General Principles
 57.01 (1) In exercising its discretion under section 131 of the Courts of Justice Act to award costs, the court may consider, in addition to the result in the proceeding and any offer to settle or to contribute made in writing, (0.a) the principle of indemnity, including, where applicable, the experience of the lawyer for the party entitled to the costs as well as the rates charged and the hours spent by that lawyer; (0.b) the amount of costs that an unsuccessful party could reasonably expect to pay in relation to the step in the proceeding for which costs are being fixed; (a) the amount claimed and the amount recovered in the proceeding; (b) the apportionment of liability; (c) the complexity of the proceeding; (d) the importance of the issues; (e) the conduct of any party that tended to shorten or to lengthen unnecessarily the duration of the proceeding; (f) whether any step in the proceeding was, (i) improper, vexatious or unnecessary, or (ii) taken through negligence, mistake or excessive caution; (g) a party’s denial of or refusal to admit anything that should have been admitted; (h) whether it is appropriate to award any costs or more than one set of costs where a party, (i) commenced separate proceedings for claims that should have been made in one proceeding, or (ii) in defending a proceeding separated unnecessarily from another party in the same interest or defended by a different lawyer; (h.1) whether a party unreasonably objected to proceeding by telephone conference or video conference under rule 1.08; and (i) any other matter relevant to the question of costs.  R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194, r. 57.01 (1); O. Reg. 627/98, s. 6; O. Reg. 42/05, s. 4 (1); O. Reg. 575/07, s. 1; O. Reg. 689/20, s. 37. Costs Against Successful Party (2) The fact that a party is successful in a proceeding or a step in a proceeding does not prevent the court from awarding costs against the party in a proper case.  R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194, r. 57.01 (2). Fixing Costs:  Tariffs (3) When the court awards costs, it shall fix them in accordance with subrule (1) and the Tariffs.  O. Reg. 284/01, s. 15 (1). Assessment in Exceptional Cases (3.1) Despite subrule (3), in an exceptional case the court may refer costs for assessment under Rule 58.  O. Reg. 284/01, s. 15 (1). Authority of Court (4) Nothing in this rule or rules 57.02 to 57.07 affects the authority of the court under section 131 of the Courts of Justice Act, (a) to award or refuse costs in respect of a particular issue or part of a proceeding; (b) to award a percentage of assessed costs or award assessed costs up to or from a particular stage of a proceeding; (c) to award all or part of the costs on a substantial indemnity basis; (d) to award costs in an amount that represents full indemnity; or (e) to award costs to a party acting in person.  R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194, r. 57.01 (4); O. Reg. 284/01, s. 15 (2); O. Reg. 42/05, s. 4 (2); O. Reg. 8/07, s. 3. Bill of Costs (5) After a trial, the hearing of a motion that disposes of a proceeding or the hearing of an application, a party who is awarded costs shall serve a bill of costs (Form 57A) on the other parties and shall file it, with proof of service.  O. Reg. 284/01, s. 15 (3). Costs Outline (6) Unless the parties have agreed on the costs that it would be appropriate to award for a step in a proceeding, every party who intends to seek costs for that step shall give to every other party involved in the same step, and bring to the hearing, a costs outline (Form 57B) not exceeding three pages in length.  O. Reg. 42/05, s. 4 (3). Process for Fixing Costs (7) The court shall devise and adopt the simplest, least expensive and most expeditious process for fixing costs and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, costs may be fixed after receiving written submissions, without the attendance of the parties.  O. Reg. 42/05, s. 4 (3).