The appeal court judges may order that one party pay “costs” to the other party. Costs are a sum of money that covers a portion of the other party’s legal expenses incurred in the appeal, such as lawyers’ fees. If the court does not mention costs in their judgment, the successful party is automatically entitled to have the direction for costs included in the final court order (See s. 44, Court of Appeal Act). This means that the successful party is entitled to their costs of the appeal, including the costs of all applications.

If you are not successful in your appeal, you usually must pay the respondent’s costs. This can amount to thousands of dollars. Even if you have been granted an order that no filing fees are payable, you will still have to pay the respondent’s costs.

If you want to argue that costs should not go to the successful party, you may ask the court for permission to file further written submissions on the matter. Further submissions on costs are arranged through the Registrar’s office and you may contact the court registry for information on how to proceed.