contract-law canada quebec
Is an exclusivity contract valid when applied over specific regions
<p>I got offered a job which I accepted and had to sign an exclusivity contract.</p>

<p>This contract is inside a confidentiality contract and it says that I cannot work for anyone else on the island of Montreal and anywhere north of it.</p>

<p>Is this restriction valid or is it not specific enough to be correctly applied?</p>

<p>I live in the province of Quebec, Canada.</p>

<p>To be enforceable in <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-compete_clause#Canada" rel="nofollow">Canada</a>, a non-compete Claus must be "limited in time frame, business scope, and geographic scope to what is reasonably required to protect the company's proprietary rights."</p>

<p>With respect to the geographic scope, courts have held that these must be precisely defined: this is a problem because there isn't <em>an</em> "island of Montreal". There are island<strong>s</strong> of Montreal but each has its own name, so there is no certainty about which island is being contemplated.</p>

<p>Notwithstanding, this is <em>prima facie</em> too broad. Having a quick look at the map, such a clause would prohibit you working in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa; not to mention Seattle, London, Berlin and Moscow.</p>
