Revisiting The Test For Abuse Of Process In Administrative Law

Introduction

On July 8, 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) released its decision in Law Society of Saskatchewan v. Abrametz, 2022 SCC 29, (Abrametz), clarifying the standard of review applicable to questions of procedural fairness in the context of statutory appeals, while reconsidering the test for abuse of process in the administrative law context. BLG acted as counsel¹ for the intervener Federation of Law Societies of Canada (the Federation), the national coordinating body for Canada's 14 provincial and territorial law societies.

This is the first time the SCC has considered the test for a stay of proceedings in administrative law in over two decades, since releasing its landmark decision in Blencoe v. British Columbia (Human Rights Commission), 2000 SCC 14 (Blencoe).