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Class Proceeding (Fed) - Certification - Standard of Proof

. Bigeagle v. Canada

In Bigeagle v. Canada (Fed CA, 2023) the Federal Court of Appeal considered the standard of proof for federal class action certification:

[20] To satisfy each of the remaining four conditions, a plaintiff seeking certification must adduce evidence that provides “some basis in fact” for concluding that the condition is met: Greenwood at para. 94, citing Hollick v. Toronto (City), 2001 SCC 68, and Pro-Sys Consultants Ltd. v. Microsoft Corporation, 2013 SCC 57, among other authorities. This is a threshold lower than the ordinary civil standard of balance of probabilities. But the motion for certification remains “a meaningful screening device,” and “[t]here must be sufficient facts to satisfy the [motion] judge that the conditions for certification have been met to a degree that should allow the matter to proceed on a class basis without foundering at the merits stage”: Pro-Sys at paras. 101-104.