organizing principle of Canadian common law, and that parties to a contract are under a duty to act honestly in the performance of their contractual obligations. The case is the first time our highest court has examined ...
People also ask
What is the duty of honest performance?
Does a contract have a duty ofhonest performance?
What is the duty of honesty in a contract?
Is the duty of honest contractual performance a general doctrine of contract law?
Is the duty of honest performance in contractual relations engaged?
Can a breach of duty of honest performance cause expectation damages?
Dec 18, 2020 · The duty of honest performance means that "parties must not lie or otherwise knowingly mislead each other about matters directly linked to the performance of the contract" 5. This prohibits not only overt lies but also "half-truths, omissions, and even silence, depending on the circumstances", 6 about "the exercise of a particular right under a particular contract". 7
