02/02/2018 – Jurisdiction British Columbia
Part 61 published on 01/03/2017
Court determines standard of review on an appeal from Civil Resolution Tribunal
The Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) had determined that the strata corporation’s $100 moving fee was unreasonably high. On appeal, the Court held that the standard of review, in relation to a decision of the CRT, is reasonableness. The Court said:
In this case, where the CRT interpreted and applied its own statute and the Strata Property Act, a statute closely connected to its function, the presumptive standard of review is reasonableness. Weighing all of the relevant factors, I find that on balance, the contextual analysis does not indicate that the legislature intended the standard of review to be correctness. While the jurisdiction of the CRT is not protected by a strong privative clause, the tribunal’s purpose, its specialized jurisdiction for the economical resolution of strata property claims and the particular questions at issue on this appeal all weigh in favour of the reasonableness standard of review.
The Court then held that the CRT had come to a reasonable determination respecting the corporation’s by-law imposing the moving fee. The Court said:
Here, the tribunal member applied an objective standard of reasonableness to the evidence before her. The CRT’s determination that the $100 moving fee was not reasonable and contravenes s. 6.9 of the Strata Property Regulation falls within the range of defensible outcomes and satisfies the standard of reasonableness. I conclude that the CRT made no reviewable error in applying the test for reasonableness of the Bylaw.
The Court also held that the CRT “had, and continues to have, jurisdiction to remedy significant unfairness on the part a strata corporation.”
The strata corporation’s appeal was dismissed.