Sask. company asks Supreme Court to rule on if thumbs-up emoji makes contract legally binding [Video]

A Saskatchewan agricultural company is asking Canada’s highest court to rule on whether responding to a contract proposal with a thumbs-up emoji is a legally binding signature.

Achter Land & Cattle Ltd, which grows and sells grain, previously unsuccessfully appealed a 2023 decision from the Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench that stated the grower had agreed to sell flax to a grain buyer from South West Terminal (SWT) when he responded with a thumbs-up emoji to a text containing photos of a $58,000 contract.

Achter had sold grain to SWT since about 2012, according to court documents, and had responded with short phrases like “ok,” looks good,” and “yup” to previous contracts, which were subsequently honoured.

The seller is now requesting that the Supreme Court of Canada consider whether a thumbs-up emoji or similar message, combined with metadata that indicates who sent the text message, can be a legally binding …