Executive Summary: Key Legal and Evidentiary Issues

• The petitioners sought a mandatory interlocutory injunction to restore truck tags withdrawn by the British Columbia Container Trucking Commissioner pending judicial review.
   
• Procedural fairness was disputed, with the petitioners arguing they were denied an opportunity to respond to the 90-day performance review findings before tags were withdrawn.
   
• Patent unreasonableness was also alleged, based on claims that the Commissioner had changed the performance standard from "maintain" to "significantly improve."
   
• Evidentiary gaps undermined the claim of irreparable harm, since driver numbers for each petitioner fluctuated rather than showing a permanent decline.
   
• Balance of convenience favoured the Commissioner, given the public interest in regulating the stability of the container trucking industry.
   
• Ultimately, the court dismissed the injunction applications after finding that none of the three elements of the applicable test had been established.
   

Facts of the case

The petitioners, KD Truckline Ltd. ("KD"), Trans BC Freightways (2007) Ltd. ("TBC"), and Raja Road Rail Services Ltd. ("RRR"), applied for a mandatory interlocutory injunction requiring the British Columbia Container Trucking Commissioner (the "Commissioner") to restore truck tags that had been withdrawn from them, pending judicial review of the Commissioner's decision. In the alternative, they sought an order preventing the Commissioner from reissuing those tags to other container trucking services ("CTS") licensees until the petition was determined. Each petitioner held a 2024 CTS license: KD had requested 16 tags and was allocated 13 (having held 13 under its 2022 license); TBC had asked to keep the three tags it held under its 2022 license but was allocated two; and RRR had requested 12 tags, having held nine under its 2022 license, and was again allocated nine. At the end of May 2025, the Commissioner issued a general letter advising licensees of a truck tag performance review covering December 2024 through February 2025, warning that underutilization relative to peer fleets would trigger a 90-day improvement period. Each petitioner subsequently received an individual letter dated May 28, 2025, showing performance below their respective peer group averages: KD at 49% of the medium fleet average of 1.32 trips per day, RRR at 69% of the small fleet average of 1.16 trips per day, and TBC at 75% of that same small fleet average. Following the 90-day period, the Commissioner communicated its results on December 9, 2025, concluding that performance remained significantly below peer averages and had not significantly improved. As a result, one tag each was withdrawn from TBC and RRR, and three tags were withdrawn from KD, effective January 1, 2026. The petitioners took the position that they had not been given an opportunity to respond to the 90-day review findings in the same manner afforded by the May 28 letter, and that the Commissioner had applied a different standard than the one used when their licenses were originally granted.

Policy and legislative provisions at issue

Container trucking services in the Lower Mainland are governed by the Container Trucking Act, S.B.C. 2014, c. 28 (the "CTA"), under which the Commissioner is authorized to issue licenses, enforce compliance, and regulate the industry to ensure stability by limiting the number of trucks providing container trucking services. Section 16 of the CTA requires companies accessing marine terminals to hold a license, and section 18 permits the Commissioner to impose conditions on any license. Section 19(1) requires the Commissioner to provide licensees an opportunity to be heard before amending a license through tag reduction. Sections 22 and 23 set minimum rates for driver wages and fuel surcharges. Under sections 7(2)(b) and 9(2) of the Container Trucking Services Regulations ("CTR"), the Commissioner assigns tags to each licensee, with discretion to increase or decrease that number over a license term, as reflected in paragraphs 5 and 6 of the Office of the CTS License Truck Tag Management Policy (the "Tag Policy"). Paragraph 17 of the Tag Policy provides that if the Commissioner considers reducing tags, it will give the licensee a warning and a 90-day opportunity to improve, and if performance has not improved after 90 days, the licensee will receive reasonable notice of the Commissioner's intention to withdraw tags. Section 2 of the Tag Policy requires the Commissioner to determine tag allocations based on VFPA information and a performance review considering on-dock and off-dock trips, while paragraphs 15 and 16 permit the Commissioner to also consider other relevant information, including material submitted by the licensee. Paragraph 13 of the Tag Policy requires licensees to continuously maintain the performance metrics tied to their assigned tags. Finally, section 58 of the Administrative Tribunal Act, S.B.C. 2004, c. 45, sets the standard of review applicable to the Commissioner's decisions, requiring that procedural fairness questions be assessed on whether the tribunal acted fairly, and that discretionary decisions be reviewed on a patent unreasonableness standard.

Reasoning and analysis

Justice Jahani applied the test for a mandatory injunction from R. v. Canadian Broadcasting Corp., 2018 SCC 5, which modifies the first branch of the RJR-MacDonald Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General), [1994] 1 SCR 311 test to require a strong prima facie case, rather than merely a serious issue to be tried, in addition to irreparable harm and balance of convenience. On the procedural fairness argument, the court found that the May 28, 2025 letters had provided each petitioner with both an opportunity to respond to the December-to-February performance findings and an opportunity to improve during the 90-day period, and that nothing in the Tag Policy required the Commissioner to seek further submissions after that 90-day review concluded. On patent unreasonableness, the court rejected the argument that requiring "significant improvement" changed the standard from the earlier requirement to "maintain" performance, reasoning that the degree of improvement required naturally corresponds to how far a licensee's performance falls below the peer average, and that the language used in the May and December letters did not alter the underlying expectation that tagged trucks operate at or near full-time industry averages. The court also found that the Commissioner had, in fact, considered off-dock trips in its performance review, contrary to the petitioners' submission that only on-dock trips were weighed. Arguments concerning inaccurate VFPA scorecard data were found to be uncorroborated, and the record showed the Commissioner had not been made aware of any such inaccuracies during the response period. On irreparable harm, the court held that the petitioners had not established a permanent or irrevocable decline, noting that driver counts for each petitioner fluctuated rather than showing a lasting downward trend, and that no financial documentation was provided to substantiate irreparable business loss. On balance of convenience, the court found that the public interest in enabling the Commissioner to regulate tag allocation and maintain stability in the drayage industry outweighed the individualized impact on the petitioners, particularly given their ongoing ability to apply for additional tags.

Ruling and overall outcome

Having found that the petitioners failed to satisfy any of the three elements of the RJR/CBC test, Justice Jahani dismissed the petitioners' applications for both the mandatory and the alternative prohibitive injunctions. The British Columbia Container Trucking Commissioner was the successful party, and the decision does not specify any monetary award, costs, or damages granted in its favour.