This Application dealt with whether the Appeal of an Arbitration Award was commenced within the appropriate period. The Applicant argued the Appeal was commenced when it provided the Notice of Appeal, after close of business on the last day of the appeal period. The Respondent took the position that a document is not filed until it is stamped as “filed”.

The Applicant sought to file the Notice of Appeal on the last day of the appeal period through the Court’s digital filing system. Counsel for the Applicant explained why the document was not filed as expected, including that: Applicant’s counsel was an out-of-province lawyer and was not entitled to make use of the digital filing system, the Court was closed for the holidays on the day the Applicant’s counsel attempted to file the document, and the Applicant had neglected to include the correct forms.

Justice Mah considered that under Rule 13.15, a document is filed when the Court Clerk acknowledges it as such. In Alberta, this acknowledgment occurs when the document is stamped by the Court Clerk and noted as filed. The Court noted that the explanations provided by the Applicant did not accord with the filing procedures of the Clerks but would not necessarily be fatal to the timely commencement of the Appeal. However, Mah J. noted that the Applicant did not attempt to file the Notice of Appeal until after close of business on the last day of the appeal period.

The Court ultimately decided that the Notice of Appeal was not filed pursuant to Rule 13.15 in the requisite appeal period.