FLOOD RISK OAKVILLE
PROPOSED CLASS ACTION
SETTLEMENT
Did you own property in the area bounded by Burloak Drive, Lake Ontario, Winston Churchill Boulevard and Dundas Street in the Town of Oakville between January 1, 2005 and March 5, 2024, which was in whole or in part located within the boundaries of the Regulatory Flood Hazard? A proposed class action settlement may affect your legal rights.
Take notice that your legal rights may be affected, if you owned, individually or jointly or as tenants-in-common with others, any property in the area bounded by Burloak Drive, Lake Ontario, Winston Churchill Boulevard and Dundas Street in the Town of Oakville, which was in whole or in part located within the boundaries of the Regulatory Flood Hazard between January 1, 2005 and March 5, 2024. These properties include the 1,643 addresses found in the link below:
The Action
In 2020, a proposed class action was commenced against The Corporation of the Town of Oakville, Halton Region Conservation Authority, The Regional Municipality of Halton, The Corporation of the Town of Milton, His Majesty the King in right of Ontario, and Robert Burton, alleging that they made development decisions starting in 1986 that expanded the floodplain and increased flood risks for properties in the Class Area.
The class action has been conditionally certified for the purposes of settlement on behalf of persons who owned, individually or jointly or as tenants-in-common with others, any property in the area bounded by Burloak Drive, Lake Ontario, Winston Churchill Boulevard and Dundas Street in the Town of Oakville, which was in whole or in part located within the boundaries of the Regulatory Flood Hazard between January 1, 2005 and March 5, 2024. The Court has appointed Edwin Banfi as the representative plaintiff.
The Defendants deny that they acted improperly or wrongfully in any way whatsoever and take the position that the action is entirely without merit and should be dismissed with costs payable to them.
The parties have negotiated a proposed settlement of the class action, which the representative plaintiff and Class Counsel believe is fair, reasonable and in the best interests of the Class. The representative plaintiff and Class Counsel recognize the costs and risks of continuing to prosecute this action and understand that the Town of Oakville and The Halton Region Conservation Authority have adopted programs to continue to study flood risk within the Town of Oakville and that the Town of Oakville is contemplating the allocation of significant monies towards flood mitigation in the future. For these reasons, the representative plaintiff and class counsel believe that it is in the best interest of all Class Members to resolve this action, finally and completely, on the terms set out in the settlement agreement, which can be found in the link below:
The proposed settlement must be approved by a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice. For such approval, a virtual hearing has been scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday June 19, 2024, before The Honourable Madam Justice Baltman.
A link to this hearing will be posted here when it becomes available.
If the proposed settlement is approved, Justice Baltman will be asked to approve the amount of legal fees, taxes and disbursements to be paid to Class Counsel.
Class Members
Who is a class member?
You are a class member if you owned, individually or jointly or as tenants-in-common with others, any property in the area bounded by Burloak Drive, Lake Ontario, Winston Churchill Boulevard and Dundas Street in the Town of Oakville, which was in whole or in any part located within the boundaries of the Regulatory Flood Hazard between January 1, 2005 and March 5, 2024. These properties include the 1,643 addresses found in the link below:
As a class member, you do not need to do anything to remain part of this class action. If you are part of this class action and do not actively participate in the litigation, there is no risk that you will be required to pay anything in respect of it. However, if the proposed settlement is approved, this class action will determine your legal rights concerning the claims that were made or that could have been made in this class action.
Opt-Out
All Class Members will be bound by the terms of the settlement unless they opt-out of the class action. If you do not want to be a class member, you must remove yourself from the class action through a time-limited process called “opting out”. If you opt-out of this class action, your legal rights will not be determined by the outcome of the class action. You will have the right to bring your own action or lawsuit with your own lawyer and at your own expense. However, there is a risk that the time limit for you to commence your own action may have passed.
Members of the class may only opt out of the class action by delivering a properly completed Opt-Out Form by email to Classaction@Willtriallawyers.ca, before 5:00 pm on Friday, May 31, 2024. After that deadline expires, no class member may opt out of this class action.
The Opt-Out form is found in the link below:
Proposed Settlement
Under the terms of the Proposed settlement, the Defendants will pay up to $500,000 to the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, a University of Waterloo research centre, to develop the Oakville Home Flood Education And Protection Program for the Class Members. This important program will provide class members with user-friendly and action oriented information on flood resilience measures for their properties and will ‘help homeowners to help themselves’ to reduce flood risk and minimize damage in the event of a flood. The Oakville Home Flood Education and Protection Program will include:
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Solicitation of local homeowner input
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Infographic Distribution
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Infographic Companion Guide
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Online Course
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App
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Community Outreach Event
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Flood Risk Reduction Door-to-Door Campaign
More particularly, the Program will include:
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Soliciting local homeowner input by meeting with a group of six Class Members to collaboratively identify any distinct or unique local features that should be integrated into residential flood risk protection;
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Forwarding two mailings to Class Members with infographics that consolidate and convey practical solutions for flood mitigation;
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Delivering an infographic Companion Guide that will include a comprehensive list of available programs, subsidies, contractors, professional home flood protection assessors, etc., that will support Class Members in their resilience efforts;
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Building an Online Course that will be an interactive home flood protection course to provide Class Members with a better understanding of the practical, step-by-step actions they can take that may reduce the risk of flood damage to their property;
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Developing an App that will provide timely “home flood protection” reminders, including an action-focused checklist;
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Hosting a Community Outreach Event that will provide practical demonstrations on navigating both the Online Course and the App, effectively, as well as delivering presentations addressing flood risk and proactive measures to reduce risk; and,
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Conducting a Door-to-Door Campaign, during which home flood protection trained professionals will visit all relevant properties to engage Class Members on the topic of flood risk, distribute an easy-to-install flood alarm, and provide practical tips.
See the link below for a complete copy of the Oakville Home Flood Education Program:
No individual class members will receive monetary compensation.
Effect of Approved Settlement
If approved by the Court, the proposed settlement will be final and binding on all Class Members who have not opted out. It will finally resolve all claims and causes of action of the Class Members relating in any way to any conduct by the Defendants, during the period from January 1, 1986 to March 5, 2024, relating to development or flood-risk decisions, impacting the area bounded by Burloak Drive, Lake Ontario, Winston Churchill Boulevard and Dundas Street in the Town of Oakville. Class Members who have not opted out will be deemed to have forever released the Defendants from any actions, causes of action, suit, claims or demands, for claims similar to or as including those claims set out in the Statement of Claim in the action known as Court File No. CV-20-00001582-00CP.
Participating at the Approval Hearing
If you approve of the proposed settlement, you do not need to do anything. You will be notified of the results of the approval hearing.
Class Members who do not opt out and who wish to make an objection to the proposed settlement or to Class Counsel’s request for fees must deliver a written submission to Classaction@Willtriallawyers.ca, before 5:00 pm on Friday, May 31, 2024. If you do not deliver such a written submission, you may not be entitled to participate in the approval hearing through oral submissions or otherwise.
All Class Members may attend the approval hearing.
If there is a conflict between the provisions of this notice and the terms of any applicable court order or the settlement agreement, the court order or the settlement agreement, as applicable, will prevail.
Questions for the Class Members’ lawyers should be sent by email to:
This notice has been approved by the Court. Questions about matters in this notice should NOT be directed to the court.