In its September 2025 decision in Brandt Industries Canada Ltd v EVRAZ Inc NA Canada, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta dealt with a payment dispute arising out of a cost-plus master purchase agreement for equipment supply and installation at an industrial plant in Red Deer, Alberta. In resolving the payment dispute in favour of the supplier, the court applied what it referred to as the “modern principles of contract interpretation”, including the entire document rule, plain meaning principle, reasonable person standard, surrounding circumstances analysis, and factual matrix rule. The court also applied the current legal analysis for reading in implied contract terms to fill in the gaps left in a contract’s express terms. This decision serves as a useful case study for guiding purchasing institutions on how to leverage the laws of interpretation when drafting their solicitation documents, including legal terms and conditions, contract requirements, and pricing structures.
This case study, which underscores the importance of adopting formal document drafting protocols for your purchasing institution, is featured in the Leveraging Tendering Templates and Precision Drafting module of our new RFx Drafting in the Canadian Public Sector certificate program that runs in May and returns in November. Please see our current training schedule for more details.
