New Consolidated Provincial Practice Directions for Ontario SCJ

Posted on June 2, 2023

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has released new Consolidated Provincial Practice Directions, which update pre-pandemic practice directions and integrate them with pandemic-era notices to the profession. The new practice directions will take effect on June 15, 2023.

On June 15, 2023, stand-alone practice directions for each of the following practice areas will be posted on a reorganized Superior Court of Justice website: criminal, family, civil, commercial list and Divisional Court. It will not be necessary to cross-reference other practice directions with provincial application. The profession will still be required to refer to regional notices and practice directions where applicable, however.

Please read Chief Justice Morawetz’s Memorandum to the Bar and Legal Associations regarding the updated practice directions, dated May 30, 2023, here.

Here are the updated practice directions which will come into effect on June 15, 2023:

• Consolidated Provincial Practice Directions for Criminal Proceedings
• Consolidated Provincial Practice Directions for Family Proceedings
• Consolidated Provincial Practice Directions for Civil Proceedings
• Consolidated Practice Directions for Divisional Court Proceedings
• Toronto Commercial List Practice Directions

Please note that filing directions as set out in the Consolidated Divisional Court Practice Direction are effective immediately.

Please also note that highlighted parts of the practice directions are not currently hyperlinked. They will be hyperlinked to the applicable section on the Court’s website once published there.