Federal Courts Rules (SOR/98-106)

General Duty to the Court

• 1 An expert witness named to provide a report for use as evidence, or to testify in a proceeding, has an overriding duty to assist the Court impartially on matters relevant to his or her area of expertise.

• 2 This duty overrides any duty to a party to the proceeding, including the person retaining the expert witness. An expert is to be independent and objective. An expert is not an advocate for a party.

Experts’ Reports

• 3 An expert’s report submitted as an affidavit or statement referred to in rule 52.2 of the Federal Courts Rules shall include

  • (a) a statement of the issues addressed in the report;

  • (b) a description of the qualifications of the expert on the issues addressed in the report;

  • (c) the expert’s current curriculum vitae attached to the report as a schedule;

  • (d) the facts and assumptions on which the opinions in the report are based; in that regard, a letter of instructions, if any, may be attached to the report as a schedule;

  • (e) a summary of the opinions expressed;

  • (f) in the case of a report that is provided in response to another expert’s report, an indication of the points of agreement and of disagreement with the other expert’s opinions;

  • (g) the reasons for each opinion expressed;

  • (h) any literature or other materials specifically relied on in support of the opinions;

  • (i) a summary of the methodology used, including any examinations, tests or other investigations on which the expert has relied, including details of the qualifications of the person who carried them out, and whether a representative of any other party was present;

  • (j) any caveats or qualifications necessary to render the report complete and accurate, including those relating to any insufficiency of data or research and an indication of any matters that fall outside the expert’s field of expertise; and

  • (k) particulars of any aspect of the expert’s relationship with a party to the proceeding or the subject matter of his or her proposed evidence that might affect his or her duty to the Court.

• 4 An expert witness must report without delay to persons in receipt of the report any material changes affecting the expert’s qualifications or the opinions expressed or the data contained in the report.

Expert Conferences

• 5 An expert witness who is ordered by the Court to confer with another expert witness

  • (a) must exercise independent, impartial and objective judgment on the issues addressed; and

  • (b) must endeavour to clarify with the other expert witness the points on which they agree and the points on which their views differ.