Executive Summary: Key Legal and Evidentiary Issues

• Leave to appeal was sought from a Superior Court judgment that had granted judicial review of a Court of Québec decision.
   
• The underlying dispute traces back to a property assessment review initially dismissed by the Administrative Tribunal of Québec.
   
• Article 30, paragraph 2 and article 357 of the Code of Civil Procedure govern the availability of leave to appeal in this context.
   
• Courts generally grant leave to appeal judicial review judgments sparingly, according to established appellate jurisprudence.
   
• Justice Bachand found that the proposed appeal raised questions meriting the Court of Appeal's attention.
   
• Costs in the matter were ordered to follow the eventual outcome of the appeal rather than being fixed at this stage.
   

Facts of the case

The case originates from a property assessment dispute involving Corporation d'habitation Porte Jaune inc. and the Ville de Montréal. The Administrative Tribunal of Québec had dismissed Corporation d'habitation Porte Jaune inc.'s application for review of its property assessment. The Court of Québec subsequently reversed that Tribunal decision. The Ville de Montréal then sought judicial review of the Court of Québec's judgment in the Superior Court, and the Superior Court granted that application. Corporation d'habitation Porte Jaune inc. then applied to the Court of Appeal for leave to appeal the Superior Court's judgment.

Policy and legislative provisions at issue

The application was governed by article 30, paragraph 2 and article 357 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which set out the framework for seeking leave to appeal a judgment that terminates a proceeding. Justice Bachand also referenced the Court's own procedural rules on the form of appellate submissions, citing articles 13 and 58 of the Regulation of the Court of Appeal in civil matters and Notice to the Bar No. 3, which limit written arguments to a maximum of 20 pages and govern the use of appendices.

Reasoning and analysis

Justice Bachand acknowledged the well-established principle that leave to appeal judgments rendered in judicial review matters is granted with restraint, citing Lamontagne v. Sani Métal ltée in support of that threshold. Notwithstanding that generally high bar, he concluded that the appeal Corporation d'habitation Porte Jaune inc. proposed to bring raised questions that warranted the Court of Appeal's attention. He further found that permitting the appeal of the Superior Court's judgment served the interest of justice, though the judgment does not elaborate further on the specific questions identified.

Ruling and overall outcome

Justice Bachand granted Corporation d'habitation Porte Jaune inc.'s application for leave to appeal the Superior Court's judgment of May 4, 2026. He set September 25, 2026 as the deadline for the appellant's brief and October 30, 2026 as the deadline for the respondent's brief, each limited to 20 pages plus applicable appendices, and referred the file to the Roll Clerk's Office for scheduling. Costs were ordered to follow the outcome of the appeal, meaning no monetary award was fixed at this stage — the amount, if any, will depend on the eventual result of the appeal itself.