Factum Requirements: Parts, Length, Format, and Deadlines

A factum is the written argument you file with a Canadian appellate court before oral hearing, and its requirements cover five things: what parts it must contain, how long it can be, how it must be formatted, how it is served and filed, and when it is due. The details are set by each court’s own rules, so factum requirements at the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal, and each provincial court of appeal differ in ways that matter. Get the technical rules wrong and the registry can reject the filing.

The Parts of a Factum

Canadian appellate courts use a consistent five-part structure with small variations in labels. In Ontario, Rules 61.11 and 61.12 of the Rules of Civil Procedure govern the appellant’s and respondent’s factums.¹ The Supreme Court of Canada uses a more detailed version under Rule 42, running to seven parts.²

Part I — Overview and facts. A concise summary of the case, the issues on appeal, and the relevant facts. The appellant tells the story from their perspective; the respondent identifies which facts they accept, which they dispute, and any additional facts they consider important. Every factual claim should reference the trial transcript or exhibits so a judge can verify it without hunting through the full record.¹

Part II — Issues. A clear list of the legal questions before the court. The appellant frames each as an error made by the lower court; the respondent states a position on each one.

Part III — Argument. The substantive legal analysis, citing case law and legislation. References must point to specific paragraph numbers of the authorities relied on.²

Part IV. At the Supreme Court of Canada, this is a submission on costs, one page maximum. In Ontario’s Court of Appeal, the respondent uses Part IV to raise any additional issues not covered by the appellant’s factum.

Part V — Order requested. A precise statement of the relief sought: a new trial, a reversal, or a variation of the original order.

Schedules and Tables of Authority

In Ontario, Schedule A lists every case, statute, and regulation cited in the argument, and Schedule B reproduces the full text of the relevant legislative provisions.¹ At the Supreme Court of Canada, Part VI is the table of authorities, arranged alphabetically with paragraph references back to Part III, and Part VII contains the text of any statutes, regulations, or bylaws relied on, printed in both official languages where required by law.² Schedules do not count toward page or word limits.

Hyperlinks

Ontario’s Court of Appeal expects factums to contain hyperlinks to cases cited, linking either to the party’s book of authorities or to judgment databases on Canadian court websites or CanLII. Where possible, factums should also hyperlink to referenced documents.³

Length Limits

Length rules vary sharply by court, and they are strictly enforced.

In Ontario’s Court of Appeal, civil factums cannot exceed 9,200 words and 40 pages. Both limits apply. The word count includes everything except the schedules: citations, footnotes, headings, and charts all count. Criminal appeal factums in Ontario follow a 30-page limit under the Criminal Appeal Rules, though the court now accepts criminal factums that comply with the civil 9,200-word-and-40-page standard as an alternative.³

At the Supreme Court of Canada, Parts I through V cannot exceed 40 pages for an appellant or respondent, 20 pages for an attorney general intervener, and 10 pages for other interveners.² Alberta’s Court of Appeal caps factums at 30 pages for standard appeals.⁴ Filing anything longer requires a motion, and in most courts a convincing explanation of why the standard limit is not enough.

Font, Spacing, and Margins

Ontario requires 12-point or larger font, with Arial or Times New Roman encouraged, double-spaced text, and left-hand margins of approximately 40 millimetres. Quotations longer than four lines and footnotes may be single-spaced.³ Alberta likewise requires at least 12-point font but permits 1.5 line spacing rather than full double-spacing, and quotations can drop to 10-point font.⁴ The differences are small but consequential. A factum formatted for Alberta’s spacing rules might exceed Ontario’s page limit for the same word count.

Cover Colors

Cover colors let judges and clerks identify which party’s factum they are reading. The scheme is not uniform across the country:

Ontario criminal appeals: appellant blue, respondent green.⁵
Supreme Court of Canada: appellant beige, respondent green, intervener blue.⁶
Alberta: appellant beige or ivory, respondent green, intervener blue.⁴

Always check the rules of the specific court you are filing in.

Serving and Filing

Before filing with the court, you must serve the factum on the opposing party’s lawyer, or on the party directly if they are self-represented. At the Supreme Court of Canada, service can happen by personal delivery, registered mail, courier, fax, or email, and proof of service (usually an affidavit confirming delivery) must be filed within two days of serving the document.⁷

Most Canadian appellate courts now accept electronic filing alongside traditional methods. The Supreme Court of Canada allows filing through its electronic portal, by fax or email, or by hand delivery, mail, or courier. There is an important catch. If you file electronically, you must still submit bound originals and the required copies by hand delivery, mail, or courier within five business days.⁷ Electronic filing secures your filing date but does not replace the paper requirement. Ontario’s Court of Appeal requires factums signed with an electronic signature.³

Deadlines

Filing deadlines depend on the court and the type of appeal. In the Federal Court of Appeal, the appellant must file their factum (called a memorandum of fact and law in that court) within 30 days of filing the appeal book, and the respondent has 30 days after the appellant’s memorandum is served.⁸ Provincial courts of appeal set their own timelines, and many issue a specific briefing order or scheduling direction rather than relying on a fixed number of days from a triggering event. Missing a factum deadline without obtaining an extension can lead to the appeal being dismissed for delay.

Filing Fees

Court fees for appeals are separate from the factum itself but form part of the overall cost. In Ontario, filing a notice of appeal costs $243 for most civil matters, and perfecting the appeal (which includes filing the factum and appeal materials) costs $645.⁹ Fees vary across provinces, and some proceedings are exempt entirely.

If You Are Looking at a US Case

The term factum is Canadian. The equivalent document in the United States is the appellate brief, governed by the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure in federal court and by analogous rules in state courts. If your matter is in a US court, the requirements — length in words rather than pages, a jurisdictional statement, a corporate disclosure statement, different cover colors — come from those rules, not from any Canadian factum rule discussed above.

1
Ontario.ca. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194 – Rules of Civil Procedure
2
Justice Laws Website. Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada – SOR/2002-156
3
Ontario Courts. General Practice Direction Regarding All Proceedings in the Court of Appeal
4
Alberta Court of Appeal. Overview of the Factum
5
Ontario.ca. O. Reg. 721/94 – Rules of the Court of Appeal in Appeals Under the Criminal Code
6
Justice Laws Website. Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada – Section 42
7
Justice Laws Website. Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada – SOR/2002-156
8
Federal Court of Appeal. Procedural Charts
9
Ontario.ca. O. Reg. 293/92 – Superior Court of Justice and Court of Appeal Fees