Construction is one of the largest industries in Canada, contributing a 7.5% to Canada’s GDP annually, and employing more than 1.4 million people. The construction industry is broad and multi-faceted. From residential construction including houses and condominiums to commercial construction, such as office towers and hotels to industrial and infrastructure development including hospitals, schools, roads, and transportation systems. In Toronto alone, the scale of current construction projects is evident from a simple look at the skyline. With recent changes to the Ontario legislation and large amounts of government funding being directed towards revitalizing provincial and federal infrastructure, now is the perfect time to study this area. Construction law is a rapidly growing specialized field which has developed into its own distinctive area of law, with a rich jurisprudential history in Canada. The industry is ordered by a complex web of private contracts, public laws and regulations, and a set of common law duties, unique to the industry in some instances. In this course, we will survey and examine the legal relationships between all stakeholders and the respective legal rights and remedies. The course will canvass the private law of contract, tort, real property, debtor-creditor, agency, administrative law and trusts. In addition, we will cover related topics concerning public law and legislation relating to sale of goods, personal property security, liens, trusts, and adjudication. This course will allow students to analyze construction law issues and apply these principles of law in a construction setting. Guest speakers will be invited to contribute to some discussions.
Course or Seminar Category: Property Law
Wills and Estates
A basic and fundamental course in the law of Wills and Estates, including: an examination of will planning and drafting; consequences of not having a will; steps involved in the administration of an estate; the impact of legislation dealing with basic income tax issues, matrimonial entitlement, and the support of dependants; mental incapacity issues and the appointment of substitute decision-makers for incapable persons; and the resolution of estates disputes, including a review of available alternative dispute resolution procedures.
Wills and Estates
The Canadian population is aging with an intergenerational transfer of wealth expected as baby boomers die. Consequently, both estate planning and estate administration are within a growing area of legal practice.
This is a course primarily on the law of succession to property on death, including:
– dying without a Will and devolution of property passing through the estate
– formal validity of a Will and testamentary gifts
– mental capacity to make a Will and do other estate planning transactions
– various limitations to making a Will and possible challenges to Will provisions and beneficiary entitlement
– property passing on death outside the estate through joint ownership or designation of beneficiaries on life insurance and registered products
– appointment and role of substitute decision makers during incapacity and the scope of their power to make transactions affecting an estate plan
– steps involved in the administration of an estate
– impact of estate administration tax as different from income tax arising on death
– spousal property rights on death and the support of the deceased’s dependants
– estate lawyer’s duties to a client, including under the Rules of Professional Conduct
– some tools to protect the estate plan from legal challenge.
By registering for this course, students acknowledge that short portions of their submitted assignments may be subsequently used in class, for review and education purposes, in compliance with the Fair Dealing Guidelines for York Faculty and Staff.
Land Use Planning
This course will provide an overview of the law of land use planning and development law regime in Ontario, with an emphasis on the processes, approvals, negotiations and contractual arrangements involved in the development of land, with reference to the Planning Act.
Topics will include the provincial and municipal roles in land use planning and a close examination of the various land use planning instruments and processes, including official plans, zoning by-laws, draft plans of subdivision/consents to sever, site plan approval, building permits, etc. The course will also examine indirect land use controls such as development agreements, development charges and other fees, charges and levies. Students will be introduced to legislation that regulates the heritage protection of built form, and building and construction.
The role of the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) will be discussed, as well as local appeal bodies. Emphasis will be placed on the significant role that local government has with respect to land use planning. The course will accordingly combine aspects of municipal law with an understanding of the land development process.
Overall, the course will provide students with an understanding of the powers and rights available to citizens, stakeholders, landowners, governments, non-governmental organizations, and public sector agencies in shaping land use planning in Ontario.
As learning objectives, students should, by the end of the course:
• demonstrate a high degree of knowledge of the main principles and rules applicable to the land use planning regime in Ontario, with a particular focus on the Planning Act and related case law, and be able to apply these principles and rules to various fact situations in a relevant, precise and well-structured way;
• have an appreciation of other important Ontario statutes that impact the land use planning and development regime in Ontario, and be able to apply relevant portions of these statutes;
• be familiar with the basic functions and powers of municipalities in Ontario;
• understand the general role and the administrative procedures of the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) and the matters that it adjudicates;
• develop a critical perspective on the land use planning regime in Ontario, and be able to explain how certain policy objectives may be fulfilled or, alternatively, frustrated by aspects of the regime; and
• be able to critically evaluate and analyze formal decisions related to land use planning made by municipalities, the Province, the OLT and other approval authorities.
Real Estate Transactions
The purpose of this course is to review and analyze the legal, ethical and practical issues in commercial and residential transactions respecting real property. Problems and remedies related to real estate transactions, including those involving real estate brokers and agents, sellers and buyers, mortgagors and mortgagees will be examined. Focus will be on the foundational areas of real estate law and their sources, including cases and statutes.
Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law
The principal aim of this section of the course is to develop critical understanding of those parts of Canadian constitutional law that pertain specifically to Indigenous peoples. Topics will include the notions of sovereignty and self-determination, relevant British imperial law, the honour of the Crown and the enforceable Crown obligations to which it gives rise, federal and provincial legislative authority, section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, Aboriginal rights and title, treaties and treaty rights, and Indigenous self-government (statutory and constitutional). The plan is for one class session, late in the term, to feature Toronto lawyers who represent or advise Indigenous clients, discussing practice-related issues.
The course will also acknowledge the reality, the coherence and the efficacy of Indigenous law. Early in the term, an Indigenous law scholar will spend one class session introducing the students to an Indigenous legal order. But Indigenous law will figure somewhat less prominently in this section of the course than it does in some other sections, because the instructor, who is not Indigenous, has neither authority nor permission to pronounce on matters internal to any Indigenous legal order. Students whose primary interest is in Indigenous law may prefer another section of this course, or may wish to supplement this course with a companion course whose specific focus is Indigenous law.
This course satisfies the prerequisite requirement for the Intensive Program in Aboriginal Lands, Resources and Governments. It may also be useful background for advanced seminars about Indigenous Peoples and the Law.
Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law
This substantive law course explores the relationships between Indigenous legal orders, the common law and Canadian law, in the context of the practical complexities involved in litigating Aboriginal and Treaty rights cases. Topics may include, but are not limited to: Indigenous laws and governance systems; intersocietal law; history of treaties and treaty relationships; pre-existing Indigenous sovereignty and assumed Crown sovereignty; the honour of the Crown; the colonial doctrines of discovery and terra nullius; settler-colonialism and Indigenous resurgence. The course will provide a survey of key procedural and substantive elements (eg. pleadings,
expert witnesses, Elder evidence, argument and remedies) from the perspective of a practioner working exclusively in this area of law on behalf of First Nation clients and communities. This course consists of weekly lectures and in-class discussions. Evaluation encompasses: in-class quizzes, weekly reading assignments, participation, and a group advocacy component. This course also fulfills the prerequisite requirements for the Intensive Program in Indigenous Lands, Resources and Governments.