Ontario civil procedure rules updated: factum certification, filing requirements and appellate procedures streamlined
RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE — under the Courts of Justice Act
Plain-language summary · AI-assisted · not legal advice
A package of amendments to Ontario's Rules of Civil Procedure has consolidated and simplified several procedural requirements for civil litigation. Factums must now include a certification that every quoted passage from an authority accurately reproduces the original text, in addition to the existing authenticity certification — and self-represented parties must personally sign that statement. The requirement to file multiple printed copies of motion records, factums, transcripts and books of authorities in appellate proceedings has been removed; parties now file once (with proof of service) rather than three or more copies. Several certificate-of-estimated-argument-time requirements have been removed from notices of motion and relocated or simplified within factums. For leave-to-appeal motions in class proceedings, the procedural steps have been clarified and simplified. Expert reports must now include a new paragraph certifying that every quotation in the report accurately reproduces the source text. Lawyers, self-represented litigants, and experts involved in Superior Court or appellate proceedings should review their document preparation and filing checklists to reflect these changes.
Who this affects: litigation lawyers and barristers · self-represented litigants · expert witnesses · appellate court counsel · class action litigants
Source of truth: R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194 on the official source · consolidated version 118 → 0
Legislative text © King's Printer for Ontario. This page is not an official version of the law and is not legal advice. Verify against the official source before acting.
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