Class Actions in Canada: The Promise and Reality of Access to Justice

Class actions have found their way into the fabric of Canada’s civil justice system. Class action legislation has been in place in Ontario for 27 years and in British Columbia and Quebec for 25 and 40 years respectively. Trial and appellate courts have had many opportunities to deal with and develop the law of class actions. Notwithstanding their longevity, however, there is little qualitative and empirical research to test many of the justice claims that are made in favour of, and the criticisms that are levelled at, class actions. This is the unsettled terrain into which Professor Kalajdzic ventures. Her experience in private practice and in the academy, her membership of the Law Foundation of Ontario’s Class Proceedings Committee and the Law Commission of Ontario’s Class Actions Advisory Group, and her numerous publications and research collaborations on class actions topics, make her very well qualified for the task.