Canada Case Law

Johnson v. Canadian Tennis Association Et Al.

Court

Federal Court of Appeal

The assessment officer must implement the Court's judgment by allowing costs only within the single set awarded; the officer cannot impose sanctions or consider appellant impecuniosity post-judgment; items 22(a) and 26 were allowed in full, Items 18 and 19 were limited to one unit and six units respectively across the files, Item 21(a) was disallowed, and specific travel, accommodation and meal disbursements were adjusted to reflect reasonableness under Tariff B and NJC guidance, resulting in a total award of $4,312.72.

Source excerpt

• Assessment of costs
• Tariff b interpretation
• Jurisdiction of assessment officer
• Reasonableness of disbursements
• Impecuniosity

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Genesis Mortgage Investment Corp. v. Blais

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

Leave to appeal was granted and a stay ordered because the issue of whether a lender awarded indemnity costs in foreclosure can be compelled to disclose privileged legal invoices and submit to an assessment before redemption is novel and important, the appeal has arguable merit, Genesis would suffer irreparable harm from an immediate waiver of solicitor‑client privilege, and the balance of convenience favoured a stay given the respondents' protections and concessions.

Source excerpt

• Indemnity costs
• Assessment of costs
• Right of redemption
• Stay of execution
• Waiver of privilege

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Li v. The Owners, Strata Plan BCS 2884

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The application for increased costs was dismissed because assessing costs under the ordinary tariff would not create an unjust result: the appellants' challenge had arguable merit, there were no adverse findings about their conduct or strategy, the abandonment of one ground was properly explained, and the disparity between actual fees and tariff recovery alone did not justify increased costs; Scale B assessment is appropriate.

Source excerpt

• Special levy
• Increased costs
• Assessment of costs
• Rule 70 court of appeal rules
• Statutory petitions under strata property act

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Aslam v. Canada

Court

Federal Court of Appeal

The assessment officer applied Column III of Tariff B as ordered by the Court and, on the basis of the Court file, parties' submissions and applicable jurisprudence, allowed 14 units under Items 19, 20, 22(a), 25 and 26 (total $2,520), disallowed 2 units under Item 27, reduced disbursements to $495.89 (allowing $7.64 courier and $488.25 photocopies), and assessed the respondent's bill of costs at $3,015.89 payable by the appellant.

Source excerpt

• Tariff b
• Assessment of costs
• Disbursements
• Jurisdiction of assessment officer
• Column iii selection

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Genesis Mortgage Investment Corp. v. Blais

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Associate Judge Schwartz's order was correct: where a mortgagee seeks indemnity costs that affect a mortgagor's ability to redeem, the mortgagee must produce its bill of costs and supporting legal accounts for assessment prior to expiry of the redemption period so the mortgagor can meaningfully exercise the right to redeem; litigation privilege yields to the mortgagor's right to redeem in these circumstances; equity permits a temporary halt to accrual of contractual interest under s.19 as exceptional relief where the mortgagee's failure to produce bills impedes redemption; accordingly Genesis…

Source excerpt

• Foreclosure
• Redemption
• Indemnity costs
• Solicitor-client privilege
• Interest (s.19 law and equity act)
• Assessment of costs

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Beem Credit Union v. Global City Properties (Aloha Estates) Ltd.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court exercised its discretion under s.20 LEA to award full indemnity costs to the petitioner because the loan was commercial in purpose, the transaction involved multiple security documents and a post-default forbearance agreement that expressly provided for solicitor-and-own-client indemnity, and the forbearance materially altered the lender's position (notably granting a two‑year extension) such that enforcement of the contractual indemnity was warranted; an accounting is to be provided to avoid double recovery of the prepaid Professional Fee.

Source excerpt

• Indemnity costs
• Forbearance agreement
• Statutory interpretation of s.20 law and equity act
• Appendix b scale a
• Contractual indemnity
• Assessment of costs

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C.Y.C v. P.J.H.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Registrar assessment of family costs, special costs, and COIA interest in a child support dispute, with reductions to claimed special costs and certification of interest.

• Special costs
• Family bill of costs
• Court order interest act interest
• Imputation of income
• Assessment of costs
• Examination for discovery

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Seismotech IP Holdings Inc. c. Ecobee Technologies ULC

Court

Federal Court of Appeal

Assessment officer allowed costs according to Tariff B with itemized adjustments: accepted 21 units ($3,780) for assessable services (with item-specific unit allocations), disallowed taxes on assessable services absent evidence, adjusted taxes and disbursements to reflect British Columbia rates where supported, disallowed Item 24 claim for travel time by counsel due to lack of court direction, allowed reasonable and necessary second counsel travel and related disbursements based on evidence, and declined to determine or award post-judgment interest because that discretion rests with the Court.

Source excerpt

• Assessment of costs
• Tariff b
• Disbursements
• Second counsel
• Travel and accommodation expenses
• Post-judgment interest

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Wu v. Murray

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The Registrar held no order could be settled absent a court order, referred the disputed costs issue to the Court, and awarded ordinary costs of the applications.

• Abandonment of appeal
• Registrar jurisdiction
• Assessment of costs
• Rule 40 referral
• Use of generative artificial intelligence
• Certificates of pending litigation

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Thirion v. Lessard

Court

Federal Court

The Federal Court assessed the Defendants’ Bill of Costs at $24,788.24, allowed costs slightly above the Tariff B midpoint, and declined to decide judgment interest.

• Assessment of costs
• Tariff b
• Judgment interest
• Federal courts rules
• Assessment-of-costs
• Tariff-b

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