The taxpayer, a U.S.-resident mechanical engineer was hired by a Canadian corporation ("Kirk-Mayer") so that his services could be provided to a Canadian aerospace company ("Canadair"). The taxpayer was assessed on the basis that his income from Kirk-Mayer was not exempted from Article XV of the Canada-U.S. Convention (Dependent Personal Services from Canadian income tax).
Notwithstanding that the French version of Article XV used the expression "professions", it was found that Article XIV referred to income derived from contracts for services (independent contractors) and Article XV to income derived from employment contracts.
In finding that the taxpayer was deriving his remuneration from a contract for services notwithstanding that he worked for various projects at Canadair for a five-year period, the court accepted evidence that "the Appellant in consideration for a higher pay gave up many of the benefits which usually accrue to an employee including job security" (p. 6871 - per Noël J.A.) and stated (p. 6870 - per Décary J.A.):
"When the hiring person wants to have no liability towards a worker other than the price of work and when the terms of the contract and his performance reflect those intentions, the contract should generally be characterized as a contract for services."