The Supreme Court of Canada has declined to hear an appeal that sought to add a cause of action to a long-running class action lawsuit over the sale of universal life policies.
In 2010, a class action lawsuit was filed against Sun Life Life Assurance Co. of Canada concerning the sale of universal life policies by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. in 1980s and 1990s (Sun Life acquired the MetLife policies when it acquired Clarica Life Insurance Co. in 2002).
The original suit made various claims, including claims for misrepresentation, rescission, breach of the duties of good faith, fair dealing, and fair contract in the sale and administration of those policies. None of those allegations have been proven.
The case was certified as a class action for certain claims in 2020, but the plaintiffs also sought to add a new cause of action to the lawsuit — namely, a claim that the spread between the returns received on the policyholders’ investments and the amounts available for their accumulation funds was improperly changed.
In the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the motion judge refused to allow the plaintiffs to amend their case, finding that the limitation period for the proposed new claim had expired.
That decision was appealed, but dismissed again by the Court of Appeal for Ontario in a 2024 ruling, which found “no reversible error in the motion judge’s refusal to permit the amendment of the pleading and common issues…”
The plaintiffs sought leave to appeal that decision to the Supreme Court, which has now denied leave, without reasons.