What is the duty of a party to correct a representation which has subsequently become untrue?

Alberta, Canada


The following excerpt is from Holt, Renfrew & Co. Limited v. Henry Singer Limited, 1982 ABCA 135 (CanLII):

The principle that it is necessary to correct a representation which is believed to be true at the time it is made or which subsequently becomes untrue was enunciated by Fry, J. in Davies v. London & Provincial Marine Ins. Co. (1878) 8 Ch. D. 469 at p. 475: “Again, in ordinary contracts the duty may arise from circumstances which occur during the negotiation. Thus, for instance, if one of the negotiating parties has made a statement which is false in fact, but which he believes to be true and which is material to the contract, and during the course of the negotiation he discovers the falsity of that statement, he is under an obligation to correct his erroneous statement; although if he had said nothing he very likely might have been entitled to hold his tongue throughout. So, again, if a statement has been made which is true at the time, but which during the course of the negotiations became untrue, then the person who knows it has become untrue is under an obligation to disclose to the other the change of circumstances.”

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