Long motions & summary judgment

The regional practice directions outline the times for short and long motions.

Within all judicial regions: Factums are required for long motions and encouraged for all other motions unless the court orders otherwise. No factum shall exceed 20 pages, unless the court grants leave.

The time for service and filing of factums is the same as the time set out in the Rules of Civil Procedure for other motion materials, unless a region-specific practice direction prevails.

The consent of all parties is insufficient to justify a motion to transfer under Rule 13.1.02. The onus rests with the moving party to satisfy the court that a transfer is desirable in the interest of justice, having regard to the factors listed in Rule 13.1.02(2)(b).

The moving party should bring a motion to transfer at the court location to which the moving party seeks to have the proceeding transferred. The moving party must file a Notice of Motion with a supporting affidavit, as required under Rule 13.1.02(2). The moving party’s affidavit must address the factors listed in Rule 13.1.02(2)(b) and, as part of the relevant matters, must identify the current stage of the proceeding (i.e. whether further motions are anticipated in the proceeding, whether a pre-trial has occurred or is scheduled, and whether mediation has been held). The moving party’s affidavit must also address why the proceeding was commenced in the originating county, as well as the estimated length of trial, whether it is a jury trial, and the number of counsel and parties.

The moving party is not required to provide affidavit evidence about the availability of judges and court facilities in the other county to satisfy factor (viii) under Rule 13.1.02(2)(b). This factor shall be addressed by the judge or associate judge hearing the motion to transfer, after consulting with the local administrative judge or Regional Senior Judge for the other county.

Trial and motion scheduling court All trial and long motion scheduling court appearances shall be held virtually unless the court orders otherwise.

Contested long motions All contested long motions and applications (“long” as defined by the region or court site) shall be held in person unless a party requests that it be held virtually and the court agrees or the court or a regional direction directs that it will be held virtually.

To promote the goals of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992, including judicial economy and access to the courts, each Regional Senior Judge has assigned one or more judges to coordinate all class proceedings in that region as the “Class Proceedings Judge”. The Class Proceedings Judge will preside over the majority of pre-trial class proceedings motions and certifications in that region.

In order to assist the judge hearing pre-trial motions in determining the reasonable costs: Counsel shall follow the provisions of Rule 57.01(6) of the Rules of Civil Procedureconcerning costs outlines. Unless the parties have agreed on costs, every party who intends to seek costs for a motion shall: Provide to every other party involved in the motion, and bring to the hearing, a costs outline (Form 57B), not exceeding 3 pages in length; and Provide to the judge at the commencement of the motion a copy of the costs outline. It is preferable for the parties to complete all sections of Form 57B. At a minimum, the costs outline shall set out the fees and disbursements requested, as required in the first part of Form 57B, and the details of the amount claimed (the hours spent, the rates sought for costs and the rate actually charged by the party’s lawyer) as required in the last section of Form 57B. Counsel for the parties to a motion shall consult with one another, in advance of the hearing, with a view to resolving the issue of the costs of the hearing. Counsel are encouraged to agree on the amount of costs to be awarded to the successful party, including fees, disbursements and HST. Nothing in this practice direction prevents the court from requiring, or the parties from requesting, the opportunity to make, further cost submissions following the determination of the motion. This practice direction does not affect the right of the Law Foundation of Ontario to make costs submissions and present evidence, in accordance with Rule 12.04, in cases where the plaintiff has received financial support from the Class Proceedings Fund of the Law Foundation of Ontario.

The court expects counsel and parties to provide accurate estimates of the time they will require for oral argument. They must give careful consideration to what must be covered in the hearing, including: The number of issues that can properly be dealt with in oral argument; The pace at which documents and authorities can reasonably be reviewed; and The number of authorities actually required to establish the party’s legal propositions.

Inaccurate estimates of time may result in the court adjourning the case (before or during the hearing) and rescheduling it with a realistic time estimate and no expedition of the new date. There may also be cost consequences.

When agreeing to a hearing date, counsel and parties have a duty to disclose previous commitments that pose a conflict.

All such motions by the parties must be brought in the judicial region to which the proceeding is sought to be transferred.

The court may, on its own initiative, at a motion or other hearing, transfer of the proceeding to another judicial region where appropriate.

Summary judgment motions, long motions and applications, which are over one hour, are collectively referred to as long motions in this Notice.

Effective June 24, 2024, all long motion requests are to be addressed at triage court where it will be determined if the motion is ready to proceed by the triage judge. All consent and contested long motions will be heard in person, unless otherwise specified by the judge presiding over the motion. If counsel wish to have their long motion heard virtually, they should bring it to the attention of the motion judge. Parties should provide a letter which is no longer two pages stating the reasons why the long motion should not be heard in-person and email the letter to the local Trial Coordinator. Barrie, Bracebridge, Orillia Barrie.SCJ.TC@ontario.ca Newmarket Newmarket.SCJ.TC@ontario.ca Oshawa Oshawa.SCJ.TC@ontario.ca Peterborough, Lindsay, Cobourg Peterborough.SCJ.TC@ontario.ca

Fourteen (14) days prior to the triage court, parties must ensure that all materials, including factums and compendiums have been filed with the court and subsequently uploaded to Case Center.

Parties must also ensure that cross examinations have been completed, and that the parties are ready to proceed on two days’ notice. Counsel and parties should not obtain a triage court date unless the preceding requirements have been complied with.

To file the necessary motion materials referenced above, parties must first obtain a triage court date through Calendly. The court filing office will not accept materials unless counsel and parties have obtained a triage court date.

If the necessary materials are not filed with the court and subsequently uploaded to Case Center at least fourteen days prior to the triage court date, the matter will be removed from the triage court list.

Note: When counsel and parties are initiating a proceeding by way of a Notice of Application, they should first schedule a triage court date through Calendly. Once a triage court date has been obtained, parties should submit the Calendly email confirmation with their Notice of Application to the filing office to obtain their court file number. Subsequently, it becomes the responsibility of counsel and parties to email the local Trial Coordinator’s Office, to provide them with the new court file number so the event can be entered into their scheduling system.

The moving party will schedule a triage court date by completing an online request through Calendly at https://calendly.com/ce-civil.

The moving party will complete an online submission request through Calendly at https://calendly.com/ce-civil to obtain a triage court date.

The following process must be followed for the motion to be considered to be added by the triage judge:

The party seeking to obtain a triage date shall send a letter of request to CErunninglist@ontario.ca (copied to all parties) with the subject line: Request to Schedule long motion – OPPOSED – *File Name and Number, Originating Court Location*, together with a memorandum not to exceed two pages in length detailing the history of the case and the reasons why it should be placed on the running list. The triage court date from Calendly, along with the Calendly email confirmation, should be included with the request letter. Any party who opposes the triage court appearance shall provide their position in a responding memorandum not to exceed two pages in length, sent to CErunninglist@ontario.ca no later than five days after receipt of the requesting party’s email. If no responding memorandum is received before the expiry of the five days, the triage judge will deal with the request as an unopposed request. Parties will be advised by email as to the triage judge’s decision to add the contested motion to the triage court list.

Counsel/litigants must file the Timetable or other documentation along with their Confirmation Form for the motion.

If counsel and the litigants are NOT able to agree to a timetable within 30 days, the moving party must request a civil conference (as set out below) before a judge to set a timetable and/or other directions the judge considers appropriate. 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.

In the event the long motion does not proceed on the scheduled hearing date and there is no timetable agreement or order, the court will consider this a significant factor in determining whether to grant an adjournment and/or to award costs and the quantum of costs of the aborted long motion hearing date.

Only one adjournment will be granted on consent.

Consent adjournment on a fixed-date long motion will not be given priority, unless otherwise directed by the triage judge. Counsel and the parties will be placed back in the queue given the next available long motion date. Counsel and litigants should not expect to be given an earlier date as a result of the consent adjournment.

If counsel or a party seeks an opposed adjournment, the party seeking the adjournment shall: Send a letter of request to CErunninglist@ontario.ca (copied to all parties) with the subject line: Request to ADJOURN long motion – OPPOSED – *File Name and Number, Originating Court Location* together with a memorandum not to exceed two pages in length detailing the history of the case and the reasons why an adjournment should be granted. Any party who opposes the adjournment shall provide their position in a responding memorandum not to exceed two pages in length, sent to CErunninglist@ontario.ca no later than five days after receipt of the requesting party’s email. If no responding memorandum is received, the triage judge will deal with the request as an unopposed request. Parties will be advised by email as to the triage judge’s decision to adjourn the contested motion, which may include ordering attendance at Triage Court.

Counsel and parties should be prepared to proceed with the long motion on the scheduled date in the event the adjournment is NOT granted. Counsel should not assume that an adjournment request will be granted.

If an adjournment is granted, all counsel and parties must bring and have available their Costs Outlines to permit the presiding judge to deal with the issue of costs of the adjournment and to make any other order for directions.

All LONG MOTIONS must be confirmed by email to the local Trial Coordinator’s Office. A copy of the Confirmation must also be filed with the court and subsequently uploaded to Case Center. Confirmations (revised form 37B) are due no later than 2pm, five (5) days prior to the hearing date, unless otherwise directed by the Regional Senior Justice or his/her designate.

All APPLICATIONS (revised form 38B) must be confirmed by email to the local Trial Coordinator’s Office no later than 2:00 pm, five (5) days prior to the hearing date. A copy of the Confirmation must also be filed with the court and subsequently uploaded to Case Center.

Failure of both parties to file a Confirmation and upload to Case Center will result in the long motion/Application hearing date being vacated

The moving party must serve and file the motion or Application materials (Notice of Motion/Application, supporting affidavits, and a draft order) along with the Proof of Service 14 days prior to the Triage Court date. Subject to an order from a judge, failure to do so will result in the hearing date being vacated.  A copy of the Calendly confirmation email must be included with the motion material for the materials to be accepted by the filing office.

All long motion and application materials are expected to be uploaded to Case Center upon receipt of the Calendly invite.

All long motion and application materials are expected to be uploaded to Case Center forthwith upon receipt of the Calendly invite.

Once the factum of the moving party and the responding party are served and filed then they must be subsequently uploaded to Case Center according to the agreed upon timetable. Regardless of the timetable agreed to by counsel and/or the parties, the facta of all parties shall be filed and uploaded to Case Center no later than fourteen (14) days prior to the hearing of the motion/Application.

No facta may exceed 20 pages without leave of the court and must comply with Rule 4 of the Rules of Civil Procedure with respect to document standards and formatting.

Counsel and parties who wish to schedule an urgent motion or application must contact the Trial Coordination Office. Barrie, Bracebridge, Orillia – Barrie.SCJ.TC@ontario.ca Newmarket – Newmarket.SCJ.TC@ontario.ca Oshawa – Oshawa.SCJ.TC@ontario.ca Peterborough, Lindsay, Cobourg – Peterborough.SCJ.TC@ontario.ca

The party seeking an urgent motions date shall send a letter of request to the appropriate Trial Coordination office, noted above, with the subject line: Request to SCHEDULE URGENT Motion/Application – *File Name and Number, Originating Court Location*,

The letter of request must include:

Counsel are frequently attending motions and applications without costs outlines. When judges ask for the outlines or bills of costs, counsel often seek to file written submissions as to costs. This is contrary to the intention of the Rules, delays the determination of the issue, and requires judges to determine costs issues for motions and applications that were often decided weeks or months before.

Rule 57.01(6) of the Rules of Civil Procedure requires that, unless the parties have agreed on costs: “every party who intends to seek costs for that step shall give to every other party involved in the same step, and bring to the hearing, a costs outline (Form 57B) not exceeding three pages in length.”

This permits the presiding judge, where feasible, to summarily determine the issue of costs. The overriding principle is that “the court shall devise and adopt the simplest, least expensive, and most expeditious process for fixing costs…” Rule 57.01(7).

The purpose of Triage Court is to allow counsel to deal with the following: To fix a trial, long motion or application dates (where a judge has not already assigned the matter a date); To fix a pre-trial date where a second pre-trial is required; To adjourn a trial, long motion, or application; To adjourn a pre-trial; and/or, Any other matter related to the scheduling of a pre-trial, trial, long motion, or application.