The Applicant sought leave to extend the time for service of a Notice of Appeal and to deem service proper and to restore the Appeal to the General Appeal List. The Order which was the subject of Appeal was granted by a Chambers Justice, who had struck the Appellant’s Pleadings. The Applicant’s Notice of Appeal was filed in time, but it was not served, and deadlines for filing materials were missed, both due to problems with the diarization system in the Applicant’s counsel’s office.

Hunt J.A. described the test for extending the time period as follows:

In order to extend the time under Rule 548 of the Alberta Rules of Court, Alta Reg 390/68, the applicant must show there was a bona fide intention to appeal within the relevant appeal period, and special circumstances to justify the delay. He must also show that the other party was not prejudiced; that he has not taken any benefit from the judgment; and that he has a reasonable chance of success on the appeal. The Court has some discretion to extend the times even if all these criteria are not satisfied.

The Appellant met this test and the Appeal was allowed.