Executive Summary: Key Legal and Evidentiary Issues

• Option Consommateurs and Version Paysage inc. sought court orders compelling the defendants and the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) to disclose contact information for owners and lessees of vehicles covered by a settlement in principle.
• The application was brought under articles 25, 49(2), and 158(5) of the Code of Civil Procedure.
• Underlying the request is a proposed class action alleging that the defendants manipulated conformity tests of gasoline-powered Porsche vehicles sold in Canada, causing them to emit more pollutants and consume more fuel in normal use than during testing.
• A settlement in principle concluded on May 15, 2025 covers approximately 60,624 vehicles identified by their vehicle identification numbers (VINs).
• Direct communication with class members must be favoured where possible, and the requested information would facilitate notices, the claims process, and administration of the settlement.
• Neither the defendants nor the SAAQ opposed the application, and the Court imposed strict confidentiality, use-restriction, and destruction obligations on the settlement administrator.

Facts of the case

On March 8, 2021, Option Consommateurs and Version Paysage inc. filed an application for authorization to institute a class action against Volkswagen AG, Dr. Ing. h.c.F. Porsche AG, and Porsche Cars Canada, Ltd. They alleged that the defendants breached their legal and statutory obligations by manipulating the conformity tests of several gasoline-powered Porsche vehicles sold in Canada, with the result that the vehicles emit more pollutants and consume more gasoline in normal driving conditions than during conformity testing. The model years originally targeted ranged from 2007 to 2018. The authorization application was suspended on June 2, 2021 in favour of a related file in British Columbia. On May 15, 2025, the parties reached a settlement in principle intended to resolve both the Quebec class action and the related British Columbia proceeding, and the covered model years were expanded to include gasoline-powered Porsche vehicles from 2005, 2006, 2019, and 2020. The defendants identified approximately 60,624 vehicles covered by the settlement in principle through their VINs. The plaintiffs then applied to the Superior Court of Quebec (Class Actions Chamber) for orders requiring the defendants and the SAAQ, named as mise en cause, to communicate the contact details of the owners of the vehicles concerned.

Provisions and settlement terms at issue

No insurance policy clauses were in dispute; the application rested on articles 25, 49(2), and 158(5) of the Code of Civil Procedure and on the settlement in principle itself. The plaintiffs sought the information for three stated purposes: confirming the identity of owners and lessees of the vehicles covered by the settlement in principle, communicating directly with them for the transmission of any required notices, and facilitating the distribution process under the transaction by obtaining independent proof of the identity of the persons concerned and of the timing and duration of their ownership or lease. The judgment specified that the information would be managed by a settlement administrator, to be designated, who would be ordered to use it solely for administering the settlement and to destroy it once the file is closed.

The court's reasoning and analysis

Justice Martin F. Sheehan reasoned that obtaining the requested information was likely to facilitate communications with class members, simplify the administration of the transaction, and encourage member participation in the settlement, since it would allow members to be notified directly of their rights in the class action. Citing prior decisions including Chevalier c. Air Transat AT inc., the Court noted that when it is possible to communicate directly with the members concerned, this mode of communication must be favoured. The judgment also observed, with reference to Transport TFI 2 c. Hino Motors Ltd., that similar orders had been issued in the past and had proven very effective in ensuring that a transaction benefits class members. Significantly, neither the defendants nor the SAAQ opposed the application, and the matter was decided on the record without a hearing.

Ruling and outcome

The Court granted the application, a result in favour of the plaintiffs, Option Consommateurs and Version Paysage inc. It ordered the defendants to communicate the list of approximately 60,624 VINs to the SAAQ in Excel format within five days of the judgment, and ordered the SAAQ to transmit, under confidential cover, the names, most recent contact details, status (owner or lessee), and registration periods for each vehicle registered in Quebec to the administrator to be designated, within the prescribed deadlines. The administrator is prohibited from disclosing the information except in limited circumstances, must use it only for member notices, the claim form, the claims process, and the administration of the transaction, and must destroy it at the close of the file and confirm the destruction to the SAAQ. No monetary award was made in this judgment; it concludes "the whole, without legal costs," so no amount was ordered in favour of any party.