Case information

Damages — Quantum — Loss of income — Reimbursement of fees — Moral damages — Whether Court of Appeal erred in law in its analysis with respect to awarding of damages in relying on trial judge’s analysis even though applicants requested referral of file back to Superior Court for reassessment of damages.

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.

The applicants, N9ne Realty Inc. and Alphonse Ghossein, were in negotiations with the respondents, Corporation First Capital (Aylmer, Principale) inc. and First Capital Realty inc., for the purchase of a shopping centre. The shopping centre contained four rental spaces, three of which were already leased and one of which was vacant. The applicants wished to lease the vacant space to a bank. However, a few days before the transaction was scheduled to close, the applicants learned of the existence of a clause restricting them from leasing to a bank. They still proceeded to purchase the building but subsequently filed an application for damages against the respondents. The Quebec Superior Court dismissed their application. It found that the initial failure to disclose the existence of a clause restricting them from leasing to a bank was a fault but that there was no causal connection between the fault and the damage alleged. The applicants appealed the trial judgment. The Quebec Court of Appeal allowed the appeal in part. It found that there was a causal connection and awarded in part the damages claimed by the applicants.