For most large companies involved in cross-border contracts, international commercial arbitration is the preferred means of dispute resolution, owing to the certainty that arbitration agreements will be respected by domestic courts and awards will be enforceable. With the exceptions of Ontario and Quebec, however, Canada's provinces have arguably failed to keep their statutes relating to international commercial arbitration up to date compared with other jurisdictions.
Modernization initiatives completed in Ontario and Quebec, and continuing in B.C., have apparently not even been started in Nova Scotia, where the limitation period to enforce an international commercial arbitration decision is governed by the Supreme Court of Canada's 2010 decision in Yugraneft Corp. v. Rexx Management. One Halifax lawyer describes the applicable limitation period as "somewhat of a moving target."
Lexpert contributor Sheldon Gordon reports at www.lexpert.ca.
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