Originally from Collective Litigation in Europe: Law and Practice – Preview Page

1. OUR COURTS

Canada is a federation that has a federal government, 10 provincial governments and three territorial governments. Each Canadian province and territory has its own separate court system. Provincial superior courts are courts of inherent, general jurisdiction that preside over claims arising pursuant to federal and provincial statutes, common law, and equity (and civil law, in the case of Québec). Most class actions are heard in provincial superior courts and are governed by provincial class proceeding statutes (or in the case of Québec, a unique regime for class actions set out in its Code of Civil Procedure). All 10 Canadian provinces have class action legislation.1 Prince Edward Island became the last Canadian province to pass such legislation with the enactment of the Class Proceedings Act in 2022, which substantially mirrors Ontario’s Class Proceedings Act, 1992. 

There is also a federal court system. The Federal Court has limited, statutory jurisdiction relating to matters such as tax, immigration, and intellectual property.2 The Federal Court hears a relatively small number of class actions, primarily claims against the federal government or federal government agencies.