Key insights from Opsis Airport Services Inc. v. Attorney General of Québec, et al. (2025 SCC 17)
Gowling WLG is proud to have represented the Canadian Bankers' Association as an Intervener before the Supreme Court of Canada in a case dealing with the doctrine of interjurisdictional immunity and the application of the Private Security Act to activities under federal jurisdiction.
In joint decisions issued on May 30, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") affirmed the constitutional doctrine of interjurisdictional immunity's ("IJI") essential role in relation to cooperative federalism and offered important clarity with respect to the application of the impairment test.
Opsis Airport Services Inc. v. Attorney General of Québec, et al. (2025 SCC 17)and Quebec Maritime Services Inc., et al. v. Attorney General of Quebec, et al. examined IJI doctrine in relation to the application of Québec's Private Security Act ("PSA") to activities under federal jurisdiction.
By unanimous decision, the SCC allowed the appeal filed by the Appellants Opsis Airport Services Inc. ("Opsis") and Québec Maritime Services Inc. and ruled that the PSA is constitutionally inapplicable to both entities pursuant to the IJI doctrine.
A Gowling WLG team comprising Mathieu Lévesque, Patrick Cajvan, Alana Scotchmer and Graham Ragan, as well as co-counsel Guy Pratte and Julien Boudreault of BLG, represented the Canadian Bankers' Association ("CBA") as an...
