Defendant In BC Denied Costs Of "Class Proceeding" After Defeating Certification

Subject to a few exceptions, s. 37 of British Columbia's Class Proceedings Act prevents courts from awarding costs "to any party to an application for certification...to any party to a class proceeding or to any party to an appeal arising from a class proceeding at any stage of the application, proceeding or appeal". That usually benefits representative plaintiffs and class counsel by limiting the risk of a costs award against them and is a significant difference between class proceedings in BC and Ontario.

The scope of s. 37-and the exceptions to it-are a recurring issue. BC's Class Proceedings Act defines a "class proceeding" to be a proceeding "that is certified as a class proceeding". In other words, a proposed class proceeding becomes a "class proceeding" under the act only after certification.