Case information

None.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Employment law — Protection of employees — Sale or transfer of business — Company in financial difficulty awarding contract for management of business during process ultimately leading to transfer of its shares — Business declared to have been sold or transferred temporarily to manager — Whether object and purpose of s. 44 of Canada Labour Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. L 2, were improperly assessed in proceedings below — Whether Canada Industrial Relations Board could find that there was temporary sale of business in circumstances.

In December 2007, the Quebec Superior Court appointed a monitor under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act to monitor the business affairs of Groupe TQS, which was having financial difficulties at the time. Following a tendering process, the Superior Court authorized the applicant Remstar to purchase the shares of TQS. Since TQS was a telecommunications company, the change in control had to be approved by the CRTC, which required some time. In the meantime, Remstar and Groupe TQS entered into a temporary management contract that gave Remstar broad management powers.

Certain employees and some of the unions affected by Remstar’s restructuring measures applied to the Canada Industrial Relations Board for a declaration that there had been a sale of business within the meaning of s. 44 of the Canada Labour Code and that Remstar, as the new employer, was bound by the provisions of the applicable collective agreements. The case was decided in the unions’ favour only after the CRTC approved the change in control of Groupe TQS, at which point the management contract ended.