Sale of Goods in Canadian Maritime Matters – Commercial Arbitration & Transport Law in Canada.

“Caveat emptor” a term that many of us have a general understanding of.  Its literal translation is “let the buyer beware” and it essentially stands for the proposition that absent an express warranty from a seller, a purchaser is buying goods at his own risk. In the everyday world,consumers are rarely in a position of bargaining power and are at the whim of the sellers. Thus,it is obvious that a strict application of this doctrine could lead to harsh results for unsuspecting purchasers. Fortunately, the applicability of caveat emptor has been eroded in retail sale transactions through various consumer protection statues, in particular, Sale of Goods legislation.

All of the common law provinces and territories in Canada have some form of Sale of Goodslegislation applying to most contracts of sale.  Ultimately, these statutes attempt to strike abalance between the rights and obligations of sellers and purchasers.  In so doing, they have softened the unsympathetic consequences of the doctrine of caveat emptor by imposing implied conditions into sale of goods contracts.

The purpose of this article is to examine the applicability of Sale of Goods legislation to maritime matters, to analyze the implied condition provisions pursuant to such legislation and to discuss the implications to remedies in maritime claims. Finally, this article will conclude with some recommendations to ensure that the Sale of Goods provisions are appropriately considered during investigations of marine claims.