Court Files allows a user to query the Federal Court database of indexed cases using the internet. You can search the database using one of four methods: by Court Number, by Party Information, by Intellectual Property or by Related Cases. The results of each query appear on the screen with a hyperlink on the Court Number that opens a new window called Additional Information. The Additional Information window contains more information about the selected court number.
Note that only one new window opens when clicking the Help or Additional Information links. The information displayed within this window reflects the last link you clicked (i.e. the Help or Additional Information screen) and overwrites the previous information.
To perform a different type of search (e.g. Party Information instead of Court Number) you must first select and load that type of search in the SEARCH BY box. Using the drop down arrow, first choose your search type and then press [Select] to load the new search.
The information provided in and obtained from this indexing database does not constitute the official record of the Courts, and as such, the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court and the Courts Administration Service cannot and do not warrant its accuracy. The information contained herein is provided as a service to the public and for the purposes of information only.
Despite the considerable care taken by the Registry in recording information on cases, the data may be subject to errors or omissions. Users agree that the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal, and the Courts Administration Service, are not liable for errors or omissions, nor are they responsible for inaccuracies contained in any of the information provided. The Federal Court, Federal Court of Appeal and the Courts Administration Service are also not responsible for errors or insufficiencies in the wording of queries by the user of this service. Above all, the information provided should not be used as a substitute for advice of legal counsel.
Important: Due to the volume of material filed, and the processing time required, documents and information derived from them will not necessarily be entered in the database on the date that they are filed with the Court.
Enter the court number in the Court Number field to find a proceeding.
The format used for an action, application or appeal is: Letter – Number – Number
Example T-4-00 (a hyphen"-" must be inserted between the letter and numbers)
Number - the first number may be 1 to 5 digits in length
Number - the second number represents the year the proceeding started and must be 2 digits long e.g. 85 represents 1985, 00 represents 2000 etc
Examples
Example 89-A-43 (a hyphen"-" must be inserted between the number, letter and number)
Number - two digit number represents the year the proceeding started
Number - may be 1 to 5 digits in length
Examples
No Exchequer Court or Court Martial Appeal Court proceedings are listed in the database.
Enter the name (or the number) of a Canadian:
in the Text field (or the Number field) to find a proceeding.
Commas (,), periods (.), question marks (?), and multinational characters (À, Ç, É, È, Ê, Ë, Ñ etc.) are not entered.
Examples - Text:
Intellectual property names are entered into the database in the same format as they appear in the filed documents (i.e. entered with articles).
Examples - Number:
Note that this field contains only numbers. The numbers (which could include application numbers, file numbers, filing numbers and registration numbers) are entered without commas, spaces or hyphens, so 2,166,001 is indexed as 2166001.
Enter the name of a company (or association; corporation; partnership etc.) or a person in the Party Name field to find a proceeding.
If you are searching for a Ship use the Ship Name field.
Company:
The word "and" is always entered as: "&".
Articles (The, A) are not entered.
Hyphens (-), commas (,) and periods (.) and multinational characters À, Ç, É, È, Ê, Ë, Ñ etc.) are not entered.
Letters separated by spaces are entered without the spaces and initials are entered without periods.
Person:
The surname of an individual is entered first followed by a comma, space and the first name.
Hyphens (-), commas (,) and periods (.) and multinational characters (À, Ç, É, È, Ê, Ë, Ñ etc.) are not entered.
Initials are entered without periods.
Where there are multiple or "two-part" surnames, the last surname is entered first followed by a comma, space, first name, "second" name
However, to search for Guy St-Laurent enter ST LAURENT, GUY
Titles in names are placed at the end of the name.
Ship:
To search for The Ship "Atlantic Savior" enter ATLANTIC SAVIOR in the Ship Name field
Words that appear with the name of a ship such as "M.V.", "The Ship", "The" are not entered.
Although they appear in the results page do not place quotations marks around the ship name in the search field.
From / To:
The format used for a date is: Month – Day – Year
A date must be entered in conjunction with a Party Name or Ship
Related cases are other Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal proceedings that are known to be associated with a certain proceeding. For example, a case on appeal is a related case to the proceeding at first instance. Other examples of related cases are similar proceedings that the Court has consolidated or joined for purposes of hearing together at one time.
The Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court and the Courts Administration Service respect the Official Languages Act and relevant Treasury Board policies, and are committed to ensuring that information is available in both English and French.
Prior to the establishment of the Courts Administration Service on July 2, 2003, however, certain party names were entered in the former Federal Court of Canada indexing database in the English language only and / or by using common English-language abbreviations.
However, as of July 2003, all parties are now entered in the indexing system in the exact same format they are referred to in the proceeding's originating document. For instance, if the party is cited therein as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, it is entered as such in the database. But if it is cited as CBC, then that is exactly how it is now recorded. This is also the case if it is cited as "Société Radio-Canada", or cited by the French-language abbreviation, "SRC".
For completeness of results, users conducting searches covering cases indexed after July 2, 2003, should ensure they perform separate parties' queries in both official languages. The following is a listing of some common parties with their English and French language names:
The following is a guide to some common translations and how they were entered in the indexing database prior to July, 2003:
Her Majesty the Queen; Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada; Sa Majesté la Reine; Sa Majesté la Reine du chef du Canada; R.; Regina; etc. all were entered as: THE QUEEN
Attorney General of Canada, Procureur Général du Canada, AGC, PGC, were all entered as ATTORNEY GENERAL.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Société Radio-Canada, SRC, were all entered as CBC
Other commonly used abbreviations prior to July 2003 include: