Starting today, March 31, 2022, there are new Ontario rules of civil procedure governing pre-trial conferences, and the requirements to tender expert reports, as follows:
At the evidentiary level:
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- Pursuant to a new rule 50.03.1, every party to an action will be required to certify whether they intend to rely on expert evidence at trial and, if so, whether they have served their experts’ reports within the time permitted under the rules;
- Pursuant to some revisions to the test in rule 53.08, leave to admit evidence after failing to follow the disclosure and delivery obligations under the rules now requires the party seeking leave to satisfy the judge that there was a reasonable explanation for the failure, and that granting leave would not cause prejudice to the opposing party that could not be compensated for through costs or an adjournment, nor cause undue delay in the conduct of the trial;
- A new Form 50A, Certificate of Readiness, is introduced. Every party to an action will be required to serve and file this form at least 30 days before the pre-trial conference to indicate the status of their experts’ reports (if any).
At the court administration level in respect of pre-trial conferences:
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- Pursuant to a new subrule under rule 50.02, pre-trial conferences now must be held no more than 120, and no fewer than 30, days before the date when trial is scheduled to begin or the first day of the sitting during which the trial is expected to be held;
- Rule 50.08 is amended to require the judge or associate judge presiding at the pre-trial conference to produce a pre-trial conference report in every case; and
- A new subrule is added to rule 50.12 to permit the judge or associate judge presiding at the pre-trial conference to order costs payable immediately if they determine that the conference was unproductive for reasons related to a party’s conduct;