In this recent case, the court temporarily prevented a commercial landlord from closing the doors on a tenant operating a gym. The landlord felt that they had the right to lock the tenant out because of unpaid realty taxes allegedly owed by the tenant. Applications were brought over this alleged “default,” and the court allowed the tenant to continue operations until the Applications were heard.
The court concluded that the tenant satisfied each of the three elements required to grant interim injunctive relief as enumerated in RJR — MacDonald Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General), 1994 CanLII 117 (SCC), [1994] 1 S.C.R. 311, namely: (1) there was a serious issue to be tried, because there were a lot of arguments over what realty taxes were owed, if any; (2) the applicant tenant would suffer irreparable harm if the injunction was not granted, especially given their attempt to reopen their business after the pandemic closures; and (3) the balance of convenience favoured granting the injunction protecting the tenant because any harm to the landlord would be pale in comparison to that of the tenant, especially given that the landlord sat on this issue for over two years.
Barry’s Bootcamp Canada Inc. v. 100 Bloor Street West Corporation, 2022 ONSC 2962
https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2022/2022onsc2962/2022onsc2962.html