CANADA Law and Practice Contributed by: John Pirie, Matthew Latella, David Gadsden and Christina Doria, Baker McKenzie
• orders ancillary to corporate reorganisations or other transactions, including plans of arrangement. 2.2 Enforcement of Domestic Judgments Each province in Canada has its own legislation gov - erning the enforcement of domestic judgments. As there is substantial overlap across this legislation, this chapter focuses on the enforcement of domestic judg - ments in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province. The enforcement of an order for the payment of mon - ey is largely governed by: • the Rules of Civil Procedure RRO 1990, Reg 194 (“the Rules”), which set out the procedures by which a judgment or order for the payment of money can be enforced; • the Execution Act RSO 1990, c E 24 (the “Execu - tion Act”), which sets out the role of the sheriff and a public official, and the rights of debtors and creditors; and • the Creditors’ Relief Act 2010, SO 2010, c 16, Sched 4, which provides the basis for the distri - bution of seized assets and establishes priori - ties among execution and garnishment creditors, support and maintenance orders, and debts of the Crown. The enforcement of an order that requires a party to do or abstain from doing an act may be dealt with by seeking a contempt order. Contempt orders do not apply to orders for the payment of money. A finding of contempt is a discretionary tool of last resort, but courts will not hesitate to impose sanctions where an order has been breached. In Carter v Carter , 2026 ONCA 29, the Ontario Court of Appeal recently upheld a contempt finding and a 90-day sentence against a party who deliberately breached a Mareva injunction. Such orders typically apply to all assets, including those acquired after the order is made – a key aspect of their efficacy. Enforcement Methods Primarily, there are four methods of enforcing a domestic judgment for the payment or recovery of money in Canada (and, specifically, in Ontario): • a writ of seizure and sale under the Rules;
• garnishment under the Rules; • a writ of sequestration under the Rules; and • the appointment of a receiver under the Rules, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act RSC 1985, c B-3, and the Courts of Justice Act RSO 1990, c C-43 (the “Courts of Justice Act”). Sheriff assistance Pursuant to the Courts of Justice Act, a creditor will require the assistance of the sheriff to enforce a domestic judgment for the payment of money. The creditor will need to file a writ of seizure and sale with the sheriff and move to enforce the writ after filing. As a practice note, depending on the nature of the defend - ant (eg, financial institutions being reliably willing to satisfy judgments voluntarily), moving to enforce a writ of seizure and sale should be done promptly after obtaining judgment, unless assets have been frozen prior to judgment. The creditor must provide the sher - iff with a direction to enforce, which includes detailed information as to the amount of the order, the amount and date of any payment, the rate of post-judgment interest, and the costs of enforcement. Upon receipt of the direction to enforce a writ of sei - zure and sale, the debtor’s property can be seized. The Execution Act empowers the sheriff to use rea - sonable force to enter the debtor’s land and premises if the sheriff has reasonable and probable grounds to believe that there is exigible property on the land or premises. One exception to this power is that the sheriff may not enter a dwelling place with force unless a court order is obtained. There are exceptions with regard to the types of per - sonal property that are exigible; for example, house - hold furniture, utensils, equipment, food and fuel contained in the debtor’s permanent home – up to a prescribed value – are not exigible, and neither are pension entitlements. The sheriff can enforce a writ against personal or real property. The writ will be valid for six years from the date of the judgment, but can be renewed. A writ will give the debtor priority over other unsecured credi - tors, but that priority is lost if the debtor becomes bankrupt. Other creditors who have perfected security interests in the debtor’s property will also have priority.
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