Executive Summary: Key Legal and Evidentiary Issues

• McKinsey faced allegations of aiding opioid manufacturers and distributors in Canada through aggressive marketing strategies.

• The Province of British Columbia sought class certification to recover public health costs linked to opioid harms.

• The Court found sufficient evidence suggesting McKinsey’s consulting role could have contributed to widespread opioid use.

• Expert reports established plausible methodologies to assess causation and quantifiable harm on a class-wide basis.

• The Court accepted that McKinsey’s work for U.S. clients may have influenced Canadian outcomes, supporting claims of common design and conspiracy.

• Certification was granted for causes including misrepresentation, conspiracy, Competition Act breaches, and statutory health cost recovery under the ORA.

Facts and outcome of the case

This case arose from the Province of British Columbia’s effort to hold McKinsey & Company accountable for its role in the opioid epidemic. The Province filed the action on December 30, 2021, seeking to recover healthcare and treatment costs related to opioids on behalf of itself and other federal, provincial, and territorial governments in Canada. The defendants were McKinsey & Company, Inc. United States and its Canadian affiliate, McKinsey & Company Canada. The Province alleged that McKinsey acted as a consultant to several opioid manufacturers and distributors, including Purdue Pharma, Janssen, Endo Pharmaceuticals, and McKesson, and that it played a central role in creating and implementing marketing strategies that contributed to increased opioid sales and harmful public health outcomes.

The legal claims advanced in the Amended Notice of Civil Claim included breaches of the Competition Act, common law conspiracy, and statutory claims under the Opioid Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act (ORA). The Province also claimed negligent and fraudulent misrepresentation, and negligent failure to warn. It was alleged that McKinsey’s consulting services "turbocharged" the marketing of opioids, promoted their use for inappropriate medical conditions, and contributed directly to the over-prescription and misuse of these drugs in Canada. The claims were grounded not only in McKinsey’s actions in Canada but also in its integrated global consulting structure, which allegedly allowed U.S. strategies to impact Canadian outcomes.

McKinsey opposed certification, arguing there was insufficient evidence connecting its work to opioid sales or marketing in Canada. It also denied providing opioid-specific advice to Canadian entities and emphasized that much of the evidence stemmed from U.S.-focused work. The defense submitted expert testimony questioning the methodology and reliability of the plaintiff’s expert reports.

Despite these objections, the Court ruled that the case met the threshold for certification under the Class Proceedings Act. Justice Brundrett found that the pleadings disclosed valid causes of action and that the plaintiff established “some basis in fact” for each of the statutory requirements under section 4(1)(b)–(d) of the Act. The Court accepted that McKinsey’s global operations could have supported a claim of common design or conspiracy, even if the direct evidence of Canadian-specific work was less conclusive. Expert evidence from Drs. Ward, Mohr, Tamblyn, and Virani was deemed sufficient to support certification, particularly concerning causation and quantification methodologies.

The certification hearing took place from November 4–6, 2024, and the judgment was delivered on June 13, 2025. The outcome was a significant procedural victory for the Province. The Court ordered certification of the class proceeding, allowing the case to proceed toward trial. However, no damages or costs were awarded at this stage. The decision was limited to the procedural threshold for class action certification and did not address liability or compensation. The action now moves forward to determine the substantive issues of McKinsey’s alleged liability and potential damages.