Part I - General

These Rules are made under the authority of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act and the Financial Services Commission of Ontario Act, 1997.

1. Application and Interpretation of Rules

1.01

These Rules apply to all proceedings before the Financial Services Tribunal, subject to any Practice Direction issued under Rule 2.04 or Rule 47.01, including the Practice Direction regarding Financial Hardship Proceedings.

Subject to the requirements of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario Act, 1997, and the Statutory Powers Procedure Act, the Tribunal may amend these Rules from time to time if it considers that such amendment is appropriate.

These Rules shall be broadly interpreted to produce the quickest, most just and least expensive determination of the issues before the Tribunal.

2. General Authority of the Tribunal

2.01

Where procedures are not provided for in these Rules, the Tribunal may do whatever is necessary and permitted by law to effectively determine the matter before it, including making a procedural order under Rule 13.

The Tribunal may exercise any of its powers under these Rules on its own initiative or at the request of a party.

A defect in form or other technical breach in a proceeding or in any step, document or order in a proceeding will not make the proceeding or the step, document or order in the proceeding invalid.

The Tribunal may issue Practice Directions pertaining to certain types of proceedings or with respect to any matter the Tribunal deems appropriate.

3. Definitions

(a) In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires,

"Act" means the Financial Services Commission of Ontario Act, 1997;

"business day" means any day which is not a holiday;

"Chair" means the Chair of the Tribunal and includes a Vice-Chair acting as chair in his or her absence or recusal from a matter;

"Commission" means the Financial Services Commission;

"document" includes a written document, sound recording, videotape, file, photograph, chart, graph, map, plan, survey, book of account, and information recorded or stored by means of any device;

"electronic hearing" means a hearing held by conference telephone or some other form of electronic technology allowing persons to hear one another;

"hearing" means the opportunity to present one's case before the Tribunal in a format described in Rule 21.01;

"holiday" means any Saturday, Sunday, statutory holiday or any other day which is a general holiday for offices of the Ontario Government, including Remembrance Day and Easter Monday;

"interrogatory" means a request in writing by a party for information or particulars relating to a proceeding, other than a request for documents, made to another party in the proceeding;

"member" means a member of the Tribunal appointed under section 6 of the Act and includes the Chair and any Vice-Chair;

"motion" means a request for a decision, order or direction of the Tribunal made during a proceeding;

"oral hearing" means a hearing at which the parties and/or their representatives attend in person before the Tribunal;

"order" means an order in writing or an order made orally;

"panel" means one or more members of the Tribunal assigned to hear and determine a matter referred to the Tribunal;

"party" means the Superintendent, a person specified as a party by law, a person who has requested a hearing pursuant to a statute, a person appealing a decision or order of the Superintendent pursuant to a statute, and any person who has been given party status by the Tribunal;

"Practice Direction" means a Practice Direction issued under Rule 2.04 or Rule 47.01;

"proceeding" means a matter brought before the Tribunal;

"Registrar" means the Registrar of the Tribunal;

"representative" means counsel or an agent for a party acting on behalf of a person for the purposes of a proceeding;

"Rules" mean these rules and include any Practice Directions issued by the Tribunal;

"Superintendent" means the Superintendent of Financial Services;

"Tribunal" means the Financial Services Tribunal established under section 6 of the Act or, where the context requires, the members of the Financial Services Tribunal or a panel of one or more members assigned to hold a hearing;

"Vice-Chair" means a Vice-Chair of the Tribunal appointed under section 6 of the Act;

"written hearing" means a hearing held by means of the exchange of documents.

4. Calculation of Time

4.01

To calculate time under these Rules:

a. where there is reference to a number of days between two events, they shall be counted by excluding the day on which the first event happens and including the day on which the second event happens;
b. where the time for doing an act under these Rules expires on a day that is not a business day, the act may be done on the next business day; and
c. where a document is filed or served after 4:45 p.m. or on a day that is not a business day the document shall be deemed to have been filed or served on the next business day.

5. Extending or Abridging Time

5.01

The Tribunal may, before or after the expiration of a prescribed time period and on such conditions as it considers just, extend or abridge the time prescribed for the performance of anything required under the Rules.

Where a party cannot meet a time limit prescribed by the Rules or proposes the abridgement of such a time limit, the party shall promptly file a request for an extension or abridgement of time, including the reason why it is necessary, the specific relief sought and an indication of whether the other parties consent or oppose the request.

6. French Language Services

6.01

A person has the right to communicate with the Registrar's office and at hearings in French as provided in the French Language Services Act.

If a person intends to communicate in French as a party in a proceeding, the person shall indicate this intention in the Notice of Hearing, the Notice of Appeal, the Application for Party Status, or in a letter filed with the Registrar as early as is practicable.

7. Notice of Constitutional Question

7.01

A party who intends to raise a question as to the constitutional validity or constitutional applicability of the Act, of a statute of the Parliament of Canada or of the Ontario Legislature, of a regulation or by-law made under the Act or statute, of a rule of common law, or to assert a remedy under subsection 24(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, shall file and serve notice of a constitutional question on the Attorney General of Canada and the Attorney General of Ontario and the other parties to the proceeding at least 15 days before the day on which the question is to be heard by the Tribunal.

The notice referred to in Rule 7.01 must clearly set out the basis for raising the question or asserting the remedy and any evidence that the party intends to rely upon must be attached to the notice.