In Razar Contracting Services Ltd. v Evoqua Water, 2021 MBQB 69 (“Razar Contracting”), the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench refused to give effect to an arbitration clause located on the Defendant’s website, which the Defendant referenced in the purchase order it issued. Razar Contracting tells a cautionary tale about attempting to incorporate standard terms and conditions into a transaction merely by referencing where those terms can be found.

In Escape 101 Ventures Inc. v. March of Dimes Canada, 2021 BCCA 313, the Court dealt with an application by Escape 101 Ventures (the “Appellant”) for leave to appeal an arbitrator’s dismissal of claims related to an asset purchase agreement (the “Agreement”) entered into with March of Dimes Canada (the “Respondent”). In considering the three claims of extricable errors of law asserted by the Appellant, the Court found that leave to appeal was warranted on only one ground.

In CSI Toronto Car Systems Installation Ltd. v. Pittasoft Co., Ltd., 2021 ONSC 5117 (“Pittasoft”), Justice Sharma of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice refused to grant a stay of proceedings in favour of arbitration due to the conduct of the defendant, which estopped them from enforcing their arbitration agreement.

The Russian Federation v Luxtona Limited, 2021 ONSC 4604 (“Luxtona 2021”) is the latest installment in a series of decisions addressing the admissibility of new or “fresh” evidence on appeals from an arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction decision arising in the context of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (the “ModelLaw”).