As with the courts found within the United States, the information provided on the web from each provincial or territorial court varies. Some of the courts listed below include recent judgments on their web pages in a searchable format. Many also include downloadable forms. Most, but not all of the provinces and territories follow the same pattern of levels of courts. However, there are some variations in how the lowest level of court is broken up from province to province. For more information regarding the jurisdiction of each of the courts set below, it is advised to consult each court's web site for up-to-the minute information.
- Court of Appeal: This is Alberta's highest level court. This court hears appeals from the Court of Queen's Bench, and the Provincial Court, as well as some administrative tribunals.
- Court of Queen's Bench: This is Alberta's superior trial court. It hears both civil and criminal cases, and some appeals from the Provincial Court.
- Provincial Court: There are five different courts within the Provincial Court of Alberta. For more information about the jurisdiction of each of these five courts, click on any of the links below.
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- Court of Appeal: This is the highest court of appeal in the province. It hears some appeals from the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
- Supreme Court: This is British Columbia's superior trial court. It hears both civil and criminal cases, and some appeals from the Provincial Court.
- Provincial Court: This is British Columbia's first level court. It hears both civil and criminal, traffic, child protection, family, and small claims cases. Its web site includes a searchable judgment database dating back to 1999.
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- Court of Appeal: This is the highest court of appeal in the province. It hears appeals from the Court of Queen's Bench on civil, criminal and family law matters.
- Court of Queen's Bench: This is the highest trial court in the province. It hears both jury and non-jury matters, for both civil, criminal, and family matters.
- Provincial Court: This trial level court in Manitoba hears primarily criminal cases. It also hears some youth criminal cases and some family cases.
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- Court of Appeal: This is the highest court of appeal in the province.
- Court of Queen's Bench: In New Brunswick, this court is broken into two divisions: (1) Trial Division, and (2) Family Division.
- Provincial Court:
This trial level court in New Brunswick hears criminal cases with a few exceptions (murder being one of the main exceptions).
- Probate Court: This court is separate from the Court of Queen's Bench, but it is presided over by a Queen's Bench judge.
- Small Claims Court:
This court hears civil suits where the value involved is $6,000 or less.
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- Supreme Court (Court of Appeal) of Newfoundland and Labrador: This is the highest court of appeal in the province. It hears appeals on both civil and criminal matters from
hear appeals in both criminal and civil matters from the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador (Trial Division), Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador (Unified Family Court), and Provincial Court. Appeals can also be made to the Supreme Court (Court of Appeal) from certain boards and administrative tribunals.
- The Registry (Supreme Court) is responsible for
many services regarding the processing of civil and criminal cases heard in the Supreme Court.
- The Estates Division operates under the Registrar of the Supreme Court. In addition to being the financial branch, where monies are paid into and out of the Court, it is also responsible for managing estates and performing guardianship services as conferred by court order or mandated by law.
- Supreme Court (Trial Division) : This trial division hears civil, criminal, and family matters on the trial level. It also hears limited criminal appeals from the Provincial Court, as well as limited civil appeals from
the Provincial Court (Family Division) and (Small Claims Division).
- Provincial Court : This court hears limited civil matters (including small claims), as well as family and criminal matters. It also has concurrent jurisdiction with the Supreme Court (Trial Division) over many indictable offenses, where the accused person may elect to have their trial held in the Provincial Court.
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The Northwest Territory Courts provide an online searchable database of judgments dating back to 1993.
- Court of Appeal of the Northwest Territory: This is the highest court of appeal within the territory.
It hears both criminal and civil appeals from the Supreme Court as well as appeals from the Territorial Court in regarding certain indictable offenses.
- Supreme Court of the Northwest Territory : This is a "
superior
court of record" and has broad jurisdiction over both civil and criminal cases throughout the Northwest Territory, unless expressly precluded by statute.
- Territorial Court of the Northwest Territory : This is the trial level court within the Northwest Territory and has jurisdiction similar to the provincial courts of the other provinces, in addition to any jurisdiction specifically provided for by federal or territorial legislation.
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The Courts of Nova Scotia provide decisions online starting with 2004 in a searchable database. It is anticipated that this database will be updated over time.
- Court of Appeal: This is the highest court of appeal in the province.
- Supreme Court: This court has two branches: (1) Family Division in the Halifax Regional Municipality and Cape Breton; and (2) the regular division. In areas not covered by these divisions, family matters are heard in the Family Court.
- Provincial Court: This court hears mainly criminal cases (excluding murder).
It has " exclusive jurisdiction over all summary offence charges under provincial and federal statutes and regulations."
- Small Claims Court: This court hears cases involving claims for less than $15,000 (without interest added). It is managed by the Nova Scotia Department of Justice.
- Bankruptcy Court : This court hears bankruptcy cases arising under the
Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
- Probate Court:
This court hears estate matters, and does not have any monetary limits.
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The Nunavut Court of Justice is truly unique in that it is Canada's first and only one-level court, i.e., it is a unified court. The Circuit Court has at least one traveling judge and one circuit court judge sitting in
Iqaluit, and between these two judges, the court has about 2-3 sittings per each week of the year.
Decisions of the Nuvanut Court of Justice which have been made publicly available online since June 1, 2000, can be found at the web site of the Canadian Legal Information Institute. Selected judgments are available online from 1999.
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- Court of Appeal for Ontario: This court is the highest level court in Ontario and for most cases (but not all) , the last level of appeal. To search this court's judgments on the Canadian Legal Information Institute's web site, click here.
- Superior Court of Justice To search this court's judgments on the Canadian Legal Information Institute's web site, click here. That collection includes decisions made publicly available since October 1, 2002, with selective coverage beginning in 1994. NEED TO FILL THIS OUT MORE
- Ontario Court of Justice To search this court's judgments on the Canadian Legal Information Institute's web site, click here. NEED TO FILL THIS OUT MORE
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There are three levels of court in Prince Edward Island, as set forth below.
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There are three levels of court in Saskatchewan, as set forth below.
- Court of Appeal: This court hears appeals from the Court of Queen's Bench and the Provincial Court as well as other quasi-judicial commissions to determine if any errors of law were made by the judge or adjudicator.
- Court of Queen's Bench
- Provincial Court: This court hears both civil and criminal cases, and is made up of many divisions, set forth below.
Youth Justice
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Yukon Territory
- Court of Appeal : This court hears appeals from the Territorial Court as well as the Supreme Court of Yukon Territory, on both civil and criminal cases.
- Supreme Court of Yukon Territory: This court follows the rules of the Supreme Court of British Columbia as well as any other rules that its judges may set forth.
- Territorial Court of Yukon Territory: This court has exclusive jurisdiction over child protection cases, but it does not hear matters pertaining to divorce, custody or adoption. It hears almost all adult and youth criminal matters.
- Small Claims Court: This court hears civil matters in which the amount of the claim is for $5,000 or less.
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