Canadian Contract Law/Remedies for Breach

Remedies for Breach If a contract is broken, the injured party might be expected to demand any of the following: to have what they gave returned to them ("restitution") compensation for their loss ("damages") forcing the other party to live up to the contract ("specific performance") In the common law tradition, damages is the usual remedy that a court awards for a broken contract. Restitution and specific performance are only available in specific circumstances. Damages Compensation to attempt to put victim in position he/she would have been in if contract properly performed Specific Performance Rescission Rescission (to "set aside" a contract) refers to the cancellation of the contract between the parties. This is done to bring the parties as far as possible to the position they were before they entered into a contract. This an equitable remedy and is discretionary. The court may decline to rescind a contract if one party has affirmed the contract by his action (see Long v Lloyd) or a third party has acquired some rights or there has been substantial performance in implementing the contract.