What Is a Shareholder Oppression Claim in Canada?
The oppression remedy lets eligible complainants seek court relief for conduct that is oppressive, unfairly prejudicial or unfairly disregards interests.
A shareholder oppression claim asks a court to remedy corporate conduct that defeats a complainant’s reasonable expectations in a way that is oppressive, unfairly prejudicial or unfairly disregards the complainant’s relevant interests. The remedy is statutory, broad and fact-specific. Standing, limitation periods and available orders depend on the governing corporate statute. Section 241 of the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) provides the federal remedy. Provincial business-corporation statutes commonly provide related remedies, but the language and procedure are not identical. Not every nonprofit, society, co-operative or special-act corporation uses the same section. Identify the corporation’s jurisdiction, the complainant category, the conduct challenged and the specific order requested before applying a general oppression case.
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