670 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 79 PART 5 SEPTEMBER 2021
appealed and the parties’ ability to opt-in or opt-out of the appeal process by
agreement:
1. The arbitration acts of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario
and New Brunswick state that the parties may agree in their arbitration
agreement to appeal questions of both fact and law to the
provincial superior court. If the arbitration agreement is silent on
rights to an appeal, the parties may appeal only a question of law,
with leave from the court.44
2. The Nova Scotia Commercial Arbitration Act states that “unless the
parties otherwise agree, there is no appeal of an award”. The parties
can agree to appeal questions of fact, law, or mixed fact and law
to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.45
3. The Northwest Territories and Yukon acts state that where the parties
agree in the arbitration agreement that the award can be
appealed, the appeal lies with the superior courts of those territories.
The legislation is silent on the ability of the parties to appeal
where the parties have not included an agreement to appeal in
their arbitration agreement.46
4. The Prince Edward Island Arbitration Act states that where the parties
agree in the arbitration agreement that the award can be
appealed, the appeal lies with the Court of Appeal.47
5. The British Columbia Arbitration Act states that parties may appeal
a question of law to the Court of Appeal, with leave or on consent,
unless the arbitration agreement expressly states that the parties
may not pursue an appeal.48
6. The Newfoundland and Labrador Arbitration Act does not contain
a provision granting parties a statutory right of appeal.49
It is evident from the provincial domestic arbitration legislation that the
scope of the parties’ appeal rights varies significantly across Canada. Many
of the provinces clearly allow parties to agree to appeal questions of both fact
and law to the courts in certain circumstances. British Columbia, however,
only allows parties to appeal questions of law. Prince Edward Island appears
to allow appeals on both questions of fact and law, but only to the Court of
Appeal. At the far end of the spectrum, Newfoundland and Labrador does
not provide any rights of appeal, and its statute is in fact silent on the topic
of appeals altogether.
Given these legislative differences in providing for a statutory appeal,
parties may have to carefully consider in which jurisdiction they want to sit-