In addition to non-essential businesses, parks and sporting
events, the COVID-19 crisis has placed severe restrictions on
access to Ontario's court system.
Effective March 17, 2020, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice,
Ontario's primary trial-level court for civil and commercial
litigation matters, suspended all regular civil operations and
adjourned all hearings scheduled after that date pending the
court's resumption of normal operations. The court's civil
docket has since been limited to "urgent matters" with
hearings conducted largely by teleconference or videoconference.
More recently, on April 2, 2020, the court released a further
notice announcing that the court would expand its capacity to hear
select non-urgent matters. Despite this, most civil and commercial
matters will still need to demonstrate urgency in order to obtain a
hearing.
