The Wood Bull Guides

Authority: These Rules are made under the authority of section 32 of the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal Act, 2017 (“LPATA”) and section 25.1 of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act (“SPPA”) and come into force on September 3, 2019 which date is referred to as the effective date of these Rules.

Application: These Rules apply to all matters and proceedings before the Tribunal.

These Rules are divided into three Parts:

Part I applies to all proceedings before the Tribunal, save and except where:

(i) it is stated in Part II that a certain Rule in Part I is not applicable to a proceeding identified in Part II, or

(ii) it is stated in Part III, that a Rule in Part I is not applicable to a proceeding identified in Part III.

Part II of these Rules applies to and is specific to those appeal proceedings under subsections 17 (24),(36),(40) and 22 (7) and 34 (11),(19) and 51 (34) of the Planning Act R.S.O 1990 P.13 as amended (“Planning Act”) which are and continue to be subject to the practices and procedures that were set out in sections 39, 40, 41, and 42 of LPATA, pursuant to the transition regulations filed under LPATA. The Rules in Part II do not apply to any other proceedings before the Tribunal.

Part III of these Rules applies to and is specific to those proceedings commenced under the Expropriations Act. The Rules in Part III do not apply to any other proceedings before the Tribunal.

In the Event of a Conflict: Subsection 31(3) of LPATA provides that these Rules prevail in the event of a conflict between any provision(s) in the SPPA and these Rules.

“affidavit” means a written statement made under oath or affirmation that is confined to facts or other evidence the deponent could give if testifying as a witness before the Tribunal that is substantially in the form set out in Rule 4D of the Rules of Civil Procedure;

 “Appellant” means a person who initiates and brings an appeal to the Tribunal;

“applicant” means a person who makes an application to the Tribunal and includes a person requesting a matter be referred to the Tribunal.  The term “Applicant Appellant” may also be used to describe an applicant when that person brings an appeal to the Tribunal;

“Associate Chair” means the person appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council as Associate Chair of the Tribunal under the Adjudicative Tribunals Accountability, Governance and Appointments Act, 2009 (“ATAGAA”);

"Case Management Conference" ("CMC") means a hearing event convened prior to the hearing on the merits of the appeal, for the purposes set out under subsection 33(1) of the LPATA. The term CMC is interchangeable with the term Prehearing Conference ("PHC"). Any reference by the Tribunal to a PHC in any publication or decision may be referenced as a CMC.

“document” means written and visual material and includes written and visual evidence;

“electronic hearing" means a hearing event held by teleconference, videoconference or some other form of electronic technology allowing the parties, participants, and the Tribunal to hear or hear and see one another or their representatives, or any witnesses throughout the hearing event;

“Executive Chair” means the person appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council as Chair of the Tribunal under LPATA who may, pursuant to subsection 17 (2) of ATAGAA, delegate their powers to the Associate Chair, with the exception of  oversight over the ethical obligations of a Member of the Tribunal;

“file” means to send, deliver or transmit to the Registrar of the Tribunal or to send, deliver or transmit to the proper authority for receiving appeals and requires that the appeal material is either deemed to be or has actually been received by the Tribunal or authority;

“forms” include those forms published by the Tribunal, or, if not published, those forms in the Rules of Civil Procedure, with necessary modifications;

“hearing event” means a procedure held by the Tribunal at any stage of a proceeding and includes a motion, or case management conference, and hearing, whether these are held in the form of an oral hearing, electronic hearing or written hearing, and does not include a cross-examination on an affidavit not held before the Tribunal;

“holiday” means a Saturday or Sunday or other days that the Tribunal offices are closed, such as the statutory holidays of New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Civic Holiday, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and any special holiday proclaimed by the Governor General or the Lieutenant Governor in Council.  Where New Year’s Day, Canada Day or Remembrance Day fall on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday is a holiday.  Where Christmas Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday and Tuesday are holidays, and where Christmas Day falls on a Friday, the following Monday is a holiday;

“mediation” means the intervention into a disputed matter or matters before the Tribunal by a Tribunal Member to facilitate discussion and negotiations among the parties and assist them in developing a mutually acceptable settlement of the dispute, all of which is conducted on a confidential basis;

“Member” means a person appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council as a Member of the Tribunal;

“motion” means the formal method for a party to request that the Tribunal make a decision or issue an order at any stage in a proceeding or an intended proceeding;

“moving party” means the person who brings or makes the motion;

“municipal record” means the material required to be filed by the municipal clerk with the Tribunal as prescribed and directed by statute or by regulation, or by these Rules;

“oral hearing” means a hearing event at which the parties or their counsel or representatives attend before the Tribunal Member(s) in person;

“participant” is an individual, or corporation who is not a party to a proceeding and is only permitted to make or file a written statement to the Tribunal, upon such terms as the Tribunal may determine in respect of the proceeding;

“party” includes a person entitled by the statute under which the proceeding arises to be a party to the proceeding and includes those persons whom the Tribunal accepts or adds as parties on such terms as the Tribunal may determine;  

“person” includes a corporation, and the entities included within the meaning of a person in the SPPA;

“proceeding” means any matter, procedure, appeal, referral or application before the Tribunal and this includes matters which may be initiated by the Tribunal;

“Registrar” or “Board Secretary” means the individual appointed by the Tribunal to issue Orders of the Tribunal and to receive service of material filed with the Tribunal;

“representative” means a person authorized under the Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.8 (as amended) or its By-Laws to represent a person in the proceeding before the Tribunal, and this includes legal counsel or the individuals that are authorized to provide legal services;

“Respondent” or “responding party” means a person other than the Registrar, who is served with a notice of motion by the moving party;

“Rules of Civil Procedure” means the Rules in effect for the Superior Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal made under the Courts of Justice Act, R.R.O 1990, Reg. 194, as amended;

“settlement conference” means a discussion held in a proceeding amongst the parties or their representatives and the Tribunal to attempt to resolve all or part of a matter by discussion or mediation and includes a mediation session;

“submission form” means a form provided by the Tribunal for the filing of appeals, referrals or applications;

“Tribunal” means the Ontario Municipal Board, as continued under the name Local Planning Appeal Tribunal pursuant to LPATA;

“Vice Chair” means a person appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council as a Vice Chair of the Tribunal;

“visual evidence” means images or images with sound intended to be introduced into evidence at a hearing event and includes computer-generated images, photographs, maps, videos, plans, drawings, surveys, models and overlays;

“written evidence” means material intended to be introduced into evidence at a hearing event and includes reports, letters, correspondence, notices, memoranda, forms, agreements, emails, charts, graphs, books of account, and any other written communication recorded or stored by means of any device; and

“written hearing” means a hearing event held by means of the exchange of documents whether in written form (hard copy) or by electronic means.

These Rules shall be liberally interpreted to secure a fair, just and expeditious determination of every proceeding on its merits.

The Tribunal  may at any time in a proceeding make orders and direct practices and procedures that offer the best opportunity for a fair, just and expeditious resolution of the merits of the proceeding and may exercise any of its powers under the SPPA, the LPATA, or other applicable legislation.  If these Rules do not provide for a matter of procedure, the Tribunal may adopt or follow the procedures set out in the Rules of Civil Procedure where appropriate and do whatever is necessary to adjudicate effectively and completely to resolve the merits of any dispute on any matter.  If the Tribunal does not provide for a particular form, then the Tribunal may adopt, or modify the applicable form in the Rules of Civil Procedure to apply to any proceeding before the Tribunal.

Substantial compliance with the requirements of these Rules is sufficient and technical non-compliance shall be deemed to be an irregularity and does not render a proceeding or a step, decision or order in that proceeding a nullity.

The Tribunal may grant all necessary exceptions from these Rules or from any procedural order, or grant other relief as it considers necessary and appropriate, to ensure that the real questions in issue are determined in a just, expeditious and cost-effective manner.

The Tribunal expects compliance with these Rules and adherence to Tribunal orders arising from the application of these Rules, by all parties and participants to its proceedings.  If a party or participant to any of its proceedings has not complied with a requirement of these Rules or a Tribunal order, such as a procedural order and any requirement included therein, then the Tribunal has the discretion to determine the consequences of non-compliance and may grant necessary relief or exercise any of its powers authorized by legislation or regulation.

Any reference to a Member in these Rules, and the authority granted to a Member, shall include the Executive Chair, the Associate Chair, and a Vice Chair.

The Executive Chair may designate the Associate Chair to perform any of the duties of the Executive Chair provided for in these Rules or by legislation, for such time and under such conditions as the Executive Chair may stipulate.

Subject to delegation from the Executive Chair, the Associate Chair has general supervision and direction over the scheduling of hearing events and the assignment of Members to hearing events conducted by the Tribunal.

Time is computed under these Rules or in a Tribunal Order in accordance with the Rules of Civil Procedure unless otherwise provided.  For greater clarity, a day shall mean a calendar day and when the time for doing anything under these Rules falls on a holiday, the time is extended to include the next day that the Tribunal is open for business.  When there is reference to two events, the time between the two events is computed by excluding the day on which the first event occurs and including the day on which the second event occurs.

Any time period that may be established by a Ministerial Regulation (such as Ontario Regulation 102/18, enacted under LPATA) and is applicable to a proceeding before the Tribunal in relation to an appeal under the Planning Act shall not commence until such time as the Tribunal issues a Notice of Commencement, duly executed by the Registrar, to confirm that the applicable commencement of time for the disposition of the proceeding has started.  

The Tribunal may also postpone any time period applicable to a proceeding before the Tribunal in relation to an appeal under the Planning Act by issuance of a Notice of Postponement, duly executed by the Registrar.   The Notice of Postponement shall suspend the calculation of any time applicable to a proceeding in accordance with the direction of the Tribunal and any applicable conditions imposed in the direction. 

The Tribunal may resume any time suspended by issuance of a Notice of Postponement by issuance of a Notice of Resumption, duly executed by the Registrar with proper authorization.

A Notice of Commencement, Postponement or Resumption shall only be executed by the Registrar with proper direction and authorization by a Member. Any Notice under this Rule that is issued in relation to a proceeding before the Tribunal shall be delivered to the Municipal Clerk, or Approval Authority, and any known parties to the proceeding, and shall be used in the computation of time in relation to that appeal.

The Tribunal may extend or reduce any time required in these Rules or in an Order, with any terms or conditions, unless a statute or regulation provides otherwise.  The Tribunal cannot extend a time period to file an appeal prescribed in a statute, but may be authorized to extend a time period prescribed by regulation, upon terms or conditions provided for that purpose in the regulation.  A request for a change in time requirements established in the proceeding may be made by bringing a motion, or the Tribunal may change a time requirement on its own initiative, with or without a hearing event, either before or after the time period expires.

The Tribunal will not proceed for at least 30 minutes after the commencement time given in the Notice for an oral hearing event if a party of record or that party’s representative has not yet appeared, unless prior notice has been given to the Tribunal that person will not attend at the scheduled time.  The Tribunal will not commence an electronic hearing event for a period of 15 minutes after it is scheduled to begin should a party of record not be linked to the proceeding.  The Tribunal may start the hearing event after waiting for 15 minutes, in the event that the party of record is not linked to the electronic hearing event.

A party or participant may attend a proceeding in person or with their representative.  Representatives who are not legal counsel must file a written confirmation of authorization to act for the party or participant.  If authorization of the representative changes, the person or the representative shall immediately notify the Tribunal and the other parties and provide particulars of any new representative.