Sask. court dismisses appeal in case of Vern’s Pizza franchise in Saskatoon

WATCH: Saskatchewan's court of appeal has rejected an appeal over a Saskatoon business that operated as Vern's Pizza without a valid franchise agreement.

A judge has officially dismissed the appeal regarding the fate of a Vern’s Pizza franchisee in Saskatoon.

In September of 2024, a judge ordered that Vern’s Pizza in Sutherland stop using the name due to the franchise agreement expiring in 2016. The business owner appealed, with the decision from the panel of three justices released this month.

While the owners of the Saskatoon locations [the franchisee] did originally have a franchise agreement, a change of building ownership created problems for the business owners.

A franchise agreement from 2000 stipulated that the owners would operate two Vern’s Pizza locations in Saskatoon, located on Central Avenue and 8th Street.

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That 8th Street location however, closed due to the landlord selling the building in 2016.

According to the three appeal court judges’ decision, this location closure resulted in the agreement between Vern’s Pizza and the franchise owners no longer standing.

“The franchisor took the position that the lease termination and restaurant closure had ended the term of the franchise agreement” as said in the decision.

The Saskatoon franchise owners however, continued to operate the Vern’s Pizza Sutherland location.

This prompted a lengthy legal battle between Vern’s Pizza and the local franchise owners, which initially ended with Justice Michael Tomka finding that the restaurant operators breached their franchise agreement and the Trademark Act in 2024.

Now, just over a year later, the appeal has been dismissed – meaning that the original ruling will stand.

“No basis to interfere with the judge’s conclusion with respect to the duty of honest performance of contractual obligations in this matter,” the latest decision read.