Case information

Private international law — Choice of forum — Court having jurisdiction — Class actions — Conditions that should have to be met in order to satisfy real and substantial connection test established in Club Resorts Ltd. v. Van Breda, 2012 SCC 17, [2012] 1 S.C.R. 572, in case of multijurisdictional class actions involving multiplicity of plaintiffs and defendants in various jurisdictions — Defendant’s burden at second stage of Van Breda test, in context of multijurisdictional class actions, with respect to rebuttal of presumption of jurisdiction established on basis of factors recognized by legislation or case law.

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.

British Columbia commenced a class action to recover health care costs incurred by reason of its citizens’ opioid use since 1996. This action included more than 40 defendants, including Groupe Jean Coutu (PJC) inc. and Pro Doc Ltd., that supposedly manufactured or distributed opioids.

Pro Doc and Jean Coutu challenged the British Columbian courts’ jurisdiction over them in the class action. Pro Doc and Jean Coutu were incorporated in Quebec; they do not carry on business in British Columbia and do not have an office in that province. Pro Doc is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jean Coutu that distributes pharmaceuticals and generic drugs. Pro Doc purchased opioids from third party manufacturers and then resold them to Jean Coutu, which, in turn, supplied them to more than 400 franchised pharmacies in Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario.

The Supreme Court of British Columbia dismissed the motions of Jean Coutu and Pro Doc seeking that the action be dismissed or stayed on the ground that it did not have jurisdiction over them. The Court of Appeal unanimously upheld that decision.