Ellad Gersh, Philip Holdsworth, and Samuel Mosonyi.

If you have an urgent civil or commercial legal matter during the COVID-19 state of emergency, this article is the place to start.

On March 15, 2020, in response to the public health emergency of COVID-19, Chief Justice Morawetz issued an unprecedented “Notice to the Profession, the Public and the Media“, suspending the regular operations of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice until further notice (“March Notice”). An additional “Notice to the Profession, the Public and the Media Regarding Civil and Family Matters” was issued on April 2, 2020 (“April Notice”) and revised on April 22, 2020.

The suspension does not mean that the courts are closed. In an April 6, 2020 virtual fireside chat hosted by The Advocates’ Society, the Chief Justice stated unequivocally that the Ontario Superior Court of Justice “has never closed … we suspended in-court operations, but [the Court] continues to operate, and it is never going to stop operating”.

The March Notice states:

The Court will continue to hear urgent matters during this emergency period. The Court plays a fundamental role in our constitutional democracy. Access to justice for the most urgent matters must always remain available.

With respect to civil and commercial matters,^[1] the March Notice defined “urgent” to include:

Urgent and time sensitive motions and applications in civil and commercial list matters, where immediate and significant financial repercussions may result without a judicial hearing.

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