What is the scope of an award of punitive damages on an appeal?

Ontario, Canada


The following excerpt is from Cable Assembly Systems Ltd. v. Barnes, 2019 ONCA 1013 (CanLII):

Punitive damages, unlike compensatory damages, are not at large. As a result, an appellate court has a much broader scope for review on an appeal from an award of punitive damages. As Cory J. stated in Hill v. Church of Scientology of Toronto, 1995 CanLII 59 (SCC), [1995] 2 S.C.R. 1130, at para. 197, “[t]he appellate review should be based upon the court's estimation as to whether the punitive damages serve a rational purpose.”

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