Topic: Restrictive Covenants

Less is More – “Loyalty Incentives” Upheld

May 29, 2015 Topics: Blog, Loyalty Incentives, Restrictive Covenants
Canada’s big five banks and the financial planning industry will benefit by paying close attention to the difference between a “loyalty incentive” and a restraint of trade, as canvassed thoroughly by the Ontario Superior Court in Levinsky v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank, 2013 ONSC 5657. Levinsky, a managing director with TD Securities Inc.,…
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Arguing Ambiguities in Restrictive Covenants – The Pendulum Swings Back to Enforceability

May 28, 2015 Topics: Blog, Non-Compete Enforceability, Restrictive Covenants
One of the most-used strategies to argue that a non-compete or non-solicit provision is unenforceable is to point to any possible ambiguity in the wording used. In the leading Canadian decision, the Supreme Court of Canada held in J.G. Collins Insurance Agencies Ltd. v. Elsley Estate, 1978 CanLII 7 (SCC), that in order…
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Economic Disincentives to Compete Found to be Restraints of Trade

May 24, 2015 Topics: Blog, Loyalty Incentives, Non-Compete Enforceability, Restrictive Covenants
The B.C. Court of Appeal’ decision last year in Rhebergen v. Creston Veterinary Clinic, 2014 BCCA 97, is both a win and a loss for employers seeking to restrain employees from competing with them post-employment. In both instances, the decision will have long-reaching effects over employer’s strategies to implement effective restraints and the…
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Failure to Meet Irreparable Harm Test Sinks Both a Non-Solicit and Non-Compete Clause

September 8, 2012 Topics: Blog, Injunctions, Insurance Brokers, Non-Solicit Enforceability, Restrictive Covenants
As predicted earlier in this space, the British Columbia Court of Appeal’s decision in Edward Jones v. Voldeng, 2012 BCCA 295, is making it very difficult to enforce a non-solicit agreement in B.C. on an interim basis pending trial. In Hub International v. Redcliffe, 2012 BCSC 1280, one of the first decisions to apply Edward Jones,…
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BC Court of Appeal Raises Bar on Injunctions to Enforce Non-Solicit Clauses

August 17, 2012 Topics: Blog, Injunctions, Investment Advisors, Non-Solicit Enforceability, Restrictive Covenants
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has raised the bar considerably for employers hoping to obtain an injunction to enforce a non-solicit clause pending trial. In Edward Jones v. Voldeng, 2012 BCCA 295, released July 3, 2012, the court held that Edward Jones, a securities firm that sought to enforce a six-month…
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SCC Will Not Have Opportunity to Resolve Questions Raised by Globex Decision

August 1, 2012 Topics: Blog, Consideration, Non-Compete Enforceability, Non-Solicit Enforceability, Restrictive Covenants
Word out of Alberta that the plaintiff company in Globex Foreign Exchange Corporation v. Kelcher, 2011 ABCA 240, will not be appealing the Alberta Court of Appeal decision to the Supreme Court of Canada. That’s too bad for those of us who had hoped for some clarification from the nation’s top…
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