An examination for discovery is the oral, pre-trial questioning of one party's representative by the other side, under oath and before a court reporter, in a Tax Court of Canada General Procedure appeal. Its purposes are to learn the opposing case, obtain admissions, and test the strength of the Minister's assumptions of fact before trial.
Discovery is frequently where an appeal is effectively won or lost, because it exposes each side's evidentiary foundation. Questions that cannot be answered in the room are commonly taken as undertakings — commitments to provide the document or answer afterward. There is no oral examination for discovery in the Informal Procedure.