Alberta Garment Manufacturing Co. v. Purolator Courier Ltd.

The Plaintiff had delivered goods to the Defendant for carriage. On the face of the bill of lading the Plaintiff inserted a clause requiring the Defendant to obtain a certified cheque before effecting delivery. The Defendant did not do so and the Plaintiff was never paid for the goods. The Defendant relied upon a term in the bill of lading that limited its liability for failure to obtain a cheque to the freight charges. The Plaintiff argued that the Defendant was not entitled to limit its liability as the bill of lading was not signed by the Defendant as required by the Alberta regulations governing bills of lading. The Court held that under the applicable Alberta legislation if no bill of lading is issued or if the bill of lading does not comply with the regulations the Defendant is only entitled to rely upon the statutory limitation of $2 per pound. However, as that limitation applies only to loss of or damage to the goods it was of no assistance to the Defendant. In the result, the Defendant was not entitled to limit its liability. (Note: It is debatable whether a carrier who fails to issue a bill of lading or who issues a bill of lading not in compliance with the regulations may nonetheless rely upon the statutory limitation of $2 per pound. See, for example, Arnold Bros. Transport Ltd. v Western Greenhouse Growers Cooperative, (1992), 69 BCLR (2d) 108 and Corcoran v Ehrlick Transport, (1984), 46 OR (2d) 225, which are to the contrary.)