Appeal rights from arbitration awards may be varied by contract

Patton-Casse v. Casse, 2012 ONCA 709 is a source for the principle that the rights of appeal from arbitrations can be varied by prior agreement:

 

[9]        The appeal judge correctly identified that the appeal was one of mixed fact and law and that the rights of appeal in the arbitration agreement were unlimited.  That is, while the Arbitration Act, 1991, S.O. 1991, c. 17, significantly limits the appeals of arbitration awards, it does permit the parties to contract out of this limitation by specifically agreeing to more wide-ranging appeal rights.  This is what happened here.  In this case, the “Agreement to Arbitrate” dated June 25, 2009 stated that either party may appeal the award on a question of law, a question of fact or a question of mixed law and fact.