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Assessment of Damages

Akelius Canada Inc. v 2436196 Ontario Inc. 2020 Ont SCJ

The vendor improperly refused to close a transaction involving seven residential apartment buildings and, two years later, sold the properties at a substantially higher price. The judge granted judgment for $775,000 for the purchaser’s costs thrown away on the aborted transaction. However, the judge ordered nothing for the increase in the value of the land. The evidence indicated that, as of the day of closing, there was no difference between the purchase price and the value of the properties. The judge also refused to grant damages based on lost profit because the money that was to have been used to purchase the properties was used by the purchaser to purchase other properties and the purchaser was unable to provide evidence to set out the return that the purchaser had received from the purchase of the new properties. Accordingly, the purchaser had either not mitigated or had fully mitigated its damages in that regard.

Written by Jonathan Speigel, the founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices.