Zenith Aluminum Systems Ltd. (Zenith) sought to enforce two arbitral awards against 2335945 Ontario Inc. cob as Momentum Developments (Momentum), totaling over $400,000.
Momentum consented to the enforcement but brought a cross-application to stay the execution of these awards pending the disposition of a separate breach of trust action and counterclaim for delay and deficiencies.
The court dismissed Momentum's application for a stay, finding that the high bar for staying final judgments under s. 106 of the Courts of Justice Act was not met.
The court rejected the argument that s. 50 of the Arbitration Act precluded a stay, but affirmed that such stays are reserved for "very rare circumstances" (e.g., oppressive conduct) or where the three-part RJR-MacDonald test for interlocutory stays is satisfied, neither of which applied here.
The court also refused to apply the less restrictive Rule 20.08, as arbitral awards are treated as final judgments, not summary judgments.
