David Sterns on the Changing Landscape of Canadian Class Actions

Canadian class action litigation continues to evolve, with increasing filing activity, emerging claims involving artificial intelligence, changes to competition law and ongoing challenges surrounding national proceedings and litigation financing.

Sotos partner David Sterns recently shared his perspective on these developments with Commercial Dispute Resolution for its article, “Change and challenge in Canadian class actions.”

Class Action Activity in Canada

Speaking with Commercial Dispute Resolution, David noted that more than 200 new class actions were filed in Canada in 2025, an increase of approximately 11 percent from the previous year.

He also pointed to important differences between Canada's most active class action jurisdictions. Québec continues to account for a significant proportion of filings, while Ontario remains a major centre for class action litigation despite changes to its certification test introduced in 2020.

AI and Competition Litigation

David also discussed areas where Canadian class action practice is developing.

Consumer protection claims remain common, but litigation involving artificial intelligence is beginning to emerge, including cases concerning the use of data to train large language models.

Changes to Canada's Competition Act may also create new opportunities for private enforcement. Since June 2025, private parties have been able to seek leave to bring certain applications before the Competition Tribunal, including matters involving abuse of dominance.

David noted that a number of cases are now testing this new regime.

The Challenge of National Class Actions

Another issue David addressed is the coordination of overlapping national class actions.

Many Canadian class proceedings are brought in provincial courts on behalf of national classes. When similar proceedings are commenced in different provinces, however, there is currently no formal national mechanism equivalent to a provincial carriage motion for determining which proceeding should move forward.

David discussed how courts and counsel have developed practical ways of navigating these overlapping proceedings and the continuing challenges created by Canada's provincial class action system.

Financing Complex Class Actions

David also raised a broader issue facing plaintiff-side class action practice: how increasingly complex litigation is financed.

Class actions can make it possible to pursue claims that would be economically impractical to litigate individually. But the financial demands associated with major litigation against large corporations have also increased.

As David explained to Commercial Dispute Resolution, class action practice and the jurisprudence surrounding it have matured significantly, while the financing model used to support major plaintiff-side cases has not evolved at the same pace.

That question will become increasingly important as Canadian firms pursue larger and more complex class proceedings.

David Sterns is a partner at Sotos Class Actions whose practice focuses on class actions and complex litigation.