We are all aware of the March 20, 2020 Emergency Order where the Ontario government suspended the running of most provincial limitation periods and procedural time periods retroactively to March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the effects of this suspension period is that Ontario courts ceased issuing administrative dismissals of actions even if the action had not been set down for trial by the fifth anniversary of the action’s commencement.
At this point, we do not know when or how Ontario courts will begin to administratively dismiss actions once again.
It is best practice to look at your files to see whether the 5-year deadline to set the action down for trial is coming up or has already passed, as there may be ways to prevent the action from being administratively dismissed.
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