Resources

Looking for existing Commercial List resources all in one place?

Look no further. Lenczner Slaght has compiled a series of existing documents, links, and videos relevant to the Commercial List. We have also reproduced all historical newsletters from the Commercial List Users’ Committee with a hyperlinked table of contents for easy navigation. This list of resources will continue to grow and support lawyers and others practicing on the Commercial List.

The Practice Direction

The Consolidated Practice Direction Concerning the Commercial List contains important procedural rules that are specific to the Commercial List, including:

        • how to start an action on the Commercial List;
        • transferring matters to and from the Commercial List;
        • the format of court materials; and
        • how to schedule applications, motions (including summary judgment motions) and trials.
The Commercial List Filing Direction contains a new practice direction which is effective immediately for any matters with a hearing date on or after Monday August 17, 2020.  

Commercial List Forms

Below are links to important commercial list request forms.

Model Orders

The Commercial List Bench and members of the bar have created model orders for common types of applications.
Counsel are expected to model the draft orders they put before the Court on the model orders. 
When preparing materials for a motion or application to which a model order applies, Counsel must include two copies of:
    • a “clean” copy of the draft order for the judge’s review and approval; and
    • a copy that has been “black-lined” against the model order to show any changes from the model order that are being proposed.

The Commercial List has the following model orders:
    • Initial CCAA Order;
    • Receivership Order;
    • Discharge Orders;
    • Vesting Orders; and
    • Anton Piller Orders.

Click here to find the model orders.

Daily Court List

The daily list of cases to be heard on the Commercial list, including the case name, time, room number and reason for the court appearance, is published online here:  http://www.ontariocourtdates.ca/.
The website is updated each day at 4:30 p.m. to provide the list of cases for the following day. 
Select the following options to obtain the daily list for the Commercial List:
  • Choose Court: Superior Court of Justice
  • Choose a Municipality: Toronto
  • Case Type/Line of Business: Civil
  • Court Location: 330 University Av

Monitors' Websites

A Court Officer appointed in an insolvency proceeding, such as a Monitor or Receiver, maintains a case website, containing relevant documents to the proceeding, including:

      • all Court Orders, Reasons for Decisions and Endorsements;
      • all motion records, including affidavits, books of authorities and facta;
      • trustee reports;
      • notices of claims; and
      • the current version of the E-service list.

Links to the case website hosted by the following Court Officers are provided below:


A list of all companies that have been granted protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act since September 18, 2019 with links to the Monitor’s websites is maintained by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy and can be found here.

Digital Hearing Workspace

The Digital Hearing Workspace Pilot Commercial List is an initiative of the Ministry of the Attorney General under which counsel were required to use the Digital Hearing Workspace online platform to deliver documents electronically to the judicial official and/or other parties or counsel in the matter.
As of May 27, 2019 the initiative entered a new phase which means a return to original business practices for Commercial List users. Users can continue to submit court documents on a USB stick and are no longer required to use the Digital Hearing Workspace. There will be select cases that continue to participate in the proof of concept and users will be contacted directly.
The Practice Advisory with respect to the Digital Hearing Workspace Pilot can be found here.
A step by step guideline (including screenshots) on how to use the Digital Hearing Workspace online platform can be found here.

Paperless Trials and Remote Hearings

The Superior Court of Justice has released an At-A-Glance Guide to Virtual Hearings. This document contains a compilation of relevant resources and information on virtual hearings in Ontario.

There have been a number of paperless trials and motions on the Commercial List. The Advocates’ Society has published a helpful Paperless Trial Manual for detailing the technology and staffing requirements and the courtroom logistics for electronic trials involving small, medium and large amounts of documents.

Parties in an electronic trial often agree to an electronic trial protocol at the outset of the action or application. A sample electronic trial protocol is available here.

The Joint E-Hearings Task Force of The Advocates’ Society, the Ontario Bar Association, the Federation of Ontario Law Associations, and the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association has published a guide on Best Practices for Remote Hearings to provide direction to anyone who is preparing for and participating in a remote hearing.

In addition, you can also apply for access to the Court’s WiFi by filling out this form. This is a much faster connection than the free WiFi provided and lasts six months at which point you can apply again.

Commercial List Book of Authorities

On the Superior Court of Justice website, you will find the Commercial List Book of Authorities. It contains cases frequently relied on and has been developed and approved for use in matters assigned to the Toronto Commercial List.
We have reproduced it as a bookmarked PDF that you can download here.

The Duty Counsel Program

The Duty Counsel Program is a roster of volunteer lawyers called Duty Counsel who are available to the Court to help with the submissions and communications of self-represented parties at 9:30 am Chambers Appointments.

Duty Counsel are available (with the self-represented party’s consent) to:

  • meet with a self-represented party on the day of a Chambers Appointment to briefly explain the nature of the matters that may be addressed at the Appointment;
  • attend the Chambers Appointment and work with the self-represented party to communicate their positions to the Judge and other lawyers, including by making submissions on their behalf; and
  • facilitate negotiations between the self-represented party with other represented parties on matters at issue that may take place at the courthouse before, during or after the Chambers Appointment.

Learn more about the Duty Counsel Program here.

The Commerical List Statutes Feed

Developed in partnership with Codify Legal Publishing, the Commercial List Statutes Feed is a free subscription to help commercial list litigators across Ontario keep up with the latest legislative changes.

Subscribers to the feed will receive live email updates to all amendments affecting key statutes including the:

  • Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act
  • Bank Act
  • Business Corporations Act
  • Canada Business Corporations Act
  • Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act
  • Limited Partnerships Act
  • Pension Benefits Act
  • Securities Act
  • Winding-up and Restructuring Act
  • Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Act

Codify's technology constantly monitors dozens of sources across the Canadian legislative landscape, completing two sweeps a day in order to provide subscribers with the most timely updates.

You can subscribe to the feed by clicking here.

Commercial List Year in Review 2020

To better understand the work of the Court, we have undertaken a data analysis on all of the Commercial List cases reported on CanLII in 2019 and 2020. These reports describe our data collection method, the analysis of the results, and a review of particular cases in each year.

Click here to read our latest report.

“The Commercial List is a unique court that we are all very proud of.”

COMMERCIAL LIST USERS’ COMMITTEE

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