Calgary Committee Reviews Virtual Hearings, Court Operations

The CJ and ACJ welcomed committee members to the meeting in Calgary. MFD, as Committee Chair, also welcomed members. The committee welcomed DT, who was new to the meeting. No objections or additions to the proposed agenda. The minutes of the December 1, 2024, meeting were approved. The June 2025 minutes are to be circulated. The CJ and ACJ provided the following updates on current operations: The TCC is looking at moving the bulk of their status hearings from in-person to virtual hearings with a view to having them all scheduled in blocks on specific days, rather than sprinkling them across the country by geographical location over multiple dates. The Ottawa studio courtrooms can now be used for virtual status hearings. These blocks of virtual status hearing would be scheduled once every month or so, freeing up court time for appeals, applications, and motions, and allowing Status Hearing to proceed more quickly, especially in matters originating from more remote locations. Associate judges would handle many of these hearings. The first virtual status hearing week will begin in March 2026. If feedback is positive, permanent virtual dates will start in Fall 2026. Complex status hearings may still be heard in person. The informal procedure adjournment rate is a concern, as requests come extremely late, wasting significant resources, namely on scheduling, file shipping, and interpreter arrangements. The TCC tries to over-schedule informal procedure appeals to account for adjournments, but this creates problems if no adjournments occur and all appellants appear. The TCC has started extending notice periods for informal procedure hearings to 60 or 90 days (from the required 30 days). However this has not significantly reduced the number of adjournment requests. The fact that the TCC unilaterally sets hearing dates for informal procedure appeals is likely an important factor. Self-represented appellants are often surprised by the process, and counsel or agents for represented parties are often unavailable on short notice. This issue will intensify if the informal procedure quantum is doubled, as the TCC estimates approximately 20% of current general procedure appeals could then fall within the informal procedure threshold. The TCC is exploring ways to reduce the “surprise” effect on self-represented appellants, including raising awareness about what to expect in court and obtaining buy-in for hearing dates, without replicating the general procedure joint application process. This could be done by contacting the Appellants before scheduling the hearing. Typically, at the time the hearing date is set, no DoJ counsel has been assigned. This will be discussed with the DoJ to determine whether they wish to participate in these administrative calls. The DoJ indicated it is exploring assigning informal cases earlier, including assigning cases to paralegals to settle informal procedure cases. Other suggestions made by members of the Bar for reducing the informal procedure adjournment rate included allowing appellants to state availability in the notice of appeal form, providing an FAQ on the process, and identifying pro bono resources for legal information. No changes to judicial complement. Two last swearing-in-ceremonies should be done in the coming months. A few judges will be eligible to elect supernumerary status in the next 12 months. Intake has decreased for informal procedure appeals and group appeals. Overall inventory is relatively stable, as general procedure appeals are taking longer to resolve and therefore remain in the inventory for a longer period. Informal procedure appeal numbers are expected to increase with higher thresholds. Currently, 80% of all appeals deal with income tax, 18% with GST/HST, and 2% with EI, CPP, and OAS. In 2025, the TCC received its first Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act file (suffix used by the TCC: (GGPPA)G). Three facilities projects were discussed: CAS financial situation remains