Injunction

An injunction is a court order that requires a party to do something (a mandatory injunction) or to stop doing something (a prohibitive injunction). It is an equitable and discretionary remedy, and it may be interlocutory, preserving the status quo until trial, or permanent, granted as final relief. Breach of an injunction is punishable as contempt of court.

For interlocutory injunctions, Canadian courts apply a well-established three-part framework: the applicant must show a serious question to be tried (or, for some orders, a strong prima facie case), irreparable harm if the injunction is refused, and that the balance of convenience favours granting it. Applicants ordinarily must also undertake to compensate the other side in damages if the injunction proves unwarranted.

Injunctions appear across practice areas, from restraining breaches of restrictive covenants to preserving assets and stopping intellectual property infringement, and the case law applying the framework to specific contexts is a frequent focus of civil litigation research.