This blog provides an overview of court services that are available for civil and commercial list matters and appeals as of the date of publication of this blog.
Ontario Superior Court of Justice
Effective March 17, 2020, and until further notice, all regular operations of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice have been suspended. All civil matters, including all telephone and video conference appearances, scheduled to be heard on or after Tuesday March 17, 2020 have been adjourned until further notice. For Commercial List (Toronto) matters, all regular, non-urgent matters have been adjourned to after June 1, 2020 to a date be determined.
The Court continues to hear an enumerated list of urgent matters. For Civil and Commercial List (Toronto) the list is as follows:
- urgent and time-sensitive motions and applications in civil and commercial list matters, where immediate and significant financial repercussions may result if there is no judicial hearing
- outstanding warrants issued in relation to a Small Claims Court or Superior Court civil proceeding, and
- any other matters the Court deems necessary and appropriate to hear on an urgent basis.
Subject to each Region’s Notice, the Court will hold remote hearings in most court locations for the following non-urgent civil matters:
- Pre-Trial Conferences cancelled between March 16 and May 21, 2020 due to the court closure may be rescheduled at the request of parties
- Rule 7 Litigation Guardian motions or applications for approval of settlement, in writing
- Consent motions, in writing.
Litigants must carefully review the Notice to the Profession issued on March 15, 2020 and the Supplementary Notice to the Profession issued on April 2, 2020 (which provides links to each Region’s Notice, e.g. Toronto) to determine whether their matter is one the Court may hear at this time and the proper procedure for bringing a matter before the Court. For matters on the Commercial List (Toronto), litigants should further refer to the Commercial List (Toronto) Directive issued March 16, 2020.
Courthouses remain open for regular, non-urgent filings. Where possible, parties should consider e-filing options for the Small Claims Court here, for Superior Court civil claims here, and the Commercial List (Toronto) here. If litigants must file documents at the Courthouse but it becomes impossible or unsafe to do so due to COVID-19 concerns, parties can expect the Court to grant an extension once regular operations resume. It is also important to note that the Government of Ontario has enacted Ontario Regulation 50/20 (the “Regulation”) suspending certain limitation periods and deadlines. Therefore, litigants should carefully review the Regulation, e-filing options, and notices by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice as well as any new laws or regulations enacted by the Government of Ontario to determine their obligations for filing documents.
The Court plans to establish a Return to Operations (RO) Scheduling Court where litigants will be able to reschedule adjourned matters. We will provide an update on this plan as the information becomes available.
Visit the Superior Court of Justice “Notices and Updates – Covid-19” page for the latest updates.
Divisional Court
Urgent matters continue to be heard pursuant to the Notice to the Profession issued March 15, 2020. Effective April 6, 2020, additional non-urgent matters will be scheduled for remote hearings via telephone or video conference or heard in writing. For more information, refer to the Divisional Court Notice issued April 2, 2020.
Ontario Court of Appeal
Urgent appeals will be heard remotely or based on the written materials already filed. Parties who wish to have their matter heard on an urgent basis should send a request to the Senior Legal Officer at COA.SeniorLegalOfficer@ontario.ca. The request should indicate:
- why the matter is urgent;
- whether all parties consent to the hearing of the appeal on an urgent basis;
- whether the parties consent to having the decision rendered based on the filed written materials or whether they want a remote hearing.
Non-urgent matters may be heard based on written materials already filed. All parties must consent to have the matter heard in writing. The request should also be sent to the Senior Legal Office at COA.SeniorLegalOfficer@ontario.ca.
Single judge motions will continue to be heard remotely until further notice. Alternatively, on consent, a motion may proceed based on the written materials already filed.
Public counter services are closed until further notice. All filings can be sent via e-mail to coa.e-file@ontario.ca, mailed, or dropped off outside the Intake Office.
Visit the Ontario Court of Appeal Notices Regarding COVID-19 page for the latest updates.
Janine Abuluyan is the 2019/2020 Articling Student at Goldman Sloan Nash & Haber LLP.
The information contained herein is for the general information of the reader and is not intended as legal advice or opinion. For further information or help with specific matters, the reader should contact a member of the firm.