Practice Direction No. 15

Stay of Proceedings

Notice of Amendment:
Effective January 14, 2025, Practice Direction No. 15 issued on October 12, 2018, is revoked and replaced by Practice Direction No. 15 found below.

1. The Tribunal has all the powers, rights and privileges that are vested in a superior court of record based on subsection 13(1) of the Specific Claims Tribunal Act, SC 2008, c 22, and a mandate to resolve matters in a just, expeditious and cost-effective manner. In an effort to resolve claims in the most expeditious and cost-effective manner possible, the Tribunal encourages the parties to claims currently before it to negotiate in an effort to reach a final resolution or the resolution of issues within the claim. Where parties seek an extended period of time to negotiate, a stay of proceedings is necessary. Accordingly, this Practice Direction sets out requirements for a stay of proceedings which may be granted when parties have entered into a written agreement to pursue negotiations for the resolution of the claim, or the mediation of all or portions of the claim.
2. Parties may jointly apply for a stay of proceedings where they have concluded a written agreement to enter into negotiations for the resolution of the claim or wish to have the claim—or portions of the claim—mediated.
3. The joint application must include the following information:
   1. A summary of the progress to date toward a negotiated resolution of the claim, including particulars of:
      • whether without prejudice settlement offers have been made and responded to, with dates;
      • whether expert reports, separate or joint, have been commissioned or obtained including a description of the subject matter and dates;
      • any remaining contentious issues;
      • whether mediation has been utilized; and
      • whether a memorandum of understanding on the terms of settlement between negotiators has been achieved, and, if so, the date on which this was achieved.
   2. A summary of the measures presently planned to advance the negotiation during the period for which the proposed stay remains in effect, including:
      • if a memorandum of understanding has been achieved, the steps the Crown will take to secure ministerial approval and the First Nation will take to ratify its approval, and an anticipated timelines for those approvals;
      • agreed dates for delivery of expert reports, if any;
      • schedule of meeting dates; and
      • agreed dates, if any, for presentation of offers and counter-offers.
   3. Whether any party or all parties would be in favour of mediation by the Tribunal.
4. The Tribunal will convene a case management conference at which the parties may speak to the joint application.
5. The Tribunal will grant a stay of proceedings if, in its opinion, a stay will facilitate the resolution of the claim through negotiation within a reasonable period of time. The grant of a stay is discretionary and will specify the period of time in which it will remain in effect. An order for a stay may impose conditions on which it will remain in effect.
6. The parties may request to extend the stay of proceedings through a joint or separate status report(s). The Tribunal may convene a case management conference at which the parties may speak to the request for an extension.
7. If, based on a joint or separate status report(s) and proposed work plan filed by the parties, the Tribunal is satisfied that the parties have made progress in negotiations and will use any granted extension diligently to continue to make timely progress, the Tribunal may extend the stay for a specified period of time. Parties may apply for extensions more than once.
8. If the parties request an extension of the stay of proceedings but the Tribunal is not satisfied that the negotiations have proceeded sufficiently, it may deny their request and convene a case management conference to establish a plan of proceeding, including setting hearing date(s).
9. If the parties have entered into a memorandum of understanding setting out the terms of settlement, they may jointly request a further extension of indeterminate duration to obtain their respective internal approvals. A request is typically made within a joint status report, which outlines the internal measures required for settlement approval and the timeline for securing the approval. If such an extension is granted, the claimant(s) will submit status reports to the Tribunal at three-month intervals, detailing the steps taken and those remaining. Similarly, the respondent must also provide updates at three-month intervals, reporting on the progress made toward obtaining financial approvals and outlining a timeline for any further steps to be taken. 
10. The Tribunal may, at the request of a party or on its own initiative, convene a case management conference during the period of the stay to obtain updates. At its own discretion, the Tribunal may make Orders and provide Directions, including Orders for the resumption of pre-hearing measures and the setting of hearing dates.
11. The Tribunal may request a joint status report from the parties, without holding a case management conference, at any point during the stay period.

Honourable Victoria Chiappetta, Chairperson
Specific Claims Tribunal