Supreme Court Of Canada Recognizes Privacy As A Ground For Sealing Orders

Sealing orders are commonly sought in civil litigation across Canada to protect sensitive commercial and other information. As sealing orders run contrary to the open-courts principle, the courts must balance the beneficial impact of the order in protecting an important interest against the public interest in open courts. In its decision in Sherman Estate v Donovan  2021 SCC 25 (Sherman), the Supreme Court of Canada recognized that the public interest in protecting individuals' dignity is sufficiently important that a sealing order preventing disclosure of personal information may be granted. However, Sherman  sets the bar for granting a sealing order protecting personal information very high. Only information that "reveals something intimate and personal about the individual, their lifestyle, or experiences," such as sexual orientation or potentially stigmatizing medical information will likely support the granting of a sealing order.