Document Details

Application by the plaintiffs for an order certifying the action as a class proceeding. The proposed class was one of individuals who were identified by the defendant, Mac's Convenience Stores, as potential candidates for employment under Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The plaintiffs alleged that Mac's promised jobs and failed to provide them and that Mac's and the other defendants unlawfully collected fees from prospective temporary foreign workers who Mac's agreed to hire. The plaintiffs argued the overriding question was whether it would be more fair and efficient to determine the class members' claims in a single class proceeding. The defendants argued the plaintiffs had failed to meet the certification requirements and that the action was inherently individual.

HELD: Application allowed.

The action was certified as a class proceeding. The class was defined as all persons who, on or after December 11, 2009 to the opt-out/opt-in date set by the court, made payments to Overseas Immigration Services Inc., Overseas Career and Consulting Services Ltd., and/or Trident Immigration Services Ltd. and who were provided with employment contracts to work at Mac's Convenience Stores in British Columbia, Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan under Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker program. There were also to be sub-classes of persons resident and not resident in British Columbia. The representative plaintiffs of the sub-classes were appointed. The issues were certified as common issues. It was not plain and obvious the pleadings disclosed no reasonable cause of action. Individual issues did not outweigh the common issues. Individual trials would not be required for most of the claims. Resolving the matters in a single proceeding would materially advance the litigation. The proposed representative plaintiffs would fairly and adequately represent the class interests and they had no conflicts.