Big Sweeper Building Maintenance Ltd. v. Canadian Forest Products Ltd., (1991) 2 B.C.A.C. 36 (CA)

• Judge: McEachern, C.J.B.C., Gibbs and Hollinrake, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (British Columbia)
• Case Date: June 18, 1991
• Jurisdiction: British Columbia
• Citations: (1991), 2 B.C.A.C. 36 (CA)

Big Sweeper v. Cdn. Forest Products (1991), 2 B.C.A.C. 36 (CA);

    5 W.A.C. 36

MLB headnote and full text

Big Sweeper Building Maintenance Ltd. (plaintiff/respondent) v. Canadian Forest Products Ltd. (defendant/appellant)

(CA012749)

Indexed As: Big Sweeper Building Maintenance Ltd. v. Canadian Forest Products Ltd.

British Columbia Court of Appeal

McEachern, C.J.B.C., Gibbs and Hollinrake, JJ.A.

June 24, 1991.

Summary:

The plaintiff contractually agreed to provide janitorial services for the defendant. The plaintiff subsequently sued the defendant for breach of contract.

The British Columbia Supreme Court allowed the action and assessed damages accordingly. The defendant appealed.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal allowed the appeal in part.

Damages - Topic 5713

Contracts - Breach of contract - Loss of profits - A mother and son owned a janitorial service company - All janitorial work was done by the mother and son - The company's revenue was paid out either as wages or operational expenses leaving a nominal profit or loss at year end - A client cancelled a contract - The janitorial service company successfully sued for breach of contract - In calculating damages for loss of profit for the company, the British Columbia Court of Appeal held that a deduction must be made for labour expenses - The court opined that damages for loss of profits should be calculated on the basis of what the company lost, rather than what the mother and son lost.

Cases Noticed:

Kosmopoulis et al. v. Constitution Insurance Co. of Canada et al., [1987] 1 S.C.R. 2; 74 N.R. 360; 21 O.A.C. 4, refd to. [para. 25].

Hadley v. Baxendale (1854), 9 Exch. 341, refd to. [para. 27].

Bird et al. v. Warnock Hersey Professional Services Ltd. (1980), 25 B.C.L.R. 95 (B.C.S.C.), dist. [para. 28].

Queensbury Enterprises Inc. v. J.R. Corporate Planning Associates (1987), 19 C.C.E.L. 48 (Ont. H.C.), affd. (1989), 27 C.C.E.L. 56 (Ont. C.A.), dist. [para. 28].

Counsel:

W.M. Everett, Q.C., and Barbara A. Cornish, for the appellants;

   R.D. Gibbens, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard on June 18, 1991, in Vancouver, B.C., before McEachern, C.J.B.C., Gibbs and Hollinrake, JJ.A., of the British Columbia Court of Appeal. The following decision of the court was delivered by Hollinrake, J.A., on June 24, 1991.