Frequently Asked Questions

You may learn about the court on the What is the Federal Court of Appeal page.

Some of the key differences between these two types of proceedings are described here.

You may find general information about court procedure in the “How to proceed in the Court” and the “Helpful resources for unrepresented litigants” sections of this website. The information is very general. Parties are strongly encouraged to seek legal advice at the earliest time possible.

The number of judges at the Federal Court of Appeal is set out in section 5 of the Federal Courts Act , but may fluctuate depending on whether there are any vacancies at the Court and whether any judges have elected supernumerary status.

A complete list of the Court’s judges (present and past) is available on the Judges of the Court page. The page contains biographies for present judges, too.

Judicial review hearings, appeal hearings, motions for leave to appeal, and reference hearings are heard before a panel of no fewer than three judges sitting together and always before an uneven number of judges.

Certain motions and case management hearings may be dealt with by a single judge.

A supernumerary judge is a long-serving judge who has chosen to take on a reduced workload. For more information, you may wish to refer to section 28 of the Judges Act .

A puisne judge is a judge who is not a Chief Justice or Associate Chief Justice.

Judges’ salaries are set out in section 10 of the Judges Act .

For information about judges’ salaries and remuneration, you may wish to visit the Remuneration section of the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada website .

Judges are appointed to the Federal Court of Appeal by the Governor General on the advice of the federal Cabinet. Applications are handled by the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada .

You must first determine whether your complaint is about a decision made a judge or the conduct of a judge.

If you have concerns about a decision made by a judge, you may be able to appeal the decision. You may wish to consult a lawyer for assistance.

If you have concerns about the conduct of a Federal Court of Appeal judge, you may bring a complaint to the Canadian Judicial Council . You may wish to consult a lawyer for assistance.

Registry Officers are not allowed provide anyone with legal advice.

They are allowed to provide the public with general information.

A list of actions that the Registry can and cannot do may be found on the What is the Registry page.

The Court keeps a collection of helpful resources for unrepresented litigants on its website, including a list of organizations that may help someone find a lawyer. All parties are strongly encouraged to make every effort to obtain legal advice as early as possible.

Each Registry office’s business hours are listed on the Courts Administration Service website .

There are a few ways to find out the status of a proceeding. It helps to know the court file number or the name of the parties in the proceeding.

• The Federal Court of Appeal has a searchable online database that allows members of the public to view recorded entries for most files.
• You may also call the Registry and speak to a Registry Officer. Please find a list of telephone numbers here .
• You may also visit a Registry counter at one of these locations .

Most appeals start with the issuance of a Notice of Appeal.

Since appeals can be complicated and time-sensitive, you are strongly encouraged to consult a lawyer in regard to any prospective appeal. Neither the Court nor the Registry can provide you with legal advice.

Most applications start with the issuance of a Notice of Application.

Since applications can be complicated and time-sensitive, you are strongly encouraged to consult a lawyer in regard to any prospective application. Neither the Court nor the Registry can provide you with legal advice.

This is a legal question that the Registry will not be able to specifically answer for you.

Rule 303 of the Federal Courts Rules  may provide some assistance for Notices of Application.

Rule 338 of the Federal Courts Rules  may provide some assistance for Notices of Appeal.

The general rules regarding the service of court documents start at Rule 127 of the Federal Courts Rules  may provide some assistance for Notices of Appeal.

You may file your documents in the Registry office closest to you.

Parties are responsible for calculating and meeting any applicable deadlines. Registry Officers do not contact the parties to remind them about deadlines.

Parties are responsible for calculating and meeting any applicable deadlines. You will have to look at any applicable laws, regulations, rules, and orders or directions made by the Court.

You are strongly encouraged to seek legal advice regarding the computation of deadlines in any court proceeding. It is not always a straightforward exercise and the consequences for missing a deadline may be serious.

A memorandum of fact and law summarizes the arguments that a party wishes to make.

Please see Rule 70 of the Federal Courts Rules , which provides some details regarding this type of document.

You may address a judge as “Justice” or “Justice [last name].”

No, you may not discuss your case with a judge outside of a hearing or case conference scheduled by the Court.

In Canada, the open courts principle applies. This means that the Court’s business is carried out in an open and transparent manner. Documents filed with the Court are available to the public, and hearings before the Court are open to the public. In order to safeguard this key part of our legal system, no party may discuss a case with a judge without the other parties being present. There are very few exceptions to the open courts principle.

Parties are allowed to speak with each other in order to narrow the issues on appeal or to attempt to settle their dispute.

There is a procedure set out in the Federal Courts Rules for most applications and appeals governing what documents should be filed and served. Legal arguments should be made within the required documents and at the scheduled hearing. The Court may direct that extraneous materials be excluded from the Court file.

When sending correspondence to the Court, all correspondence should be addressed to the Registry and not to an individual judge. A copy of any such correspondence should also be provided to the other party to the proceeding.

If a matter does not settle, it will usually proceed to a hearing before the Court. In that case, you will have to appear before the Court. Occasionally, where the Court has no questions for the parties, and the parties agree that no hearing is necessary, the Court may deal with a matter without a hearing.

Motions are usually dealt with in writing, which means that there is no oral hearing before the Court.

No. In the case of an appeal, the Court will have access to all documents that were included in the appeal book.

In the case of an application for judicial review, the Court will have access to all materials contained in the parties’ application records. Where a party wishes to obtain materials from a tribunal, it may need to make a request under Rule 317 .

It is therefore the parties’ responsibility to file all necessary documents.

With very few exceptions, the Court’s hearings are open to the public. For more information, you may wish to consult the “How to watch a hearing” page.

Generally, no. Photography, recording, and transmission in the hearing room (or in the vicinity of the hearing room), are prohibited, except if the presiding judge, after consultation with the Chief Justice or an assigned delegate, gives authorization. The same rules apply when observing a hearing online.

You may wish to consult the Guidelines on Public and Media Access for more information.

Yes. While most hearings are held in-person in courtrooms across Canada, parties may request a remote/virtual hearing.

Members of the public may remotely observe most in-person hearings by making a request to the Registry. You may wish to consult the “How to watch a hearing” page for more information.

When the Court releases a final decision, the Registry takes steps to notify the parties.

The Court also publishes reasons for final decisions on the Decisions page of its website.

If your appeal is successful, the Court may order another party to reimburse you for some of your litigation expenses (costs). For more information, you may wish to consult the Costs page.

There is a chance that another party may make a request for reconsideration of the decision under to Rule 397  of the Federal Courts Rules; or that the decision be set aside pursuant to Rule 399  of the Federal Courts Rules. Please note that the grounds for reconsideration or setting aside under these rules are narrow and the timeframe is limited.

An opposing party may also decide to request leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Again, parties are encouraged to seek legal advice at the earliest possible time.

If your appeal is unsuccessful, the Federal Court of Appeal may order you to reimburse the successful party for some of their litigation expenses (costs). For more information, you may wish to consult the Costs page.

If your appeal is unsuccessful, you may decide to accept the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal and not pursue the matter any further.

You may decide that you would like to ask for a reconsideration of the decision under to Rule 397  of the Federal Courts Rules; or that the decision be set aside pursuant to Rule 399  of the Federal Courts Rules. Please note that the grounds for reconsideration or setting aside under these rules are narrow and the timeframe is limited.

You may also decide to request leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Again, parties are encouraged to seek legal advice at the earliest possible time.