Electronic Filing of Court Documents

Having considered the various resources and technological constraints to hearing matters during the suspension of court operations, the Central South Region will, effective December 2, 2020, take steps to have only electronic versions of filings.

Documents MUST be filed through the appropriate portal set out herein, or the documents, whether attempting to be filed electronically or in-person, will be rejected. Once accepted, a hard copy is no longer required unless specifically requested by a judicial official.

All other protocols set out in the Central South Region Notices to the Profession dated April 7, 2020 and June 26, 2020 remain in place.

The Court will only accept filings by e-mail or in-person for the following reasons:

For matters that are urgent, including requests for an urgent hearing;
Documents that must be filed for a court date that is less than 5 business days away; and,
Documents that must be filed for a deadline that is less than 5 business days away.
Where alternate filing requirements are required due to an accessibility request.
All Payments and fees are due per policy and directive

CRIMINAL- Electronic Court Filings

All filings for Criminal matters and requests for urgent Criminal hearings may be filed/sent to the following email addresses:

Brantford: BrantfS@ontario.ca
Cayuga: Cayuga.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
Hamilton: Hamilton.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
Kitchener/Waterloo: Kitchener.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
Simcoe: Simcoe.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
St. Catharines: St.Catharines.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
Welland: Welland.Superior.Court@ontario.ca

CIVIL – Electronic Court Filing

Civil court documents shall be electronically filed and/or issued by using the existing Civil Claims Online portal or the new Civil Submissions Online portal, as appropriate, in accordance with the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The Court will only accept civil filings by e-mail for the following

For matters that are urgent, including requests for an urgent hearing;
Documents that must be filed for a court date that is less than 5 business days away; and,
Documents that must be filed for a deadline that is less than 5 business days away.
Where alternate filing requirements are required due to an accessibility request.

In the above circumstances, documents may be filed electronically at the following email addresses:

- Brantford: BrantfordSCJCourt@ontario.ca
- Cayuga: HaldimandCountyCourt@ontario.ca
- Hamilton: HamiltonCivilOffice@ontario.ca *NEW*
- Kitchener/Waterloo: Kitchener.Courthouse@ontario.ca
- Simcoe: Simcoe.SCJ.Courts@ontario.ca
- St. Catharines: SCJStCatharinesCourthouse@ontario.ca
- Welland: SCJWellandCourthouse@ontario.ca
Confirmation forms for CIVIL motions will remain the same. They must be filed electronically to the following email address:
- - Brantford: BrantfS@ontario.ca
  - Cayuga: Cayuga.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
  - Hamilton: Hamilton.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
  - Kitchener/Waterloo: Kitchener.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
  - Simcoe: Simcoe.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
  - St. Catharines: St.Catharines.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
  - Welland: Welland.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
  FAMILY – Electronic Court Filings
  
  Family court documents shall be electronically filed and/or issued by using Family Submissions Online portal. The portal is authorized to accept the electronic filing of most documents in a family law or child protection case, along with any necessary filing fees. New applications and motions to change can also be filed through this portal, along with requests for fee waivers.
  
  In addition, several family court documents relating to a simple or joint divorce may continue to be filed electronically by using the Ministry’s Family Claims Online portal, in accordance with the Family Law Rules.
  
  The Court will only accept family filings by e-mail for the following:
  - For matters that are urgent, including requests for an urgent hearing;
  - Documents that must be filed for a court date that is less than 5 business days away; and,
  - Documents that must be filed for a deadline that is less than 5 business days away.
  - Where alternate filing requirements are required due to an accessibility request.
  In the above circumstances, (with the exception of urgent long motions or urgent case conferences), ALL Family documents may be filed electronically at the following email addresses:
  - Brantford: BrantfordSCJCourt@ontario.ca
  - Cayuga: HaldimandCountyCourt@ontario.ca
  - Hamilton Family: HamiltonFamilyCourt@ontario.ca *NEW*
  - Kitchener/Waterloo: Kitchener.Courthouse@ontario.ca
  - Simcoe: Simcoe.SCJ.Courts@ontario.ca
  - St. Catharines: SCJStCatharinesCourthouse@ontario.ca
  - Welland: SCJWellandCourthouse@ontario.ca
  Requests for an urgent long motion or urgent case conference and confirmations must be filed electronically to the following email address:
  - Brantford: BrantfS@ontario.ca
  - Cayuga: Cayuga.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
  - Hamilton Family Court: Hamilton.Family.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
  - Kitchener/Waterloo: Kitchener.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
  - Simcoe: Simcoe.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
  - St. Catharines: St.Catharines.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
  - Welland: Welland.Superior.Court@ontario.ca
  Central South Document Naming Convention
  
  All documents filed with the court MUST be filed in accordance with the following Naming Convention, failing which, the documents may NOT be before the court:
  
  The type of document, the type of party filing the document, the name of party (if more than one), and the date: DD-MMM-YYYY.
  
  For example, the documents set out below should be filed as follows:
  
  Notice of Motion-Moving Party-ABC Corp. 14-JUL-2020
  Affidavit of Service-Applicant-Wong 21-NOV-2020
  Statement of Defence-Defendant-XYZ Ltd. 02-JAN-2021
  Compendium-Responding Party-Patel 03-MAR-2021
  Factum-Intervenor-Attorney General 11-NOV-2020
  
  Mr. Justice Paul R. Sweeny
  Regional Senior Judge – Central South Region
  Superior Court of Justice