Court Services

UPDATE: Changes to court fees and fee waiver as of April 1, 2019

The following regulations amend court fees and fee waiver eligibility amounts prescribed under the Administration of Justice Act to increase some court fees and the court fee waiver:

• O. Reg. 332/16 (amended to O. Reg. 41/19), Small Claims Court – Fees and Allowances;
• O. Reg. 293/92 (amended to O. Reg. 42/19), Superior Court of Justice and Court of Appeal – Fees;
• O. Reg. 417/95 (amended to O. Reg. 43/19), Superior Court of Justice – Family Court - Fees; and
• O. Reg. 2/05 (amended to O. Reg. 44/19), Fee Waiver.

These regulations are also available at ontario.ca/laws.

On December 21, 2018 regulations were filed to amend the Rules of Civil Procedure (“RCP”), O. Reg. 536/18 and O. Reg. 537/18. The changes are summarized below.

The amendments to the civil court rules will come into force on January 1, 2019.

The amended and new court forms are available online at: http://ontariocourtforms.on.ca/en/rules-of-civil-procedure-forms/.

The amendments:

1. authorize a court registrar to automatically dismiss Divisional Court cases (appeals and applications for judicial review) that are not set down for a hearing or terminated by any means within 5 years. Rule 61 and rule 68 are amended and form amendments made to support the rule changes (61A and 68A are amended Form 61A.1, 61I.1 and 68D are created);
2. require a hearing in writing for Divisional Court motions for leave to appeal from final cost orders made by a judge in the Superior Court of Justice by amending rule 62.02;
3. change 7 estate court application forms to clarify the instructions on how to disclose the value of an estate. The revised forms are 74.4, 74.4.1, 74.5, 74.5.1, 74.14, 74.15 and 74.30;
4. simplify 2 estate court application forms by clarifying the questions about the deceased’s marital status and reduce the number of questions. The revised forms are 74.14 and 74.15;
5. change Form 14F, Information for Court Use, to list as a case type the new tort of human trafficking;
6. allow a proceeding to be commenced by application where it is unlikely that there will be any material facts in dispute requiring a trial;
7. establish deadlines for the service of supplementary expert reports;
8. allow a respondent to confirm a motion date in order to seek costs of an abandoned motion;
9. clarify the requirements for the evidence filed on a motion for removal of a lawyer of record;
10. allow a court to impose a discovery plan on a motion related to discovery;
11. remove the requirement to publish notice of a Practice Direction in the Ontario Reports; and
12. replace references to the “Construction Lien Act” with the “Construction Act”.