Background:

• Kelly Martin, the respondent, obtained a second mortgage of approximately $65,000 on her residence in 2019, making monthly payments via post-dated cheques.
• Her account was fraudulently accessed in June 2019, leading to her June payment being dishonored.
• The mortgage was assigned to 11037315 Canada Inc. (the appellant), who obtained a default judgment and sold the property to a third party in December 2019 without Martin's knowledge.
• Martin only discovered the sale in January 2020 when approached by the third-party buyer.
• The default judgment was later set aside, and a reference was ordered to determine the funds payable to Martin from the sale.

Key Issues:

1. The appellant challenged the Reference judge’s order to pay $354,197.58 plus interest to Martin from the property sale proceeds.
2. The appellant filed an appeal directly to the Court of Appeal and sought an extension of time to perfect the appeal.
3. The respondent filed a motion to quash the appeal, arguing the appellant had not exhausted procedural remedies under Rule 54 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

Court’s Findings:

• No Right of Direct Appeal: Rule 54 requires procedural steps in the Superior Court (e.g., motions to vary, set aside, or oppose confirmation of a reference report) before appealing to the Court of Appeal.
• The appellant bypassed these required steps, making the direct appeal invalid.
• The argument that the Reference judge’s role as a Superior Court judge conferred jurisdiction under Section 6(b) of the Courts of Justice Act was rejected.

Decision:

• The motion to quash the appeal was granted.
• Costs of $6,295 were awarded to the respondent on a partial indemnity basis.