Executive Summary: Key Legal and Evidentiary Issues

• A plaintiff sought authorization for her witness to testify by videoconference rather than appear in person.
   
• Employment obligations placed the witness in the Vancouver area on the scheduled hearing date.
   
• Defendant Home Depot of Canada Inc. did not oppose the request.
   
• Section 26 of the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure favours the use of technological means where the interest of justice supports it.
   
• Distance between the witness's location and the Sherbrooke courthouse was found sufficient to justify remote testimony.
   
• Judge Sophie Lapierre authorized the witness to testify via Microsoft Teams for the hearing scheduled for August 6, 2026.
   

Facts of the case

Olfa Latiri, the plaintiff in a small claims matter against Home Depot of Canada Inc., applied to the Court of Quebec for permission to have her witness, Ariles Gamoudi Latiri, testify remotely at the hearing set for August 6, 2026. The witness would be located in the Vancouver area on the hearing date due to his employment, making an in-person appearance in Sherbrooke impractical. Home Depot of Canada Inc., the defendant, consented to the request.

Policy and legislative provisions at issue

The application turned on section 26 of the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure, which directs that the use of a technological means be favoured where appropriate, particularly where the interest of justice requires it.

Reasoning and analysis

Judge Sophie Lapierre found that the witness's geographic distance from Sherbrooke, resulting from his employment obligations in Vancouver, justified proceeding by videoconference under section 26. The defendant's consent removed any opposition to the arrangement. The Court set practical conditions for the arrangement: the witness had to be available via Microsoft Teams starting at 8:45 a.m. Sherbrooke time on the hearing date and had to have adequate internet access along with the equipment and skills needed to use Teams effectively. The court registry was directed to send the connection link to the plaintiff, who would then forward it to the witness.

Ruling and overall outcome

The Court granted the application, authorizing the witness Ariles Gamoudi Latiri to testify remotely via Microsoft Teams at the hearing scheduled for August 6, 2026. This was a procedural ruling on a consented, unopposed application; it did not decide the merits of the underlying small claims dispute between Latiri and Home Depot of Canada Inc., and no monetary amount was ordered, granted, or awarded.