Case information

Civil procedure — Class action — Public-private partnership — Characterization of obligation to pay fees for enforced payment — In context of public-private partnership, whether private law rules should be applied to fees for enforced payment when public service is provided by for-profit private enterprise that is not mandatary of State and that alone establishes amount of fees — In alternative, if only public law is applicable, whether members have right to restitution of payment not due and, if so, whether class action is proper vehicle for this purpose — Act respecting transport infrastructure partnerships, CQLR, c. P 9.001, s. 12 — Regulation respecting toll road infrastructures operated under a public-private partnership agreement, CQLR, c. P 9.001, r. 3, s. 17.

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.

From September 2016 to February 2017, the applicant, Ian Poitras, used the toll bridge on autoroute 25 about 160 times. The respondent Concession A25, L.P., which operates the bridge under a public private partnership agreement, mailed the applicant 160 first invoices for the payment of tolls, which the applicant says he did not receive. It then sent him 94 second invoices. When the applicant was finally alerted to the situation, he owed $474.88 in tolls, $859.74 in administration fees on the first invoices and a total of $3,102 plus tax in [TRANSLATION] “fees for the enforced payment of tolls and administration fees” arising from the second invoices. In January 2018, the applicant applied for authorization to institute a class action in order to seek reimbursement of the fees for enforced payment. The Quebec Superior Court dismissed his application with legal costs. His appeal to the Quebec Court of Appeal from that judgment was also dismissed with legal costs.