On February 6, 2019, the Alberta Court of Appeal released the Weir-Jones Technical Services Incorporated v. Purolator Courier Ltd. 2019 ABCA 49 ("Weir-Jones") decision. This decision was the result of a panel of 5 judges convened to hear two summary judgment appeals, Weir-Jones and Brookfield Residential (Alberta) LP v. Imperial Oil Limited, 2019 ABCA 35. It was anticipated that this decision would provide clarification on the test for summary judgment in Alberta in light of numerous contradictory cases regarding the appropriate burden of proof.
The Court of Appeal upheld the Court of Queen's Bench decision wherein the Chambers Judge granted summary dismissal to the Defendant Purolator Courier Ltd., on the basis that the Plaintiff, Weir-Jones Technical Services Incorporated's claim was statute barred from bringing their claim as a result of the Limitations Act.
The Majority Decision
The four member majority of the panel acknowledged that since the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Hryniak v. Mauldin, 2014 SCC 7 ("Hryniak"), the test for summary judgment in Alberta has been unclear. The majority cited the Can v. Calgary Police Service, 2014 ABCA 322 ("Can") and Stefanyk v. Sobeys Capital Incorporated, 2018 ABCA 125 ("Stefanyk") decisions as illustrative of this riff discussed at paragraph 12:
In Can, at paragraph 20, the Court of Appeal described the...
