The Test for Judicial Review of Municipal By-laws

Written on September 28, 2012.

The Supreme Court of Canada, in  Catalyst Paper Corp. v. North Cowichan (District), 2012 SCC 2, [2012] 1 S.C.R. 5, confirmed the test for judical review of a municipal by-law:

“The applicable standard of review is reasonableness. The power of the courts to set aside municipal bylaws is a narrow one…The critical question is what factors the court should consider in determining what lies within the range of possible reasonable outcomes. Courts reviewing bylaws for reasonableness must approach the task against the backdrop of the wide variety of factors that elected municipal councillors may legitimately consider in enacting bylaws, including broad social, economic and political issues. Only if the bylaw is one no reasonable body informed by these factors could have taken will the bylaw be set aside.”