Looking at the Numbers: Have Amendments to Ontario’s Certification Test Had a Chilling Effect?
By Aislyn Sax, 2L, and Jasminka Kalajdzic In October 2020, Ontario’s Class Proceedings Act (CPA) was amended for the first time since it was introduced in 1992. One of the biggest changes was to add two requirements to the certification test, predominance and superiority, which many lawyers predicted would make certification harder for class members and would deter lawyers from bringing national class actions in Ontario. There are now a handful of cases in which the more ‘rigorous’ and ‘stricter’ certification test was applied, with mixed results; certification was granted in one case and denied in the other. Class Action Clinic caseworker Victoria Delicata has written a related blog comparing these two cases. Were the predictions by both defence firms and class counsel correct? Did the amendments result in a decrease in class actions initiated or filed in Ontario? Has British Columbia become the favoured jurisdiction in which to file
