AquaView is a company located in Mississauga, Ontario. The company has developed an integrated underwater camera dock and lighting system, the SeePro, that enables divers to take high quality videos of marine life. AquaView manufactures and services the SeePro. The company also has a specialized team of divers that they can send to work with customers in order to provide expert advice and train them on the proper use of the equipment.

AquaView has entered into the following contracts in 2021:

1. A contract to deliver the equipment to the Marine Science and Biology Department at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.

2. A contract to deliver the equipment to the North Atlantic Film Institute in London, UK.

3. A contract to send two of AquaView’s diving specialists to the Gulf Coast Marine Biology Centre in Tampa, Florida, USA to train the Centre’s employees on underwater filming techniques.

The business manager for AquaView, Fatima, put together these contracts on her own. The standard form contracts contained the essential terms, such as price, packing & shipping arrangements, dates for delivery, insurance and payment obligations. Neither a dispute resolution clause nor a governing law clause was included.

Fatima once had a brief conversation with the company’s external lawyer, who told her that he was not familiar with the CISG, so it was “best to avoid it”. She assumed that the Ontario Sale of Goods Act would apply because all of the contracts were signed in Ontario. She is somewhat familiar with this legislation, having worked in sales for several years before joining AquaView.

Which laws will likely apply to each of the three contracts? 

2. What can Fatima do, going forward, to make sure that the Sale of Goods Act of Ontario applies to every contract?