“Specific performance of an agreement is an equitable remedy granted where damages cannot afford an adequate and just remedy in the circumstances: Matthew Brady Self Storage Corp. v. InStorage Limited Partnership, 2014 ONCA 858, 125 O.R. (3d) 121, at para. 29, leave to appeal refused, [2015] S.C.C.A. No. 50; Paterson Veterinary Professional Corporation v. Stilton Corp. Ltd., 2019 ONCA 746, 438 D.L.R. (4th) 374, at para. 22, leave to appeal refused, [2019] S.C.C.A. No. 420. As the Supreme Court instructed in Semelhago v. Paramadevan, 1996 CanLII 209 (SCC), [1996] 2 S.C.R. 415, at para. 22, specific performance should not be ordered automatically as the default remedy for breach of a contract for the sale of lands, “absent evidence that the property is unique to the extent that its substitute would not be readily available” or absent “a fair, real and substantial justification” for the claim to specific performance.
The overarching question is whether the land rather than its monetary equivalent better serves justice between the parties: Lucas v. 1858793 Ontario Inc. (Howard Park), 2021 ONCA 52, 25 R.P.R. (6th) 177, at paras. 69-71; Dhatt v. Beer, 2021 ONCA 137, 68 C.P.C. (8th) 128, at para. 42. The governing factors that typically inform the determination of that question include: the nature of the agreement and the property, the objective uniqueness of the agreement and the property, and their subjective uniqueness to the purchaser at the time of purchase; the adequacy of damages as a remedy; and the behaviour of the parties having regard to the equitable nature of the remedy: Matthew Brady, at para. 32; Lucas, at para. 71. This discretionary determination is a fact-specific inquiry that requires a consideration of all the particular circumstances and the equities of the case: Di Millo v. 2099232 Ontario Inc., 2018 ONCA 1051, 430 D.L.R. (4th) 296, at para. 67, leave to appeal refused, [2019] S.C.C.A. No. 55; Fram Elgin Mills 90 Inc. v. Romandale Farms Ltd., 2021 ONCA 201, 32 R.P.R. (6th) 1, at para. 288.”