On Saturday, November 7th, B.C.’s top health officials announced broad new COVID-19 restrictions which aim to slow the recent surge in new cases across the lower mainland.  These restrictions will be in place from November 7th to November 23, but this period may be extended.  In an apparent effort to mitigate the economic effects of…

President of the EU Chamber of Commerce in Canada West and Watson Goepel LLP Business Group Partner, Celso Boscariol Q.C., presented recently at a virtual networking event that focused on “Building Bridges between Western Canada & Europe”.  Chamber members met with members of the Belgian Business Club and 8 bilateral European Business organizations in Western…

In August the B.C. government implemented changes to the Workers Compensation Act through Bill 23, which received Royal Assent on August 14, 2020. Several notable changes were introduced; one of these changes widened the “Occupational Disease” framework to capture COVID-19 infection in certain circumstances. Workers Compensation Act Section 238 now reads: (1) Subject to subsection…

The BC Government has launched InBC, a new $500M investment fund designed to support high growth potential businesses and drive economic growth in every region of the province.  Although details of the new investment program are yet to be released, we understand that InBC plans to invest in small and medium-sized B.C. companies in an…

Technology lawyer Anand Athiviraham and IP lawyer Cameron Funnell will give the inside scoop on what mistakes to avoid when it comes to your tech startup, regardless of what stage your business is at. Entrepreneurs, developers, bootstrappers, SaaS companies, and more established companies looking to take it to the next level, will all benefit from…

Payor parents, take note: even where a child has reached the age of majority, or become financially independent and is no longer considered a “child of the marriage”, the door is not closed on child support obligations that may have accrued in the past. A recent Supreme Court ruling means that the door remains open…

With many educational institutions across B.C. open to returning students this fall, parents of school-aged children have had to face the difficult decision of whether to send their child back to school or to continue their education at home for the near future. While the B.C. government has created a detailed plan for the return…

Indigenous Law lawyer Anita Boscariol is a panelist for the Sept. 24th session “Developments in Aboriginal Law and Litigation,” as part of the annual Department of Justice Canada Conference. Anita will share her insights on issues in Aboriginal litigation that public law lawyers should be informed of and engage with. Anita will draw on her…

This article was originally published by The Lawyer’s Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc. Closed or inaccessible courts during this pandemic prompted me to consider how we resolve matrimonial disputes generally, and, more specifically, how we can resolve them more effectively in these stressful and uncertain times. Uncertainty creates anxiety, and when you couple…

Both provincial and federal governments continue to update legislation and programs introduced this year in response to COVID-19. This blog post highlights some of the recent changes. Temporary Layoffs in B.C. Under the Employment Standards Act, RSBC 1996, c. 113 (the “Act”), as long as an employer has the contractual authority or the employee agrees…