TOEWS v GRAND PALLADIUM VALLARTA RESORT & SPA

The Plaintiffs (Respondents on Appeal) suffered a personal injury while vacationing at the Defendants’ hotel in Mexico. A Master and Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench held that the Court in Alberta had jurisdiction over the Action based on a real and substantial connection between the parties. The Defendants appealed.

The Court of Appeal stated that the Appeal was capable of adjudication on the common law test of “real and substantial connection” which is expressly adopted in Rule 11.25(3): a claim which “relates to” or is “connected with” a contract made in Alberta. A “presumptive connecting factor exists where a contract connected with a dispute was made in the Province”. Ultimately, the Court of Appeal held that Alberta Courts had jurisdiction on the basis of a real substantial connection; but for a chain of related contracts, the Respondents would not have stayed at the Appellant’s hotel and the injury would not have occurred.