Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
MEASURING DAMAGES FOR BREACH OF A CHATTEL LEASE: THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA LIBERALIZES THE RULES
Langille v. Keneric Tractor Sales Ltd.
Hire-purchase agreements of the English variety have never been common in Canada. On the other hand, the popularity of equipment leases of all types, in which the lessee agrees to lease goods for a fixed period of time, with or without an option to purchase, has grown steadily over the past 25 years and now amounts in value to several billions of dollars each year.1
As in England, the Canadian courts have frequently had to consider the damages recoverable by the lessor where the lease is terminated before its maturity because of the lessee’s default.2 Until 1964, there was little unanimity among the Canadian courts about the correct approach to the question. In that year, in Canadian
1. The leasing of vehicles accounts for a large part of the total figure.
2. The earlier case law is reviewed in Varcoe, “Finance Leasing—An Analysis of the Lessor’s Rights upon Default by the Lessee” (1976) 1 Can. Bus. L.J. 117.
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