This article tells the story of someone who filed an Application for judicial review in the Federal Court of Canada.

It provides their experience and tips from what they learned. We will also attach screenshots as a helpful guide. We talk about immigration judicial reviews at the very end.

The point of the Application is to appeal a decision that was made by a tribunal, a commission, or some federal board or panel. You are asking a judge to check the decision to see if it was right.

Also, if you need a lawyer to help you with your judicial review, contact us. We will try our best to connect you with a top lawyer.

Key Steps in Filing a Judicial Review Application with the Federal Court of Canada

In the example used in this case, it was an “appeal” under Veterans Affairs, which falls under the “war veterans” category. But it’s different than the “national defence” category, which deals with court-martials.

You can file an Application anywhere in Canada (it doesn’t change by province)

• To appeal an immigration decision (refugees, citizenship, PR etc.)
• Aboriginal disputes
• Federal election disputes
• Charter of Human Rights
• Court Martial (Canadian military)
• Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries disputes
• Federal prison disputes

There are many other areas as well.

Seeking judicial review means you are asking a judge to overturn a decision made by another group. Most of the time, they will refer the actual decision back to the group that made the decision. But the judge will provide guidance for them.

Please see the screenshot below for how to get started, then we will talk about it.

Application for Judicial Review in Canada Federal Court

To start the Application for Judicial Review in Canadian federal court, you start by filing a notice of application, which is Form 301.

You have to file the form within 30 days of the time you received the decision that you didn’t agree with. If you file it late, it’s possible your form won’t be accepted.

There is a $50 fee to file Form 301.

Don’t forget Form 66 which needs to go on Form 301. This is the general heading form. It’s basically a cover sheet.

Judicial Review Federal Court

Below is a story where we changed the name and the facts. It’s a story about filing a judicial review in the Vancouver Federal Court.

“Alex” went to file a form 301 at the Vancouver federal courthouse. He filed out Form 301 using the online PDF and listed the “Attorney General of Canada” as the Respondent.

Many people fill out the incorrect Respondent. They might write “Government of Canada” or “Veterans Affairs.” Sometimes people just write “the Government.” That’s completely incorrect.

You should do research on CanLII to find out who you should name. That is a critical first step.

Alex had a hard time finding the Federal Court, as it was above the CF Pacific Center.

The Federal Court Is Above The CF Pacific Center

The entrance to the Vancouver Federal Courthouse is the same entrance as the CF Pacific Center. The one by Best Buy. It’s not the same buildings as where the Provincial Court and our Supreme Court of BC are.

Before going to Court, you might want to double-check this article and all your papers in the CF Pacific Center food court or a nearby coffee store. Get a large table and double-check all the forms. Remind yourself of the Federal Court rules.

You want to appear to know what you are doing when speaking with the Court staff.

When you get to the elevators at the CF Pacific Center, go up to the third floor. There won’t be any markings.

Criteria to Meet: Who Can Apply for a Judicial Review in Canada?

When you get to the third floor, you will be greeted by some security guards. They will ask you questions, and once you are cleared you can proceed to the registry.

There are three floors at the Vancouver Federal Court, which starts on the third floor and goes up to the sixth floor.

There are two courtrooms on each floor, for a total of six courtrooms. Many of the disputes are immigration-related.

Alex found the court staff to be very patient and understanding. It was much less busy at the Federal Court than at the BC Supreme Court.

There is no music and it’s extremely quiet. It seems that most of the people at the BC Supreme Court are there to file for divorce. The “family law” line is always very long at the Supreme Court.

There are no divorces at the Federal Court. It’s just for disputes regarding the Canadian Federal Government.

Know Who The Respondent Is

There was one person who came into the Federal Court, and the public can learn a lesson from them…

They came in and said they wanted to sue “their enemies.” They didn’t know what a Respondent was, and just said they wanted to sue the government.

When the court staff asked them what they were suing for, they said it was because they were eating garbage out of bins.

The court staff referred them to legal aid, who I can almost guarantee won’t be assisting. It was just an easy way to get the person out of the courthouse.

Significance of the Federal Court’s Decision on Judicial Review Applications

You need to know your stuff before going to court. You need to be able to say, “I’m filling a Notice of Application for judicial review against the Attorney General of Canada under the Veterans Care Act.” Or whatever your specific case is.

See the court decision below, you don’t want to be declared a vexatious litigant. If you act in a crazy way, the Attorney General of Canada will likely try to have your case thrown out.

In the case below, the person who filed the Application lost because of their conduct. It didn’t even make it to the actual hearing. You don’t want that to happen to you. Consider your conduct at all times during litigation. You want to be seen as the responsible one.

Judicial Review Federal Court Application

Now let’s get back to the Forms…

As part of Form 301, the notice of application for judicial review, you need to include the facts and the grounds for your application. Explain the events that happened, and then talk about case law (found on CanLII). You can keep it short and simple.

Go back to the step process (photo) that we shared at the beginning of this article. It’s now time to move on to step 2.

If you are filing a claim against the Attorney General of Canada, the court will do this step for you. They will also take care of step 3. They will serve the documents and the proof of service.

The Respondent will take care of step four.

File Your Federal Court Affidavit

On the same day that you go to the court to file the notice of application, you should think about filing your Affidavit. You will have to get it notarized by a lawyer, notary, or at the courthouse. However, you don’t have to do the Application and the Affidavit on the same day.

It’s worth getting help from a lawyer on this. It’s the most important part of the Application. If you don’t do the Affidavit right, the judge won’t be able to consider your evidence. 

Judges can only consider sworn evidence. If your Affidavit is too short, you will likely lose. When your affidavit is missing information, you will likely lose the Application. If you forget to include the decision you are appealing in your Affidavit, how is the judge meant to make a decision?

Common Reasons to Seek a Judicial Review in the Canadian Federal Court

If you don’t have much money, spend the money you do have on getting legal advice on the affidavit. You can try and figure out the procedural stuff on your own. And can do your best at the hearing on your own.

Once you file your Affidavit with the court, you will need to serve the filed copy (with the stamp) within 30 days. It’s easier to just do it on the same day.

In Vancouver, if you named the Attorney General of Canada as the Respondent, you will need to serve it on the Department of Justice of Canada. They are located at 840 Howe Street on the 5th floor. Below is a picture of where they are.

The Courthouse is to the right in the picture.

Attorney General of Canada Vancouver

It’s near the courthouse, but not at the courthouse. Their phone number is 604-666-2061 if you need to call them.

Don’t go up to the 9th floor, it won’t let you. For some reason, the document the Federal Court gives you says that the Department of Justice of Canada is on the 9th floor. It should say the 5th floor.

You need to bring three copies of the Affidavit, one for the Attorney General, one for you, and one for the court. They will be stamped as:

“Service of a true copy hereof admitted DATE Nathalie G. Drouin solicitor for A.G.C.”

You then need to bring a copy back to the Federal Court for proof of service. You will keep one copy of the Affidavit for yourself.

About the Attorney General of Canada

Dave Lametti is the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. Before taking on this position, he taught IP law at McGill University Law School. He then became the Associate Dean of the school.

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and his organization handle litigation for the Canadian federal government.

In addition, the Attorney General’s office provides legal advice to the Federal Government of Canada. The organization no longer handles criminal prosecutions. That role has been handed down to the Crown Prosecution Office, which is called the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.

The Attorney General of Canada handles non-criminal matters, like judicial reviews for immigration or Veterans Affairs Canada.

David Lametti is still the Minister responsible for the Crown Prosecution Office, which is sort of confusing. But we will save that for another article.

Basically, the Attorney General of Canada is the lawyer for the federal government.

Application for judicial review immigration

According to the court staff at the Federal Court in Vancouver, many of their cases are regarding judicial review for immigration cases.

The process for filing your application for a review of your immigration case is the same as the Veterans Affairs case.

If you are an immigrant whose first language is not English, you probably should only file an application with a lawyer.

Speak to an immigration law firm before starting any of these steps.

It’s possible (according to the Federal Court website) to ask the court for permission to have a non-lawyer represent you. This person might be a friend or family.

Time Limits and Deadlines: When to File Your Application for Judicial Review

If you have money, it’s much better to have an expert represent you in court.

The form to start the judicial review for immigration is Form IR-1, instead of Form 301. You can see the process below.

There is a fee of $50 that is owed when you go to the Federal Court to file the Form IR-1.

According to CanLII, it looks like the right Respondent might be “The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration” or “The Attorney General of Canada.” But make sure to speak to a lawyer to verify this.

We will continue to update this guide. We hope you found this guide on judicial review in the Federal Court helpful.

Contact us if you want us to answer any other questions as part of the article.