Guide to the 2019 Amendments to the Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada

In Force on January 15, 2019
(SOR/2019-1)

Computation of Time

Rule 5.1
The holiday recess will begin on December 23 in a year and end on January 3 in the following year.  This recess period will not be included in the computation of time under the Rules for the service and filing of documents, except for:

  • service and filing of a notice of constitutional question under subrule 33(2); and
  • any deadline under section 58 of the Supreme Court Act.

Name of Party in Both Official Languages

Rule 14
In the case of an application for leave to appeal, an appeal as of right or an originating motion, any party or intervener, other than an individual, must file with the Registrar a notice of name in Form 14 to confirm its name in each official language or to certify that it does not have a bilingual name.

The party or intervener filing the notice of name may request that the Registrar consider the notice as permanent, to be applied to all other matters involving the party or intervener. Any changes to the name thereafter must be submitted to the Registrar in writing.

Service of Originating Documents

Rule 20(1)(d.1)
 Parties may now serve originating documents, or documents filed in support, by email.

Hyperlinks in an Application for Leave to Appeal

Rule 25(1)(c)(vi) and (vii)
 Part VI of the memorandum of argument in leave documents must include a table of authorities — including the relevant provisions of any statute, regulation, rule, ordinance or by-law being relied on, in both official languages if the provisions are required by law to be published in both official languages, and, if available, hyperlinks to the provisions — arranged alphabetically and setting out the paragraph numbers in Part III where the authorities are cited.

Part VII of the memorandum of argument in leave documents must include a photocopy, or a printout from an electronic database, of those provisions of any statute, regulation, rule, ordinance or by-law being relied on for which hyperlinks are not provided in Part VI, in both official languages if they are required by law to be published in both official languages.

Notice of Appeal

Rule 33(1)(b) to (d)
Citing the legislative provision in a notice of appeal is now required only in cases for which leave to appeal is not required.

Factum on Appeal

Rule 42(2)(e) and (f)
 Appellants and respondents are required to include, in Part VI of their respective factums, submissions on the impact that any sealing or confidentiality order, publication ban, classification of information in the file as confidential under legislation, or restriction on public access to information in the file could have on the Court’s reasons, if any, in the appeal.

The previous Part VI is now Part VII.

Deadlines for the Response to Several Motions for Intervention and the Reply to Several Responses

Rule 49(1.1)
In the case of a motion for intervention served and filed in accordance with Rule 55, the response must be served and filed within 10 days after service of the last motion to which the response relates.

Rule 50(1.1)
 In the case of a response to a motion for intervention served and filed in accordance with Rule 55, the reply must be served and filed within five days after service of the last response to which the reply relates.

Motion for Intervention

Rule 56(a)
 The deadline for filing a motion for intervention in the case of an application for leave to appeal is within 30 days after the day on which the application is filed or within 30 days after the day on which the file is opened.

Oral Argument

Rule 71 (5.2)
 A judge may authorize an attorney general who has filed a notice of intervention in accordance with subrule 33(4) to present oral argument at the hearing of the appeal and may determine the time allotted. This may occur prior to the serving and filing of the factums on appeal.

Orders

Rule 77
 A judge or the Registrar may sign an order by facsimile.

Notice Convening Court

Rule 95
The heading for this rule has been amended.

Notice of Remote Participation by a Judge

Rule 95.1
 Subject to the approval of the Chief Justice, a judge may participate remotely in any proceeding before the Court. In advance of that proceeding, a Notice of Remote Participation by a Judge in Form 95.1 will be sent to the parties, if feasible.

Tariffs – Schedule A & Schedule B

There is no longer a fee for obtaining an electronic copy of a document in a court file. A fee only applies for printed copies of documents (Schedule A, item 3).

There is no longer a fee for taking affidavits (Schedule A, item 6-repealed).

Receipts must be detailed and itemized (Schedule B, items 3 and 5). 

Forms

Various forms are affected by the amendments, and all of them have been amended accordingly. A new Form 95.1 was also created.

Guidelines for Preparing Documents to be Filed with the Supreme Court of Canada (Print and Electronic)

Minor updates have been made to the Guidelines for Preparing Documents to be Filed with the Supreme Court of Canada (Print and Electronic) to reflect the above noted amendments.