On Monday, Justice Katherine van Rensburg of the Ontario Superior Court issued a landmark ruling in the securities class action against IMAX Corp., certifying the first securities class action in Canada involving secondary market disclosures such as press releases. The ruling was also significant because Judge van Rensburg certified a global class, meaning that the Canadian lawsuit will affect investors from other countries.

The case is believed to be the first time that a Canadian judge has designated a global class in the face of a competing action in the United States. The U.S. case has yet to be certified. In certifying the global class, the Ontario court wrote that "the prospect that a similar proceeding might be certified in another jurisdiction is not sufficient to prevent the court from certifying a global class in Ontario."

Dimitri Lascaris and Michael Robb of Siskinds in London and Jay Strosberg and William Sasso of Sutts Strosberg in Windsor, Ontario, represent the plaintiffs. Lascaris told the AmLaw Litigation Daily that it is "a very good day for the investing public in Canada." Strosberg added that he viewed the opinion as "enormously significant."