Significant and Fundamental Changes to Civil Litigation Proposed
Starting in January 2024, Attorney General Doug Downey and Chief Justice Morawetz launched the Civil Rules Review, which is an effort by a select working group to identify and eventually implement reforms to the Rules of Civil Procedure (“Rules”).
The creation of the Civil Rules Review has been welcomed by many in the litigation bar. While the Rules and jurisprudence surrounding the Rules are guided by ensuring that litigants participate in a fair process, many are of the view they have placed an unsustainable burden on litigants and the Courts.
Legal proceedings often take several years to reach a final resolution while procedural motions often take over a year to be determined. This reality, along with the expense of litigation, means that the current system is not working for many litigants.
On April 1, 2025, the Civil Rules Review released its Phase 2 consultation paper in which it set out proposed reforms to the Rules and have invited comments from the legal industry, which are to be submitted by June 16, 2025.
While the proposed reforms may be amended or not approved, the paper suggests that the Civil Rules Review is considering a complete upheaval of the existing processes in the Rules.
The overarching goal of the proposed reforms is to have dispositive hearings for most claims heard within two years of the claim’s commencement. Some of the key changes that are being proposed include:
a) the use of pre-litigation protocols and discovery for certain types of disputes;
b) the elimination of the statement of claim, notice of action and notice of application to be replaced by an online fillable form suitable for all proceedings;
c) allowing for service of claims by e-mail;
d) requiring a plaintiff to provide notice to a defendant who has been noted in default for not responding to a claim;
e) the up-front exchange of sworn (or affirmed) witness statements after pleadings have closed;
f) a reliance-based standard for documentary disclosure requiring the parties to disclose any documents upon which they intend to rely at the final dispositive hearing and any adverse documents known to be in their possession;
g) the ability by a party to request that additional documents be provided to them by an opposing party;
h) the entire elimination of oral discovery to be replaced with limited written interrogatories;
i) mandatory case conferencing with a judge prior to scheduling a dispositive hearing;
j) clarifying appeal routes and appeal rights; and,
k) the ability to obtain disclosure from financial institutions regarding basic bank account information of a judgment creditor when judgment has been obtained.
The legal industry now has time to digest the proposed reforms and provide feedback. Lawyers at Loopstra Nixon LLP are participating in the consultation and feedback processes for this review and will continue to monitor these developments. Please inform any of our litigators if you are interested in receiving regular updates on these fundamental changes to Ontario’s justice system.