Court of Appeal

Courts Without Jurisdiction To Directly Review Arbitrators' Awards

The BC Court of Appeal recently confirmed that the BC Supreme Court does not have jurisdiction to judicially review decisions of labour arbitrators.

In Northstar Lumber v. United Steelworkers of America, the Court of Appeal dismissed an employer’s appeal for review of an arbitrator’s award reinstating an employee dismissed by the employer. The Court of Appeal reconfirmed that, pursuant to Section 99 of the Labour Relations Code, the legislature has entrusted the review of labour arbitrators’ decisions exclusively to the Labour Relations Board.

Northstar Lumber v. United Steelworkers of America, Local 1-424, 2009 BCCA 173