Introduction
The OBA appreciates the difficult work undertaken by the Civil Rules Review Working Group (“CRR Working Group”) in developing the Phase 2 Consultation Report (the “Report”) proposals. We agree that a meaningful reform of the Rules of Civil Procedure (the “Rules”) is necessary, and we welcome a bold approach to change.
As a legal organization committed to ensuring access to justice, procedural fairness, and the effective administration of justice, we recognize the scale and ambition of the proposed changes. The current Rules, though foundational, have become increasingly complex, and in some areas, outdated. Reform offers a timely opportunity to modernize procedures, promote efficiency and fairness, and improve the user experience for litigants, counsel, and the courts alike. There is virtue in making changes to improve efficiency, fairness, affordability, and processes. There is also virtue in maintaining processes where the current system is more efficient and fairer than those being borrowed from.
While we support the overarching goals of simplification and modernization, several of the proposals would benefit from further clarification and refinement to ensure they achieve their intended impact without creating new ambiguities or unintended consequences.
In our response, we aim to provide constructive feedback that builds on the strengths of the Report while identifying areas where additional consideration and changes may be warranted. In reaching consensus, some issues required different treatment or considerations depending on needs within specific practice areas. Finally, we wish to emphasize the importance of taking these comments seriously, and that disagreements, recommended enhancements, or refinements should not be misinterpreted as being resistant to change.
Ontario Bar Association
Established in 1907, the OBA is the largest and most diverse volunteer lawyer association in Ontario, with close to 17,000 members, practicing in every area of law in every region of the province. Each year, through the work of our 40 practice sections, the OBA provides advice to assist legislators and other key decision-makers in the interests of both the profession and the public, and we deliver over 325 in-person and online professional development programs to an audience of over 20,000 lawyers, judges, students, and professors.
This submission was prepared and reviewed by the OBA’s Civil Rules Review Taskforce (“OBA Taskforce”). The OBA Taskforce was a purpose-built group of experienced practitioners from every region in Ontario, from small towns to large cities in the Greater Toronto Area to the far north, from small firms to the largest firms in Canada, and plaintiff and defence counsel from across practice areas, including the personal injury bar, mediation/ADR, commercial litigation, labour and employment, civil litigation, class actions, trusts & estates, construction law, and more. The OBA Taskforce reflected a diversity of lived experience, practice locations, practice areas, and firm sizes, to ensure the broadest perspective of the bar was included. We also solicited feedback from our 40 practice sections, many of whom provided general and practice-area-specific advice and recommendations to inform the OBA Taskforce’s discussions.
With well over a century of combined experience, the OBA Taskforce was uniquely positioned to evaluate the proposed changes to the Rules through a practical, informed, and forward-looking lens—grounded in the day-to-day realities of practice as well as the broader implications for access to justice, procedural fairness, and efficiency in the civil justice system. Lawyers on the OBA Taskforce donated considerable time and expertise in formulating our response, all while balancing busy practices and personal commitments. We are very grateful for their generosity.