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The following dividends/distributions have been declared.FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020 | THE GLOBE AND MAILO REPORT ON BUSINESS| B
As a surge of Canadians engage in estate planning in re-
sponse to the coronavirus outbreak, an Ontario court will
hear a case next week to determine whether a will that was
witnessed online was properly executed.
The court has agreed to consider the case on an urgent
basis for a married couple in their 80s, who are avoiding
contact with others out of concern for their health. It is part
of a growing call in Ontario’s legal community for the op-
tion to use virtual tools to witness the signing of wills,
particularly as social distancing makes it difficult to hold
in-person meetings.
For a typed will to be valid, two people must witness it
being signed, and neither witness can be a beneficiary or
spouse of a beneficiary. Lawyers say Ontario law takes a
strict approach to this rule, unlike some other provinces
where there is more flexibility. These formalities are chal-
lenging to meet when most people are isolating alone or
with family members, and keeping their distance from
others.
Lawyers in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alber-
ta, all provinces that have been hard-hit by the spread of
COVID-19, say they have seen a spike in recent weeks in
requests for new or updated wills, along with related docu-
ments, such as powers of attorney. Inquiries have come
from elderly clients and front-line health-care workers, as
well as healthy adults who suddenly have free time.
“I’m busier this month than I’ve been all year,” said Kavi-
na Nagrani, who is counsel at Loopstra Nixon LLP in Toron-
to and the lawyer who filed the court application. “People
have more time on their hands, they’re sitting at home,
there’s a pandemic and, unfortunately, it makes people
think about sickness, incapacity, death.”
Late last week, Ms. Nagrani completed new wills for her
elderly clients, and she and her legal assistant witnessed the
pair sign the documents over the online video-conferencing
service Zoom, recording and saving a copy of the meeting.
As the couple initialed and signed each page of their wills,
they held them up to show the camera. Ms. Nagrani filed an
application with the Ontario Su-
perior Court of Justice on Tues-
day, asking the court to declare
that the procedure she used
meets the requirements under
the law. She said the court –
which is is closed except for
emergency matters – has agreed
to hear the case next week.
“The law was always antiquat-
ed, but now I think we’re seeing
the extent of all of those prob-
lems,” says Patrick Hartford,
chief executive and founder of NoticeConnect, a Toronto-
based company that publishes estates-related public no-
tices online. NoticeConnect started a petition for the Onta-
rio government to change the law to allow virtual witness-
ing of wills. As of Thursday, the petition on Change.org had
more than 1,000 signatures and Mr. Hartford says he plans
to send it to Ontario’s Attorney-General, Doug Downey.
Online will-making startup Willful.co has seen a month-
over-month increase in sales of more than 40 per cent from
February to March, according to CEO Erin Bury, with many
customers asking why the technical requirements around
printing and witnessing wills still exist in today’s virtual age.
“This is something that consumers are demanding,” she
said. “It hasn’t been prioritized, but I think [COVID-19] has
really changed all of that.”
Jessica Feldman Chittley, an estates law partner at Bales
Beall LLP in Toronto, says the formal requirements exist to
give witnesses an opportunity to assess the mental capacity
of the person making the will and ensure they are not
under undue pressure or duress. She helped a client execute
a will recently by going to their backyard, using gloves and
keeping her distance and witnessing the signing through a
window along with a neighbour.
But that’s not possible in all instances, Ms. Feldman Chit-
tley says. “The legislation works most of the time, it’s just
not working right now. It’s not working for our most vul-
nerable individuals.”
Both B.C. and Alberta have “rectification” provisions in
their estates legislation that allow courts to declare a will
valid even if all the formal requirements aren’t met, as long
as it can be shown that it reflects the will-maker’s true
intentions.
Helen Low, an estates law partner at Fasken Martineau
DuMoulin LLP’s Vancouver office, said she recently advised
a client with COVID-19 on how to execute an updated will.
“We make it clear [in the writing of the will] that this is the
settled testamentary intention of the person and they are
signing it without witnesses because of the requirements to
self-isolate,” she said, adding that she expects a court would
declare such a will to be valid using the rectification power.
Farha Salim, a partner at Field LLP in Calgary, said she
has been trying to come up with creative ways to comply
with formal requirements, noting that even though the rec-
tification clause exists, it does create a need to make a court
application after the fact.
In all provinces, people can make valid “holograph” wills
in which they hand-write the entire document and sign it
without the need for a witness. Lawyers say that’s a good
option for simple wills or short amendments to existing
wills, but it can be a challenge for seniors without adequate
strength and impractical for complicated estate planning.
In Quebec, a third option exists called a notarial will, in
which a notary witnesses the signing and the document
does not need to go through the probate system, according
to Nathalie Marchand and Troy McEachren, partners at Mill-
er Thomson LLP in Montreal.
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the Quebec govern-
ment last week passed an emergency decree allowing notar-
ial documents to be signed virtually, a move that gives
Quebec residents the unique option to sign or update wills
“from the comfort of your home,” Mr. McEachren said.Ontariocourttoconsider
whetherawillcanbe
witnessedonlineamid
social-distancingmeasures
CHRISTINE DOBBYCORPORATE LAW REPORTERForatypedwillto
bevalid,twopeople
mustwitnessit
beingsigned,and
neitherwitnesscan
beabeneficiaryor
spouseofa
beneficiary.F
or Janet Wees, the “new nor-
mal” during the COVID-
pandemic includes more
time for baking, a hiatus from her
usual volunteering and a man in
a kilt rummaging around in her
mailbox.
He was there last week to pick
up her shopping list and gift
cards to take to her local co-op
grocery store in Calgary. The usu-
ally active 73-year-old has dia-
betes and asthma, and is staying
home because she knows she is
at risk. Men in Kilts Canada, a
building-exterior cleaning com-
pany, has recently been offering
free grocery delivery to seniors in
many communities across Cana-
da.
“I’m afraid to go out because of
my health issues,” Ms. Wees said.
Like many in her position, she
was aware of the delays many
people have faced when trying to
access online grocery-delivery
services in Canada. As people
have been urged to stay home to
curb the spread of the novel coro-
navirus that causes COVID-19,
e-commerce grocery sites have
been overwhelmed. Major gro-
cers such as Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and
Metro Inc. have appealed to Can-
adians to shop in stores – at a dis-
tance from others – if they are
healthy enough to do so, and to
leave online options for seniors
and others who are most at risk.
But the demand has not abated.
“I lucked out,” Ms. Wees said.
Her delivery man wore a mask
and gloves, and kept his distance
by dropping the groceries off in
her garage (where she left him a
tip). “I was just over the moon
about how easy it was.”
Across the country, organiza-
tions have been scrambling to
help provide access to groceries
for vulnerable populations that
are self-isolating.
“The time slots available for
grocery pickup or delivery are 10
days out or more,” said Carolyn
Askeland, executive director of
the not-for-profit Community
Support Services of Niagara. The
Ontario organization has been
operating a phone-in service to
place online orders for seniors
who either do not have internet
connections or are not comfort-
able making online purchases.
Volunteers and staff then pick up
and deliver the orders.
In rural areas, online delivery
services are not as abundant as in
cities, said Kathy Scanlon, execu-
tive director of One Care Home
and Community Support Servic-
es, a non-profit that serves Onta-
rio’s Huron and Perth counties.
The group approached four lo-
cal Foodland locations, which
had no online ordering, to create
an ersatz delivery system. One
Care takes orders by phone and
then calls them in to Foodland,
store staff pack the orders, and
One Care staff and volunteers
handle the deliveries.
“It’s really important that we
reach out, because it’s often in
the very rural areas where people
are more isolated,” Ms. Scanlon
said.
Families of seniors are also
scrambling. Leila Cools, who lives
in Montreal, has been trying to
secure grocery delivery for her
88-year-old mother in Thornhill,
Ont., who is a regular Grocery
Gateway customer. She has had
no luck finding a delivery win-
dow. An order with another com-
pany was cancelled because of a
lack of inventory, she said.
Many grocers have instituted
dedicated seniors’ shopping
hours in stores, for those who can
get there. But solving the delivery
crunch is not easy. “There is no
way from a system perspective
for us to prioritize the service to
certain customers,” Metro spo-
keswoman Marie-Claude Bacon
said.
“Seniors’ ability to get out to
grocery stores and to compete
with others in securing food is an
issue in all of our communities,”
said Dan Clement, president and
chief executive of United Way
Centraide Canada, which is ad-
ministering $9-million in
recently announced federal fund-
ing to help local organizations
provide services to seniors, in-
cluding delivering groceries andmedications.
Men in Kilts’ foray into grocery
delivery started with franchisee
Derek Kerwin in Orillia, Ont., and
soon other locations jumped on-
board. Some are now receiving 90
calls a day for deliveries. Mean-
while, the company has seen ser-
vice calls, and revenue, plummet
in what is usually a busy time of
year.
“There’s a real fear with them
being able to keep their people
employed, pay their bills,” CEO
Chris Carrier said.
“They’re doing what they can.
It’s inspiring to see people step
up.”
Seniors are not the only ones
affected. People with disabilities
who have relied on online groce-
ry services for years are also find-
ing themselves shut out.
Since Shannon Weese suffered
multiple back injuries from an in-
cident at work in 2015, he has re-
lied on grocery pickup from Wal-
mart because he can walk only
very limited distances.
“I didn’t have to get out of the
car, just opened my trunk and
they put everything in,” Mr.
Weese said.
His last order, in early March,
was ready within two days. Since
then, he has not found an open
time slot. His girlfriend now has
to do all the shopping for the
family of five.
“It makes me more limited,”
he said. “I just feel like I’m not do-
ing my part any more.”
Robyn, 51, lives on her own in
Toronto and has used online gro-
cery ordering for more than three
years after a head injury. (The
Globe and Mail has agreed not to
use her last name because she is
concerned about the potential
for employment discrimination
owing to her condition.)
She lives with postconcussion
syndrome and persistent postu-
ral-perceptual dizziness, or PPPD,
which affects her mobility. The
bright lights, crowds and noises
of grocery stores make her symp-
toms much worse.
Amid the pandemic, she has
been unable to secure a spot with
the services she used most – Gro-
cery Gateway and Metro. Compa-
nies should give priority to peo-
ple who used their e-commerce
services before the pandemic hit,
she said.
“It’s a basic need, the ability to
get food.”Janet Wees, seen by her garage in Calgary on Thursday, is one of many who rely on e-commerce grocery
sites. But as demand overwhelms sites during the pandemic, she has had to turn to Men in Kilts Canada, a
building-exterior cleaning company, which is offering free grocery delivery to seniors in Canadian communities.
TODDKOROL/THEGLOBEANDMAIL
Country’smostvulnerable
areleftscramblingasdemand
foronlinefoodservicessurges
Peoplewhonormally
relyone-commerce
grocerydeliveries,such
asseniorsandthose
withdisabilities,are
nowfacinglongerwait
timestogetessentials
SUSAN KRASHINSKY ROBERTSON
RETAILING REPORTER
Credit card companies Master-
card and Visa are raising the tap
limit on all credit cards to $
from $100 as retailers seek more
cashless payment options during
the outbreak of COVID-19.
Contactless payments allow
consumers to tap a debit or credit
card on a point of sale machine,
without having to enter a PIN
code or provide a signature.
Both Mastercard and Visa
made the move as health officials
recommend physical distancing
during the pandemic, and a
growing number of merchants
and consumers are switching to
safer ways to pay for purchases
that do not require touching PIN
pads.
“With safety and social dis-
tancing top of mind for all Cana-
dians, today’s announcement is
one way we’re helping cardhold-
ers to shop easily, securely and
with more peace of mind during
this difficult time,” Sasha Krstic,
president of Mastercard Canada,
said in a statement Thursday.
While Mastercard has made
the limit increase effective im-
mediately, individual partners
such as issuing banks and pay-
ment companies, including Mo-
neris Solutions, must also adopt
the change, the company said.“Timing may vary based on in-
dividual partner adoption,” said
Mastercard spokeswoman Sand-
ra Benjamin.
Visa has not yet announced
when its increase will become ef-
fective, but confirmed it is work-
ing with industry partners.
Last month, a surge of retailers
and businesses began to no long-
er accept cash at the checkout in
an effort to limit employees’ po-
tential exposure to COVID-19.
Shortly after, the Bank of Canada
issued a release “strongly” urging
retailers to stop refusing cash
payments to ensure all Cana-
dians – especially seniors and
low-income households – have
access to purchases they need.Mastercard,Visaraisetaplimitsineffort
tohelpconsumersavoidtouchingmachines
CLARE O’HARA
WEALTH MANAGEMENT REPORTER