Can a litigant of limited means pay the quantum or scale of their entitlement to costs?

Ontario, Canada


The following excerpt is from Nour v. Youssef, 2021 ONSC 5539 (CanLII):

That does not mean that a litigant of limited means is sheltered from all of the consequences of litigating. The ability to pay may be relevant to the issue of the quantum or scale of costs, but not to another party's entitlement to costs; nor should it shield a party who has acted unreasonably: Izyuk v. Bilousov, 2011 ONSC 7476, para. 51. As Spence J. wrote in Peers v. Poupore, at para. 42: “ability to pay alone cannot - nor should it - override the other factors in [what is now r. 24(12)].

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