For a full description of the hearings process at the FST, please see the  FST Practice Guidelines ( PDF File Format - August, 2006)

A Notice of Appeal must be filed in accordance with the statute under which an appeal decision was made or otherwise within 30 days of the date of the decision being appealed.

The Notice of Appeal must be accompanied by the appeal fee of $850.



The notice of appeal must:

	be in writing (an electronic or faxed copy is acceptable);
	identify the decision that is being appealed;
	state why the decision should be changed;
	state the outcome requested;
	contain the name, address and telephone number of the appellant, and if the appellant has an agent acting on the appellant’s behalf, include the full name of the agent and a telephone number where the agent may be contacted during business hours;
	include an address for delivery of any appeal notices;
	be signed by the appellant or the appellant’s agent;
	be accompanied by the appeal FST fee of $850, payable to the Ministry of Finance; (Please note that a separate $850 fee is required for each party to an appeal to the FST); and
	include the names of all parties entitled to participate in the appeal which may include parties with statutory standing.

Once the Chair of the FST has received the notice of appeal and the prescribed fee of $850, the Chair will assign the appeal to a Tribunal Member. (For more information on the discretionary authority of the FST Chair, please consult section 242.2 (4) (a) (b) of the Financial Institutions Act.) 

Advice on meeting the notice of appeal standard

The notice of appeal should clearly explain why or how the appellant believes the original decision was wrong or why the process leading to the decision was unfair. General statements such as “the decision is contrary to the law” or “it is against the weight of the evidence” may not be sufficient to have an appeal accepted by the FST. 

The notice of appeal must demonstrate that the appeal is well-grounded and has a reasonable chance of success. The grounds for the appeal must clearly explain the error of fact, error of law, or error in process that the appeal is based upon. 

For a suggested format for a Notice of Appeal to the Financial Services Tribunal, please see:
Notice of Appeal template or Notice of Appeal template



Appeals to the Commission are appeals on the record, and must be based on written submissions, unless expressly permitted by the Tribunal Member.

The Tribunal Member has the discretion to permit an application to introduce new evidence, if they are satisfied that the new evidence:

	is substantial and material to the decision; and
	did not exist at the time the original decision was made, or did exist at that time but was not discovered and could not through the exercise of reasonable diligence have been discovered.

The application to introduce new evidence must be in writing, and must clearly state why the new evidence should be judged. The application should also set out why the new evidence did not exist at the time the original decision was made, or, if it did exist, why the evidence could not through the exercise of reasonable diligence have been discovered as part of the original decision process. 

For more information on evidence before the Tribunal, please see the Practice Guidelines on this web site. 

The Financial Institutions Act defines a party as including any person who is making an appeal to the FST, the decision-maker, or any other person who is authorized by the Tribunal Member conducting the hearing to appear as a party to the FST hearing. 

Parties to a hearing may be represented by counsel or agents, and may make submissions as to facts, law and jurisdiction.




The Tribunal Member may confirm, reverse or vary a decision under appeal, or may send it back to the original decision-maker for reconsideration. 

The Tribunal Member must provide written reasons for their decision.

All parties to a hearing will be given a copy of the decision.

Decisions are published and are available on this web site. Certain information in these documents may be withheld to protect personal privacy under BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.