Taxation Law is the foundational course in tax. It is one of the highly recommended courses for
students at Osgoode. It is intended for students who find tax issues intriguing or want to develop a stronger understanding of tax. It is also for those who are interested in the many substantive areas of law which invariably intersect with tax.
The course is a survey of the federal income tax system, with a focus on the taxation of individuals. Students will learn about the general framework of the Income Tax Act, come to appreciate the underlying principles and policies of the system, and develop statutory interpretation skills that will serve them well in practice.
Students are expected to prepare for classes by completing the assigned readings and reflecting on them. The amount of readings for the course is modest. Attendance is required.
The main reading material for the course is Li, Magee and Wilkie, Principles of Canadian Income Tax Law (10th edition). Students will have access to an electronic copy of this book. They may also obtain a hard copy from the publisher (Thomson Reuters) or the York University Library.
This course offers an introduction to and comprehensive overview of employment law, which is the law (common law and statutory) governing the individual employment relationship. More than two-thirds of Canadian workers are not unionized; this course is about them and their employers. The goal of the course is to provide students with fluency in the theory, principles, doctrines and jurisprudence of the employee-employer relationship. Main topics include: the formation of an employment contract; express and implied contractual terms; workplace standards; employee and employer rights and obligations during employment, including human rights; the termination of the employment contract and the rights and obligations upon severance.
This course provides students with an in-depth understanding of the international dimensions of the Canadian Income Tax Act (ITA), tax treaties, and recent global tax reform measures, enhancing their statutory interpretation and problem-solving skills. The globalization of trade and investment flows profoundly affects the practices and policies of income taxation, particularly for Canadian corporations engaged in international business. Students will explore cross-border tax issues that are critical for Canadian lawyers. The curriculum covers both domestic tax law and international tax treaties, focusing on jurisdiction to tax, non-residents investing in Canada, cross-border services, Canadian investments offshore, the foreign affiliate system, foreign tax credits, electronic commerce, and transfer pricing. By examining case studies and real-world examples, students will develop a comprehensive understanding of how international tax principles are applied in practice.
The course will also address the ongoing international dialogue on tax policy, spurred by initiatives from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the G20. This dialogue aims to identify and deter strategies multinational enterprises use to shift income from high-tax jurisdictions, which can create friction among countries regarding their taxing rights. The course will explore these challenges and potential modifications to tax laws, the role of private and public international law, and the practical responses by multinational enterprises.
This introductory course surveys the laws of international trade regulation from a Canadian perspective. The course focuses on the public international law and domestic public law regimes regulating the conduct of international trade to and from Canada, with a particular focus on the multilateral World Trade Organization (WTO) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). An additional focus will be on the increasing number of preferential trade agreements relevant to Canada such as the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA, renegotiation of the NAFTA), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
The course has as an express objective of providing all students with some introduction to basic policy aspects of international trade regulation drawn from economic theory, international relations theory, and international legal theory. However, no background is expected of students in terms of prior legal or other disciplinary knowledge (such as economics), just an interest in learning about some relevant policy tools from other disciplines.
Particular trade subjects for discussion include: WTO/GATT treaties and institutions; trade in goods; trade in services; trade and intellectual property; trade and investment; domestic trade remedies such as antidumping and countervail.
This course will also discuss important themes of contemporary international economic relations including the relation of trade to matters of national security and economic sanctions, and the relation of trade to social regulation, such as environmental or labour regulation.
This course provides an introduction to the laws governing the predominant forms of business organization in Canada including sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations. The focus of the course will be on corporations. The course will cover topics such as: the creation and organization of the corporation, the corporation as a distinct entity from its shareholders, pre-incorporation contracts, corporate capital structures, directors’ and officers’ duties, and shareholders’ rights and remedies. This course will also examine theoretical perspectives of corporations and discuss contemporary corporate governance and corporate social responsibility issues as well. The above information is provided for course registration purposes only and is subject to change at any time.
Following a brief examination of sole proprietorships and partnerships, the course will examine the corporate form of association, with particular reference to the Canada Business Corporations Act. The course will emphasize such matters as: the corporation as a distinct entity from its shareholders, the creation and organization of the corporation, shareholders’ rights and roles, management and control of management within the corporation, capital structures, corporate governance, the purpose of the corporation, stakeholder theory, corporate social responsibility and ESG; and the enforcement of corporate duties through the oppression remedy, shareholder derivative actions and other remedies.
The purpose of this course is to review and analyze the legal, ethical and practical issues in commercial and residential transactions respecting real property. Problems and remedies related to real estate transactions, including those involving real estate brokers and agents, sellers and buyers, mortgagors and mortgagees will be examined. Focus will be on the foundational areas of real estate law and their sources, including cases and statutes.
Competition is good. In most industrialized countries, including Canada, this belief in the value of competition – that consumer and businesses prosper in a competitive and innovative marketplace – is a backbone of domestic and global economic policy. This belief is also the underpinning for the creation and enforcement of global and domestic competition/antitrust laws, including Canada’s Competition Act. The Competition Act seeks to maintain and encourage competition in Canada, primarily through public and private enforcement. Competition law, enforcement and policy feature prominently in political debate and in the press, particular due to concentration concerns and the vigorous enforcement of competition laws. This course aims to provide students with a basic understanding of competition law, enforcement and policy and the analytical tools necessary to assess (1) the impact of such on a firm’s behaviour and consumer well-being, and (2) how law can be applied to a firm’s business conduct. Key topics considered in detail in this course are: (1) all aspects of Canada’s Competition Act, including its reviewable practices and criminal offences; (2) the respective roles, investigative powers and decision making powers of the Canadian Competition Bureau, the Commissioner of Competition, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, the Competition Tribunal and the Courts; (3) mergers; (4) collusion among competitors; (5) abuse of dominance or monopolization; (6) deceptive marketing practices; and (7) private enforcement.
Why take this course?
Individuals and firms, both small and large, require advice to ensure their conduct does not violate the criminal and civil provisions of competition law, is in compliance with all regulatory requirements, and does not result in exposure to civil suits by competitors, customers and suppliers. As a result, a basic knowledge of competition law is useful to anyone whose practice will have commercial aspects. Practitioners whose work may benefit from some knowledge of competition law include:
· Corporate and commercial practitioners (whether in a transactional or litigation practice) regardless of size of firm;
· Plaintiffs’ side lawyers (including tort lawyers);
· Criminal defence lawyers;
· Intellectual property lawyers;
· Lawyers who advise clients in industries subject to regulation;
· In-house lawyers who counsel business people about the legality of business plans and communications in the regular course of business; and
· Government lawyers.
This is a four hour course in which we will deliver an overview of securities regulation in Canada from a practitioner’s perspective. We will review the Ontario Securities Act, regulations and policies, and will reference certain securities laws in other jurisdictions as well. We will study certain key securities regulatory concepts and how they intersect with today’s corporate finance markets. Our review will include: the meaning of terms such as “security”, “trade” and “distribution”; primary and secondary distribution of securities; prospectus offerings; private placement exemptions and resale rules; regulation of the trading markets including various stock exchange rules; capital pool companies and SPACs; continuous and timely disclosure; takeover bid legislation; mergers and acquisitions; primary and secondary market civil liability; and regulatory enforcement issues. Our goal is to have our students leave the course with a solid grounding in Canadian securities law as well as a good understanding of how these laws impact corporate finance in Canada.
This course introduces the fundamental principles of the Canadian federal income tax system. We will concentrate on building a taxation vocabulary and exploring the social, political, and economic factors that shape the development of tax law. By the end of the course, students should understand why societies tax, who and what they tax, and how they do so; be familiar with the general structure and principles of the Canadian federal income tax system; and develop skills in close, critical reading and interpretation of primary and secondary legal sources.
The central focus of the course is on the tax principles for the treatment of revenue, losses, and expenses earned or incurred by individuals. We will further discuss general tax policy issues and situate the income tax within the broader Canadian tax system. To ensure students gain a practical understanding of tax law, the course will also introduce the tax administration and dispute resolution frameworks.
Throughout the course, students will have the opportunity to hone their skills in interpreting complex statutory provisions and applying them to a variety of fact patterns. The course employs a combination of lectures, videos, quizzes, and problems for both group and whole-class discussion, providing numerous opportunities for active learning.
For those who fear numbers, take heart. This course focuses on the legal rules underpinning our income tax system, not on mathematics. Any math used in class or tested on the exam is limited to simple computational exercises to illustrate tax rules and their application.