The Law Of Contract In Canada

Extensively revised and updated since the previous edition, The Law of Contract in Canada, 5th Edition retains all the fundamental concepts of contract law while incorporating a wealth of new information including substantial commentary on a number of recent changes wrought by judicial decision-makers.

This is an up-to-date, comprehensive, and accessible account of the Canadian common law of contracts. It includes chapters on emerging topics such as good faith bargaining, the duty to perform in good faith and new developments in remedies, including disgorgement and punitive damages. It is written by one of Canada's leading authorities in the field.

An oft-repeated assertion within contract law scholarship and cases is that a good contract law (or a good commercial contract law) will meet the needs and expectations of commercial contractors. Despite the prevalence of this statement, relatively little attention has been paid to why this should be the aim of contract law, how these 'commercial expectations' are identified and given substance, and what precise legal techniques might be adopted by courts to support the practices and expectations of business people. This book explores these neglected issues within contract law. It examines the idea of commercial expectation, identifying what expectations commercial contractors may have about the law and their business relationships (using empirical studies of contracting behaviour), and assesses the extent to which current contract law reflects these expectations. It considers whether supporting commercial expectations is a justifiable aim of the law according to three well-established theoretical approaches to contractual obligations: rights-based explanations, efficiency-based (or economic) explanations and the relational contract critique of the classical law. It explores the specific challenges presented to contract law by modern commercial relationships and the ways in which the general rules of contract law could be designed and applied in order to meet these challenges. Ultimately the book seeks to move contract law beyond a simple dichotomy between contextualist and formalist legal reasoning, to a more nuanced and responsive legal approach to the regulation of commercial agreements.

The Law of Contracts, third edition, is a thorough revision of this authoritative text in Irwin Law's Essentials of Canadian Law series. It includes discussion of recent jurisprudential developments in a variety of topics including: The impact of the ground-breaking decision in BhasinvHrynew, 2014 SCC 71, in articulating the general organizing principle requiring good faith performance underlying the existing law imposing duties of good faith contractual performance and the recognition of a new good faith duty of honest performance The potential implications of BhasinvHrynewfor the duty to bargain in good faith The effect of the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Canada (Attorney General)vFairmont Hotels Inc, 2016 SCC 56, on the law of rectification for mistake The continuing development of the Canadian jurisprudence applying the Terconrule to the enforceability of exculpatory clauses The impact of Uber Technologies Incv Heller, 2020 SCC 16 and Douez v Facebook Inc, 2017 SCC 33, on the doctrine of unconscionability The potential impact of Southcott Estates IncvToronto District Catholic School Board, 2012 SCC 51, on the law of mitigation and of specific performance The effect of Globe Motors IncvTRW Lucas Varity Electronic Steering Ltd(Eng CA) on the enforceability of "no oral variation" clauses The book also incorporates reference to recent Canadian cases on doctrines such as estoppel, privity, interpretation and appellate review, and discussion of recent leading authorities dealing with such matters as contractual interpretation and the application of the basic principles of formation to e-commerce. The Law of Contractsis an indispensible resource for anyone interested in modern Canadian contract law.