Civil — Central West Region

30. All requests for a transfer of a civil proceeding from one judicial region to another must comply with Rule 13.01.02 of the Rules of Civil Procedure and the Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction for Civil Proceedings.
31. The Court may, on its own initiative in exceptional circumstances, at a motion or other hearing, transfer the proceeding to another judicial region where appropriate.

32. Pursuant to Rule 13.1.01(3) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, Brampton, Milton, Orangeville, or Owen Sound have been designated as the place for commencement of mortgage proceedings for property located anywhere in the Central West Region.

33. Where all interested parties agree that a motion may be decided on written materials and by written submissions (without an attendance in person or virtually), then the parties must agree on a timetable and when all Court documents are ready, file same with the Court in accordance with Part 1, section B. Uploading to Case Center is NOT required. Motions in writing will be forwarded to a presiding judge to be dealt with as expeditiously as possible.

34. Basket Motions must be filed with the Court in accordance with the filing requirements set out above. Uploading to Case Center is NOT required.
35. Simple, procedural, consent and known uncontested matters must be filed or brought as a basket motion. A draft Order in WORD format must be filed. It is up to the judge reviewing the basket motion, to ask for further submissions, refer part or all the matter to a viva voce hearing, determine whether to direct that notice the motion be served on other side and/or direct the matter be heard in open court.
36. Where these are brought on a regular or short motions list, the motion judge will direct the party to file the basket motion and may make a cost award against the party bringing the regular motion.
37. Contested motions (and those anticipated to be opposed or unknown whether they will be opposed) should notbe scheduled or heard as basket motions. These motions should be scheduled and heard in a motions Court.

38. Counsel and parties must go to Calendly for Brampton to schedule their Short/Regular Motion except where a self-represented party does not have the technology or ability to access the internet, in which case the self-represented party may schedule the Short/Regular Motion by telephone. Calendly will not accept scheduling for a motion within 10 days of the hearing date. Short/Regular Motions will not and cannot be scheduled by the Trial Coordinator’s Office by email or by telephone.
39. Parties and counsel are encouraged to consult the Superior court of Justice’s tip-sheet on the use of Calendly to book events, available on the court’s website here: Calendly Tip Sheet for Counsel and Self-Represented Parties
40. To schedule a Short/Regular Motion, counsel or parties using Calendly are required to provide the Court certain confirmations and/or undertakings. Failure to comply with these undertakings and confirmations may result in consequences to counsel and/or the parties because the failure to do so impacts on the efficient administration of justice. Such consequences may include cost awards or being summoned to a conference by the RSJ or the RSJ’s designate to explain the non-compliance.
41. Any cancellations or adjournments using Calendly must be on consent.
42. Cancellations and adjournments will not be accepted on Calendly within 10 days of the scheduled hearing date. The parties will have to attend at the hearing unless adjourned by judicial direction.
43. If a Short/Regular Motion is re-scheduled to a later date, it is the responsibility of Counsel or the Parties to ensure that the previous scheduled motion date is vacated in Calendly.

44. Short/Regular Motions should be scheduled by emailing the Court requesting available dates at:

45. The moving and responding parties must comply with the Filing requirements set out above in Part 1, section B.
46. Except pursuant to a judge’s express direction, late filing of or uploading of short/regular motion materials (or those which fail to meet document standards or exceed the prescribed length or formatting) cannot or will not be accepted by the Court staff nor by Judicial Assistants and therefore cannot be uploaded to Case Center.
47. The request and reasons for late filing or uploading of motion materials will have to be addressed to the presiding motions judge, who will determine whether the motion proceeds with or without the late-served materials or is adjourned. Adjournments and cost consequences may result.
48. Parties must give careful consideration to what is to be covered in the hearing time, the pace at which documents and authorities can reasonably be reviewed, and the time needed for oral argument on the issues raised. This consideration should extend to:
    • The number of issues which can properly be dealt with in oral argument, and
    • The number of authorities actually required in order to establish the legal propositions relied upon.
49. Inaccurate estimates for the time required for hearings may result in a case being adjourned (either before or during the hearing) and rescheduled for a realistic time estimate with no expedition of the rescheduling. There may also be costs consequences.

50. A Confirmation (Form 37B or 38B) must be filed:

    • By the moving party by 2 pm, five business days before the hearing; or
    • The responding party by 10 am three business days before the hearing.

51. The parties or their counsel should consult with each other prior to filing their Confirmations unless the parties are self-represented and prohibited from communicating by Court order.

52. Where a Confirmation has not been filed by at least one party, the short motion will not proceed, and the date will be vacated.
53. The Confirmation must only list the specific issues that are to be decided at the event. They should also indicate which materials the judge should review with clear reference to the specific volume, tab, and page numbers. Referring to “all” prior affidavits or documents is not appropriate and will be ignored. Referring to documents that the party does not intend to refer to in submissions is discouraged and may be a factor in determining costs.

54. The Confirmation must also include an appropriate time estimate for submissions on all issues in the motion including time required by the other party. If a party chooses not to make submission on an issue, the Court is entitled to consider that the party has abandoned that specific issue.

55. Confirmation forms must be uploaded to Case Center into the correct bundle.

56. As set out above, uploading of all filed motion materials must be done on or before the day and time for filing a Confirmation.

Initiating a Long Motion

57. A complete Motion Record or Application Record is to be served by the moving party with a return date of “TBA”.
58. Parties must comply with the Rules of Civil Procedure or the Family Law Rules with respect to service and delivery of responding materials.

Timetabling the Necessary Steps

59. The parties must discuss and, if possible, agree on a timetable for completion of all the necessary steps to be ready to proceed with the hearing of the matter.
60. Any timetable agreed upon by the parties must be in writing and can be forwarded to the Court to form a Court order. Any timetable agreed upon by the parties in writing or Court ordered as considered “peremptory” on all parties.
61. If the parties or their counsel cannot agree on a timetable for the hearing of the motion within 45 days of the service of the Moving Party Record, any party can request an attendance at Triage Court to set a timetable using the Requisition to Attend Long Motion Triage Court Form, available here.
62. Once the parties have complied with the agreed upon or Court ordered timetable, any party can request an attendance at Long Motion Triage Court seeking a hearing date.

Triage Court:

Currently in Brampton and in Milton

63. The Triage Court will deal with any scheduling, contested issues and setting a hearing date for these types of matters.
64. In Brampton, Triage Court will be held virtually on Tuesday mornings commencing at 9:00 am. Each matter will be limited to 10 minutes or less. NO MORE. Gowns are not required.
65. In Milton, Triage Court will be held virtually on Thursday mornings at 9:00 am. Each matter will be limited to 10 minutes or less. NO MORE. Gowns are not required.
66. The party/counsel requesting an attendance at Triage Court must complete the attached Requisition to Attend Triage Court and email the form to: In Brampton: scjtrialofficebrampton@ontario.ca; and In Milton: SCJHaltontrialoffice@ontario.ca.
67. The party obtaining the date will be advised of the date they are scheduled for the Triage Court. It is the responsibility of the party obtaining the date to IMMEDIATELY advise all other interested parties in writing (and keep proof of doing so should the Court require production of proof of service).

Transition for Milton

68. For these matters which already have a hearing date AND have complied with the Practice Direction, those hearing dates remain, unless any of the parties seek an attendance at the Triage Court.
69. If parties have not complied with the Practice Direction, they will be advised they must attend Triage Court to confirm they have an agree upon timetable and confirm/obtain a hearing date.
70. It is expected (and hoped) that hearing dates will be available within two months, most of which will be scheduled for Mondays, Wednesday and some on “week of” dates.

Adjournments/ Settlements

71. If on consent, the parties can adjourn a Long Motion provided that the TCO is notified at least 7 days prior to the hearing, after which the parties are required to attend the Long Motion hearing date.
72. Adjournments of the hearing date within 7 days will only be granted (even if on consent) where there are clear and compelling reasons beyond the control of the parties requiring an adjournment.
73. If a Long Motion is adjourned, the parties will have to re-attend at a Triage Court to obtain a new hearing date. The matter will NOT be given priority over other matters.
74. If a matter is settled, the parties are to advise the TCO IMMEDIATELY. The motion will be noted as such in the Court files.

Facta and Compendiums

75. A factum (or Summary of Argument) is required on all long motions. If the moving party does not file a factum as required by any timetable set or agreed upon or as required by the Rules, the motion date will be cancelled.
76. Except with leave of the Court, facta are limited to 20 pages.
77. A Compendium containing of the Court filed documents and excerpts of the evidence essential to the hearing of the motion may be uploaded to Case Center for long or complex motions. Where possible, the parties should agree on a Joint Compendium.

Confirming the Long Motion (7 days before the motion)

78. Unless otherwise directed by a judge:
    • All long motions must be confirmed by all interested parties by filing Confirmation Forms no later than by 2pm, 7days prior to the hearing date. Failure to file a Confirmation Form by at least one party will result in the long motion hearing date being vacated and made available to other parties on a short notice basis.
    • Where a Confirmation Form has not been filed by either party, the motion will not proceed, and the date will be vacated.
    • The Confirmation Form must list the specific issues that are to be addressed at the event. “All issues” is not acceptable. The form should also indicate which materials the judge should review. Referring to all prior affidavits or documents which have not been uploaded to Case Center is not appropriate.
    • The Confirmation Form must also include an appropriate time estimate for the entire motion including time required by the other party.
79. Confirmation forms must be uploaded to Case Center into the correct bundle.

Scheduling a Long Motion

80. Motions that are expected to take an hour or longer (including the other party’s reply and cross-motion, if any) must be scheduled as long motions and scheduled through the Trial Coordinator’s Office in the location where the motion is to be heard.
81. To obtain a long motion date from the Trial Coordinator’s Office in these centres, counsel/litigants must:
    • Unless the long motion is ex parte, confer with the opposing party to identify possible dates for the long motion and to discuss the estimated time required for the motion;
    • The moving party then must obtain a long motion date from the Trial Coordinator’s Office from the Courthouse where the motion is to be heard. When obtaining a date, counsel and litigants must advise the Trial Coordinator’s Office the estimated time required for the long motion; and
    • After the long motion date has been obtained, the moving party must serve and file their motion materials within 10 days(Notice of Motion, supporting affidavits and a draft Order) along with the Proof of Service. Subject to an order from a judge, failure to do so may result in the hearing date being vacated.
82. The parties are to proceed to agree upon a written timetable for the long motion. If counsel and the litigants are NOT able to agree to a timetable within 30 days of obtaining the hearing date, either party can request a procedural conference before the LAJ, RSJ or the RSJ’s designate to set a Court ordered timetable. The Court may consider costs if a party is withholding agreement to a reasonable timetable proposal or is deliberately delaying the hearing of the motion.
83. If there is a disagreement or an issue with the hearing date obtained by a party, the opposing party(s) may seek a conference before a judge to provide directions and orders with respect to the long motion hearing date.

Adjournment of Long Motions

84. Adjournments of long motions are strongly discouraged. Counsel and parties should expect that unnecessary adjournments will attract cost awards.
85. If all parties consent in writing, more than 21 days prior to the long motion hearing date, that the long motion is to be adjourned, one of the parties may write to the Court (copied to all other parties) setting out:
86. The request for an adjournment;
87. That it is on consent of all interested parties;
88. Only one adjournment will be granted on consent.
89. Counsel and the parties will be given the next available long motion date. Counsel and litigants should not expect to be given an earlier date because of the consent adjournment.
90. If counsel or a party seeks an opposed adjournment, more than 21 daysprior to the long motion hearing date, the party seeking the adjournment shall obtain from the Trial Coordinator’s Office a virtual attendance before a judge who will determine whether to grant the opposed adjournment of the long motion date or make an order for directions regarding the long motion.
91. Any adjournments sought within 21 days of the long motion hearing date, will have to be made to the motion’s judge on the scheduled hearing date.
92. A copy of the timetable agreement or Court ordered timetable must be provided to the motions judge.
93. If an adjournment is granted, all counsel and parties must bring and have available their Costs Outlines to permit the motions judge to deal with the issue of costs of the adjournment and to make any other order for directions.

Confirming the Long Motion (7 days before the motion)

94. Unless otherwise directed by a judge:
95. All long motions must be confirmed by all interested parties by filing Confirmation Forms no later than by 2pm, 7days prior to the hearing date. Failure to file a Confirmation Form by at least one party will result in the long motion hearing date being vacated and made available to other parties on a short notice basis.
96. Where a Confirmation Form has not been filed by either party, the motion will not proceed, and the date will be vacated.
97. The Confirmation Form must list the specific issues that are to be addressed at the event. “All issues” is not acceptable. The form should also indicate which materials the judge should review. Referring to all prior affidavits or documents which have not been uploaded to Case Center is not appropriate.
98. The Confirmation Form must also include an appropriate time estimate for the entire motion including time required by the other party.
99. Confirmation forms must be uploaded to Case Center into the correct bundle.

Facta and Compendiums

100. A factum (or Summary of Argument) is required on all long motions. If the moving party does not file a factum, the motion date will be cancelled. Except with leave of the Court, facta are limited to 20 pages.

101. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court:

     • The moving party’s factum must be served and filed three weeks prior to the hearing date.
     • The responding party’s factum must be served and filed two weeks prior to the hearing date.

102. A Compendium containing of the Court filed documents and excerpts of the evidence essential to the hearing of the motion may be uploaded to Case Center for long or complex motions. Where possible, the parties should agree on a Joint Compendium.

109. Any Motion/Application filed by a party as “urgent motion or application” will first be reviewed by a judge based on a review of the Notice of Motion/Application and supporting materials to determine whether the matter is indeed urgent and, if so, provide directions for the matter to be heard.
110. If the judge determines that the matter is NOT urgent, then the party bringing the Motion/Application will be advised of this decision and/or be given specific directions as the case may require.
111. Construction Act motions to vacate liens or other proposed interlocutory relief, may be brought as urgent motions.
112. In all cases, except where ordered by the Court, the urgent motion or application materials and endorsement must be served on all other interested parties.
113. Counsel and parties who wish to schedule an “urgent motion” must contact the Court Administrative Office.

114. Counsel will have to provide a letter setting out:

     • Why the matter is urgent;
     • The nature of the relief sought;
     • Whether the matter will be on notice or not;
     • Whether the motion materials are ready to proceed;
     • A time estimate for the motion; and
     • A draft Order.

115. Setting out arguments or submissions in the letter as to the merits of the proposed motion or application is not appropriate. If the matter ought to be on notice, the moving party shall serve the urgent motion materials and the endorsement in response to the request to the opposing side(s).

116. Where possible, the motion materials should be provided for a judge to review. The Trial Coordinator’s Office will provide the letter/materials to a judge to determine whether and how the matter is to proceed as an urgent motion. The moving party will be advised accordingly.

117. The parties should resolve the quantum of costs prior to the hearing and advise the motion’s judge of any resolution or that they have been unable to agree on the issue of costs.
118. Unless the parties have agreed on the quantum of costs, all counsel appearing on motions and applications must attend the hearing with their Costs Outline in accordance with Rule 57.01 and be prepared to provide the cost outlines to the presiding judge. If a Costs Outline is not available to be given to the presiding judge, the judge may decline to make any costs award in favour of the defaulting party.

119. Once the trial record is set down for trial pursuant to Rule 48, Rule 48.04 sets out the consequences of setting the action down for trial. Rule 48.04 provides that a party who sets an action down for trial or consents to placing the action on the trial list cannot initiate or continue any form of discovery or interlocutory motion without leave of the Court. Leave will be granted only in rare circumstances.
120. The Registrar will provide an Assignment Court date to the party who set the action down for trial. The party setting the action down for trial must ensure that all interested parties are properly identified in the Notice of Assignment Court.
121. At the Assignment Court, the action will, unless there are exceptional circumstances, either be placed on a trial list or struck from the trial list. If placed on a trial list, all parties are deemed ready for trial.
122. To restore an action that has been struck from the trial list, the parties must obtain an order granting leave from a judge under Rule 48.11 to restore it to the trial list. An order can be obtained by writing to the Court, on the consent of both parties, confirming that all parties are now ready to proceed to trial. Upon receipt of such a request, the matter will likely be placed on the next Assignment Court date without a further attendance.

123. In Brampton, Pre-Trial dates will be scheduled at the Assignment Court. In all other centres, the parties should contact the Trial Coordinator’s Office to obtain a pre-trial date, at which they will receive an Assignment Court date or a trial date.
124. Pre-trial dates will, where possible, be scheduled within 120 days of the first day fixed for trial or the commencement of the sittings.
125. Counsel and parties must comply with Rule 50 including that parties with authority to settle must attend pre-trial hearings.
126. All parties are to cooperate on the completion of the Pre-Trial Form (attached to this Practice Direction) well in advance of the Pre-trial date. To the extent that the parties cannot agree on certain items in the Pre-Trial Form, each party(s) may file their own Pre-Trial Form highlighting only the items that remain in dispute. This must be uploaded to Case Center.
127. Failure to cooperate on the completion of the Pre-Trial Form may result in cost consequences and/or the adjournment of the Pre-Trial or Trial date.
128. The fact that the parties agree on certain matters does not bind the pre-trial conference judge to accept the agreement with respect to the process to be followed or completion of the Pre-trial Judge’s Report under Rule 50.08.
129. The parties must comply with the provisions of Rule 53.03 with respect to expert reports and deliver the Certificate referred to in Rule 50.03. Failure to deliver all expert reports at least 90 days prior to the pre-trial will likely attract a cost sanction and other directions and terms may be imposed by the pre-trial judge including an order prohibiting expert testimony by any expert whose report was not served in compliance with this Rule.

130. Adjournment of scheduled trial dates will be rarely given, even when on consent.
131. Any requested adjournments must be by way of motion record and will be heard by the RSJ or the LAJ or the RSJ designate.

133. An order will be issued administratively (i.e., automatically) when certain claims are made in an Application, Motion to Change or Answer in accordance with Rule 8.0.1 of the Family Law Rules. These automatic orders require each party to comply with their financial disclosure responsibilities.
134. The party who commenced the claim will receive a copy of the Automatic Order and MUST serve it on the opposing parties. An Affidavit of Service should be filed and uploaded to Case Center.
135. Rule 13(3.1) of the Family Law Rulessets out which documents MUST be included with a Financial Statement where child or spousal support has been sought. An updated Certificate of Financial Disclosure must be provided to the other party.
136. A party who has not made all reasonable efforts to comply with their disclosure obligations may be subject to a cost sanction, directions/terms imposed and/or the adjournment of any motion brought by that party until compliance. In egregious cases, upon motion, continued non-compliance may result in a party’s pleadings being struck or found in contempt of court.

157. Conference should be scheduled by emailing the Court requesting available dates at:

158. Filing restrictions relating to family events are included in the Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction for Family Proceedings.
159. Late filing: Neither the Court staff nor Judicial Assistants can or will accept late Conference briefs or Conference briefs which do not comply with the restrictions regarding the length or proper formatting of filed documents. Requests to file and upload late Conference briefs must be made to the presiding judge and may result in an adjournment and/or cost consequences to the non-compliant party.

219. Parties must comply with the filing requirements in the Family Law Rules.

226. Unless dispensed by Court order, the moving party to a motion must email a Form 14C: Confirmation Form no later than 2 p.m. three business days before the date of the motion. The parties may file a Confirmation Form jointly. This applies even if the matter has been directed to be heard peremptorily.
227. As noted above, the parties or their counsel should consult with each other prior to filing their Confirmation Forms, unless the parties are self-represented and prohibited from communicating by Court order. These consultations must address both the attendance (time required and materials) and a potential resolution of the outstanding issues.
228. Where Confirmation Forms have not been filed, by at least one party, the hearing date will be vacated.
229. The Confirmation Form must list the specific issues that are to be addressed at the event and be uploaded to Case Center. It must also set out clearly which materials are necessaryfor the judge to review.
230. The Confirmation Form must also include an appropriate time estimate for the entire motion including time required by the other party.
231. Confirmation forms must be uploaded to Case Center into the correct bundle.