CANADA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Craig Ferris, Laura Bevan, Anna Paczkowski and Codie Chisholm, Lawson Lundell LLP
court system, including the public, self-represented litigants, lawyers, judges and court staff. The Committee’s work is proceeding through three phases. The Phase One Report related to scoping was released in May 2024. The Phase Two Report related to study and policy proposal development was released in April 2025 and contains significant changes, adopting several procedures from arbitra- tion practice. The Phase Two Report is still subject to comment, and the current plan is for Phase Three to be completed in 2026. The Phase Three Report will include refinements, drafting and implementation of the policy proposals. The Phase Two Report is predicated on advancing a culture shift, addressing what the Committee believes is a “maximalist culture of litigating” that is driving concerns about access to justice, runaway costs and excessive delays. The two main areas of focus are the discovery regime and motions practice, although there are recommendations regarding other areas such as appeals and enforcement. The high-level proposals include the following. • The new regime will apply to all civil cases, with modification to some types of proceedings that involve unique policy considerations or legislative schemes, such as insolvency and class actions. • A pre-litigation protocol (PLP) will apply to certain enumerated cases, such as personal injury and debt collection. The PLP will require the parties to exchange certain documents and discuss early mediation before suing. • All claims will be started through one standardised form.
• Claims that are required or authorised to proceed by way of application will proceed directly to a direction conference, to set a schedule for proce- dural steps and obtain a date for a paper-based hearing. • For all other claims, the parties will engage in an up-front exchange of evidence after pleadings are completed, which will include: (a) sworn witness statements forming their case in chief; and (b) documents based on a modified reliance- based standard (documents that the party intends to rely upon at the final dispositive hearing and any adverse documents known). • Oral examinations for discovery will be eliminated. After the exchange of evidence, the parties will attend either a one-year scheduling conference to set a schedule for procedural steps and obtain a final disposition hearing or a directions conference if interlocutory relief or more court involvement is required. • The goal is to schedule final disposition hearings within two years of the claim’s commencement. The Committee highlights that many of its proposals reflect a shift from a process largely managed by the parties to one supervised by the court. Some of these changes have had success in jurisdictions like the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. If adopted, Ontario’s procedures would be materi- ally different to those of the rest of the country and may be persuasive in the other provinces and terri- tories. Ontario is not the only jurisdiction grappling with access to justice concerns and increased costs and delay.
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