The Toronto Region of the Superior Court of Justice has amended its Notice to the Profession for Class Action matters. The updated section G came into effect December 13, 2021 and details required practices in Toronto with respect to requesting a case management judge, requesting case conferences, the hearing of motions, uploading motion materials to CaseLines, and case management of out-of-town actions.
Case Management
Parties may now request the assignment of a case management judge by email to Toronto.ClassAction@Ontario.ca. They should also become accustomed to exchanging emails with judicial assistants: a judicial assistant will notify the parties after a case management judge is appointed, and case conferences must be requested by email to the case management judge’s judicial assistant.
CaseLines
The Notice to the Profession has also been updated to include the use of CaseLines:
- In addition to filing the documents through the Civil Submissions Onlineportal, all documents for use on a motion, whether the motion will be heard in writing or orally, shall also be uploaded to CaseLines in accordance with Rule 4.05.3.
- In accordance with Rule 4.05.3(3)(1), all materials uploaded to CaseLines must first have been filed through the Civil Submissions Online. Parties may seek leave at a hearing to refer to documents on CaseLines that they have submitted for filing through the Civil Submissions Onlineportal, but which have not as yet been accepted for filing by the Registrar.
Out-of-Town Cases
The Notice to Profession now guides out-of-town cases being managed in the Toronto Region. Approval must first be given by the Leader of the Toronto Region Class Actions Team. That approval should be sought by email to ClassAction@Ontario.ca. If a case management judge is assigned, parties must submit their materials before the first hearing through the Civil Submissions Online Portal as a “New Proceeding”. An out-of-town civil court file number will then be assigned by the court for use.
The full text of the updated Notice to the Profession can be viewed online.
