Discovering Records Of Non-Parties Under Rule 30.10

Pursuant to Rule 30.10 of the Rules of Civil Procedure,  the Court applies a test of relevance and fairness when assessing a request by a party for production of a non-party's records:

30.10 (1) The court may, on motion by a party, order production for inspection of a document that is in the possession, control or power of a person not a party and is not privileged where the court is satisfied that,

(a) the document is relevant to a material issue in the action; and

(b) it would be unfair to require the moving party to proceed to trial without having discovery of the document. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194, r. 30.10 (1)

In Bayliss v. Burnham,  2024 ONCA 464, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the motions judge who had ordered the non-party company to produce financial documents in proceedings involving the estate of the Deceased, who was a co-founder of the non-party company.