News + Insights

On August 19, 2026, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released its decision in Atkinsréalis Construction (Pacific) Inc. v. GIP Construction Ontario East Ltd., 2026 ONSC 4785—the first reported judicial consideration of s. 13(7) of the Arbitration Act, 1991, which addresses the limited circumstances in which courts will stay of ongoing arbitral proceedings.

John Adair, Robert Stellick, and David Ionis successfully obtained such a stay on behalf of Atkinsréalis. The stay was granted to prevent the arbitration from proceeding pending the completion of our client’s application seeking to have the arbitrator removed for having demonstrated a reasonable apprehension of bias. 

As the first reported judicial consideration of s. 13(7) of the Arbitration Act, 1991, this decision is of particular precedential value. It is instructive of the legal principles governing the limited circumstances in which courts will interfere with ongoing arbitral proceedings. It also provides a helpful discussion of the standards and effects of adjudicator bias in commercial arbitrations. 

The most important takeaways are the Court’s application of the elevated “strong prima facie case” standard to the merits part of the stay analysis and that the Court found that requiring a party to proceed while an apprehension of bias challenge is outstanding can constitute irreparable harm.