Federal Court Practice 2025

Course Chairs
Sarah L. Bird — Department of Justice Canada, Vancouver
Richard Kurland — Kurland, Tobe, Vancouver

About the Course Chairs
Sarah Bird attended the College of Law at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan with part of her second year at Canterbury University in Christchurch, New Zealand. She articled with the Department of Justice Canada in 2010 and was called to the Saskatchewan bar in 2011. She moved to the Vancouver office of the Department of Justice and was called to the BC bar in 2017.

Sarah has practiced mostly administrative law matters in the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal for approximately 15 years with a focus on major projects such as the Trans Mountain Expansion Pipeline, the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project, the Northern Gateway Pipeline, and other regulatory matters. She has also appeared before the Tax Court of Canada, the Saskatchewan Provincial Court, the Saskatchewan Court of King's Bench, the BC Supreme Court, and the BC Court of Appeal and assisted with files before the Supreme Court of Canada. However, Sarah's heart lies with the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal. Sarah is the co-chair of the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal Practice Group in the BC Regional Office of the Department of Justice Canada.

Sarah has been married for 31 years to her loving and patient husband, Jonathan, and is a very proud mom to two sons: Jackson and Will, ages 27 and 25. 

Richard Kurland is called to the bar in Quebec and BC. He is editor-in-chief of Lexbase, a law and policy immigration publication which for over 30 years has provided monthly summaries of Federal Court decisions in immigration and citizenship rendered during the previous 30 days. He has provided advice to federal and provincial governments, as well as foreign governments, including the US, China, and France. Richard is a frequent media commentator at Global, CTV, and CBC, and assists journalists at Postmedia and the Globe and Mail. He was Special Advisor to the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, oversighting International Affairs and Immigration. In 2017, the Senate of Canada awarded Richard a medal "for showing dedication to streamlining and improving our national immigration system and for commitment to providing affordable service to vulnerable immigrant and refugee populations; and in recognition of valuable service to the nation."

Faculty
Chief Justice Paul Crampton (Retired) — Federal Court of Canada, Ottawa
Mario D. Bellissimo — Bellissimo Law Group PC, Toronto
Anita F. Boscariol — Watson Goepel LLP, Vancouver
Dylan Braam — Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, Vancouver
Amandeep Hayer — Hayer Law, Langley 
Jon Khan — Department of Justice, Vancouver
Peter Millerd — Mandell Pinder LLP, Vancouver
H. Peter Swanson — Bernard LLP, Vancouver
Zeynab Ziaie Moayyed — Visa Law Group PC, Toronto

Course Materials Contributor
Prabhjot Gill — Articled Student, Hayer Law, Langley

Click here for full faculty bios

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British Columbia Administrative Law Practice Manual

Strategies for effective administrative law advocacy

This publication is essential for: lawyers, decision-makers, and judges whose work involves federal or BC administrative law decision-making

Current to: May 1, 2023

Administrative law is complex and requires specialized knowledge. British Columbia Administrative Law Practice Manual offers you a guide to navigating administrative law and procedure with advice on fundamental administrative law concepts, case preparation and advocacy, the role of evidence and parties, and the process for reviews and appeals. Covering decision-makers and courts at both federal and provincial levels, this manual provides access to sample forms annotated with commentary and a curated bibliography of other useful administrative law resources.

With this resource, you will be able to:

• understand what makes for effective administrative law advocacy and drafting
  
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• avoid common administrative law practice pitfalls

Order today and deepen your knowledge of administrative law principles and practice! View a sample from the book.

Highlights of the 2023 Update include:

• post-Vavilov developments in standard of review and procedural fairness jurisprudence at SCC and below, impact on lower authorities
• SCC: new correctness category in context of concurrent first-instance jurisdiction between courts and administrative bodies
• SCC: institutional role of interveners
• BCCA: new correctness category in context of jurisdictional boundaries between administrative decision-makers and legislative bodies
• FCA: development in the test for intervention at the Federal Court
• expansion of test for legal threshold for standing
• increasing prevalence of appointment of amici curiae
• JRPA amendment to enable judicial review of Indigenous governing bodies when consent agreements reached for joint decision-making