Ontario Superior Court of Justice · Regional Direction

Family — Northeast Region

Practice area  Family (regional direction only)
Region  Northeast
Applies to  Cochrane, Gore Bay, Haileybury, North Bay, Parry Sound, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Timmins
Source  Consolidated Practice Direction for the Northeast Region
Scraped  2026-05-18

Regional direction only. This contains the Northeast Region's general provisions and its family-specific rules. Province-wide family rules are kept separately.

GENERAL PROVISIONS —

Effective date: May 1, 2026

This consolidated regional practice direction replaces all previous region-specific practice directions for the Northeast region. Except as modified below, the Consolidated Provincial Practice Directions apply to proceedings in the Northeast region.

PART 1: PRELIMINARY MATTERS

A. Presumptive Modes of Appearance

  1. The following presumptive modes of appearance apply to the following steps in a family proceeding in the Northeast region (and not as provided for in the Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction for Family Proceedings):
    1. Case conference, via Zoom;
    2. Trial management conference, via Zoom, with the exception of those specifically identified by a judge or an associate judge as having a settlement conference focus;
    3. In Cochrane and Timmins only: settlement conference, via Zoom; and
    4. Binding Judicial Dispute Resolution, in person.
  2. The following presumptive modes of appearance apply to the following steps in a criminal proceeding in the Northeast region (and not as provided for in the Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction for Criminal Proceedings):
    1. Bail hearings, in person;
    2. Bail review and detention reviews, in person;
    3. Pre-trial applications, in person.
  3. Judges and associate judges sitting as Registrars in Bankruptcy will hear all bankruptcy matters in writing, or video conference. However, judges and associate judges sitting as Registrars in Bankruptcy may exercise their discretion to determine whether a matter should be heard in-person, on a case-by-case basis.
  4. A party may request that the mode of appearance for that party be changed from the presumptive mode by writing to the court at the following addresses relating to each of the eight locations in the Northeast region:
SCJ Locations Trial Coordinator Generic E-mail Address
Cochrane Cochrane.SCJ.TC@ontario.ca
Gore Bay / Manitoulin GoreBay.SCJ.TC@ontario.ca
Haileybury Haileybury.scj.tc@ontario.ca
North Bay NorthBay.scj.tc@ontario.ca
Parry Sound ParrySound.scj.tc@ontario.ca
Sault Ste. Marie SaultSteMarie.scj.tc@ontario.ca
Sudbury Sudbury.SCJ.TC@ontario.ca
Timmins Cochrane.SCJ.TC@ontario.ca

B. Scheduling with Calendly

  1. Calendly will be used in Sudbury, North Bay, Cochrane/Timmins, and Sault Ste. Marie to schedule the following appearances:
    1. Family case conferences (except in Sudbury, where they will continue to be scheduled by the Registrar);
    2. Family Settlement conferences;
    3. Family Trial management conferences; and
    4. Civil judicial pre-trial conferences.

  2. Please refer to the tip sheet which is posted on the SCJ website. This tip sheet can be found here: Calendly Tip Sheet for Counsel and Self-Represented Parties.

  3. The links for each site are set out below:

SCJ Locations Calendly Link
Cochrane https://calendly.com/cochrane-scj
North Bay https://calendly.com/northbay-scj
Sault Ste. Marie https://calendly.com/saultstemarie-scj
Sudbury https://calendly.com/sudbury-scj
Timmins https://calendly.com/timmins-scj
FAMILY PROCEEDINGS —

PART 3: FAMILY PROCEEDINGS

A. Motions

Short Motions

  1. Motions that are expected to take one hour or less may be scheduled on a regular motions day by serving and filing the motion materials with the court within the timelines set out in the Family Law Rules.

  2. An associate judge has jurisdiction to hear any motion in a family proceeding except those specified in rule 42(5) of the Family Law Rules. In Sudbury, unless the relief requested in the motion is within the exclusive jurisdiction of a judge, a motion returnable by attendance must be made to “the Court” and heard by an associate judge. To assist with the proper scheduling of motions in Sudbury, counsel and self-represented litigants may obtain from the court registrar a list of motions dates that will be presided over by an associate judge and dates that will be presided over by a judge.

    Long Motions

  3. Any party wishing to bring a motion that will be one hour or more shall serve the other party with the notice of motion, with the date of the motion to be determined. The parties will make their best efforts to come to an agreement on the timetable, which will set out the timing for delivery of materials for use on the motion, including factums, and any questioning, if applicable. The timetable must be ordered by a judge or an associate judge:

    1. At a conference;
    2. By way of a 14B motion; or
    3. On a short motions list, where the previous options are not appropriate. Short motions lists should not become overburdened with unnecessary timetable motions. If the parties agree on the timetable prior to addressing the matter on the short motions list, they may file a confirmation and an approved order ahead of time. In that case, they need not attend the short motions list.
  4. The anticipated date of the motion may be obtained from the trial coordinator during a conference, prior to submitting the 14B motion materials and prior to the first appearance on the short motions list.

  5. The timetable shall require the motion to appear on a short motions list once the timetable has been completed. It is expected that this appearance will take place at least four weeks prior to the anticipated hearing date of the motion, but it may be any other date as the court may order. The presiding judge or associate judge may make such orders as are, in their discretion appropriate, including confirming the motion, if the parties have respected the timetable, or striking it from the schedule, if they have not. If a long motion is struck, the moving party will need to obtain a new order for a timetable pursuant to this protocol.

    Factums and books of authority

  6. A properly drafted factum is required on long motions and is optional on short motions, subject to the direction of the court.

  7. Factums and books of authority must comply with the requirements set out in Part I, section F, subsection 2. c) of the Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction for Family Proceedings, found at the following link: Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction for Family Proceedings, failing which the motion may not be heard.

B. Page Limits

  1. The following page limits apply with respect to the following documents:
    1. Factums, 15 pages;
    2. Case conference briefs, 10 pages
    3. Settlement conference briefs, 15 pages

C. Binding Judicial Dispute Resolution

  1. Binding JDR is available in appropriate family law cases throughout the Northeast Region. Please review Rule 43 of the Family Law Rules and the Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction for Family Proceedings for more information on Binding JDR and the forms that are required.

    Available Forms: Filing forms with the court: www.one-key.gov.on.ca Additional Assistance: Family Law Information Centre (FLIC): https://www.mediate393.ca/free-family-law-information Tel: (416) 977 0718 Legal Aid Ontario Legal Aid Ontario http://www.legalaid.on.ca/en/getting/flip.asp 1-800-668-8258 Family Law Limited Scope Services Program https://familylawlss.ca info@FamilyLawLSS.ca Ontario Legal Information Centre https://legalinfocentre.ca/en 1-844-343-7462 Advice and Settlement Counsel Project– first hour of services is $200 plus HST https://ascfamily.com Tel. (416) 968 9200 ext. 222 Family Law Justice Centre – virtual clinics to deliver services to self-represented persons www.probonostudents.ca Tel. (647) 952 3354

D. Administrative Dismissals

  1. Effective May 13, 2024, throughout the Northeast Region, all consent or confirmed unopposed motions addressing the dismissal timelines under Rule 41 of the Family Law Rules shall be brought by way of a 14B motion that will be heard as a basket motion before a judge. Consent timetables filed under this Rule will also be handled as a 14B basket motion by a judge.
  2. Any contested motion to lengthen a time set out in Rule 41 will first be addressed on a short motions list. The motions judge will determine if the motion can be heard in writing; whether the motion can be heard as a one-hour motion on a regular motions list; or whether the motion will be heard as a long motion (i.e. longer than one hour).