Case information

Civil procedure — Class action — Authorization to institute class action — Conditions for authorization of action — Whether Court of Appeal erred in holding that applicant adduced insufficient evidence to support her factual allegations that Dollarama’s shopping bags are not recyclable in Canada — Whether Court of Appeal erred in holding that applicant’s factual allegations concerning non-recyclability of Dollarama’s shopping bags in Canada had to be supported by some evidence in first place — Code of Civil Procedure, CQLR, c. C-25.01, art. 575(2).

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 Quebec Superior Court allowed in part the applicant’s application for authorization of a national class action against the respondents, alleging that they sell reusable bags on which it is falsely indicated that they are recyclable. As regards representations that she considered to be misleading, the applicant invoked certain provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, CQLR, c. P-40.1, the Civil Code of Québec and the Competition Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-34, to obtain compensatory and punitive damages for members of the class who allegedly suffered prejudice. The trial judge authorized the applicant to commence a class action based on the Consumer Protection Act and the Civil Code of Québec on the basis of allegations of misleading representations with regard to the recyclability of reusable bags sold by the respondents in Quebec.

The Quebec Court of Appeal allowed the applicant’s appeal in part. It agreed with the applicant’s argument that the trial judge erred in refusing to authorize the class action on the basis of the Competition Act, but it rejected the applicant’s argument that the trial judge committed a reviewable error in limiting the scope of the class action to Quebec, refusing the give it national scope in respect of respondents whose head office is in the province.