This Notice to Profession applies to appeals from the Landlord and Tenant Board in the Divisional Court effective August 24, 2020. It supplements the Notice to Profession – Divisional Court (June 29, 2020) respecting court operations during the suspension of ordinary court operations as a result of COVID-19.
All Superior Court of Justice Practice Directions and Notices to Profession are available on the Court’s website at: www.ontariocourts.ca/scj.
In respect to appeals from decisions of the Landlord and Tenant Board pursuant to s.210 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (the “RTA”), the following practices shall be followed in Divisional Court effective August 24, 2020.
Delivery of Notice of Appeal
Pursuant to R.63.01(3) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, “delivery of a notice of appeal” from an order under the RTA stays, until the disposition of the appeal, any provision of the order (a) declaring a tenancy agreement terminated or evicting a person, or (b) terminating a member’s occupancy of a member unit in a non-profit housing cooperative or evicting the member.
A notice of appeal may be “delivered” within the meaning of R.63.01(3) by service of the notice of appeal and the appellant’s certificate respecting evidence on the Landlord and Tenant Board and on the landlord(s), and either:
- transmission of the notice of appeal and the appellant’s certificate respecting evidence and proof of service to the Divisional Court by email to the following address: scj-csj.divcourtmail@ontario.ca; or
- filing the notice of appeal together with proof of service of the notice of appeal with the Divisional Court at any Superior Court of Justice office in Ontario.
A notice of appeal may be in Form 61A.1 of the Rules of Civil Procedure (copy attached as Schedule “A” to this Notice to Profession) and an appellant’s certificate respecting evidence may be in Form 61C of the Rules of Civil Procedure (copy attached as Schedule “B” to this Notice to Profession).
Required Information in the Notice of Appeal
Notices of Appeal must include the following information:
- The name(s) and address for service of the Tenant(s) including a working email address if the Tenant(s) have one.
- The name(s) and address for service of the Landlord(s) including a working email address if the Landlord(s) have one that is known to the Tenant(s).
- The address for service used by the Tenant(s) to give notice of the appeal to the Landlord and Tenant Board.
- Particulars of the decision(s) appealed including:
- The date(s) of the decisions.
- The name(s) of the decision-makers.
- The file number(s) of the Landlord and Tenant Board proceedings.
- The location where the Landlord and Tenant proceeding took place
- Any neutral citations for the decisions being appealed (the identifying numbers for decision(s), expressed as follows: “[YEAR] HRTO ###”, for example “2002 HRTO 1234”.
- The address (including postal code) of the residence that is the subject-matter of the tenancy.
- The address of the Office of the Sheriff directed to enforce the order of the Landlord and Tenant Board.
Provided the notice of appeal contains the required information and complies with the requirements of s.210 of the RTA, and provided there is a proper appellant’s certificate respecting evidence, the Registrar receiving the notice of appeal shall confirm receipt of the notice of appeal to all parties at the addresses for service identified on the notice of appeal, if the notice of appeal has been received by email, or shall provide the appellant with an issued notice of appeal, if the notice of appeal has been received in person at a court office.
Requisitioning A Certificate of Stay
Where a party wishes to obtain a “Certificate of Stay” certifying that the decision of the Landlord and Tenant Board has been stayed pending appeal pursuant to R.63.01(3) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, the party shall provide the court with a completed “Requisition for a Stay LLTB”, which may be in the form attached to this Notice to Profession as Schedule “C”.
A “Requisition for a Stay LLTB” may be provided to the court in the same way and at the same time that a notice of appeal and appellant’s certificate respecting evidence is provided to the court.
Upon receipt of a completed “Requisition for a Stay LLTB” in respect to an appeal previously commenced, or upon receipt of such a Requisition at the same time as receipt of a notice of appeal and appellant’s certificate respecting evidence complying with this Notice to Profession, the Registrar shall issue a certificate of stay in accordance with this Notice to Profession and
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- If the Requisition was received by email, shall transmit a copy of the certificate of stay to all parties to their addresses for service identified on the notice of appeal; or
- If the Requisition was received in person at a courthouse, shall provide an original issued copy of the certificate to the appellant;
and - Shall transmit by email a copy of the certificate of stay to the Office of the Sheriff identified in the notice of appeal as the Sheriff responsible for enforcing the order of the Landlord and Tenant Board
and either - Shall, if the notice was received by email or was received in person at the Toronto Divisional Court Office, seek direction from an administrative judge of the Divisional Court or his/her designate; or
- Shall, if the notice was received in person at a court office other than the Toronto Divisional Court Office, provide a copy of the notice of appeal, appellant’s certificate respecting evidence and certificate of stay to the Divisional Court Office in Toronto by email with a request that an administrative judge of the Divisional Court or his/her designate provide directions.
Appellant Responsible For Providing Certificate of Stay to the Sheriff
It is the responsibility of the appellant to ensure that the certificate of stay is received by the Office of the Sheriff. Appellants should confirm with the Office of the Sheriff that the certificate of stay has been received and that the Sheriff knows that an eviction order has been stayed, and appellants should themselves provide the Sheriff’s Office with a copy of the Certificate of Stay directly if requested to do so by the Office of the Sheriff.
The practice of the Registrar emailing the certificate of stay to the Office of the Sheriff, described above, is a temporary measure, adopted during COVID-19, to facilitate timely notice of certificates of stay to Sheriff’s Offices. This temporary practice is intended to aid appellants, but does not relieve appellants from the responsibility of ensuring that the certificate of stay has been received by the Office of the Sheriff.
Motions to Set Aside Stays
A Landlord wishing to move to set aside a stay of an order of the Landlord and Tenant Board pursuant to R.63.01(5) of the Rules of Civil Procedure may request to schedule a motion for such an order by taking the following steps:
Emailing the Divisional Court at scj-csj.divcourtmail@ontario.ca requesting to schedule a motion to lift the stay. The email should attach a copy of the notice of appeal and the certificate of stay respecting the appeal. The email should explain the reason(s) why the landlord is seeking to have the stay lifted and, if these reasons include non-payment of rent, should set out a brief accounting of the rent. The court will then give written directions and/or schedule a case management teleconference respecting the landlord’s motion to set aside the stay.
“D.L. Corbett and L. Favreau JJ.”
Administrative Judges, Divisional Court
August 21, 2020
Schedules
Schedule “A”: Notice of Appeal
Schedule “B”: Appellant’s Certificate Respecting Evidence
Schedule “C”: Requisition for a Stay LLTB