Can I enforce a court judgment from another country in Ontario?

In many cases, yes — Ontario courts can recognize and enforce a judgment obtained in another country's courts, effectively treating it as if it were an Ontario judgment for collection purposes, though this generally requires a separate legal process rather than simply presenting the foreign order to a sheriff. The usual approach is to start a proceeding in Ontario asking the court to recognize the foreign judgment, which the court will generally do where the foreign court had a proper basis to hear the case and the process leading to the judgment was fundamentally fair, among other things a judge will consider.

Ontario courts are generally reluctant to relitigate the merits of the underlying dispute at this stage; the focus is usually on whether the foreign judgment deserves recognition, not on re-arguing who was right. Certain defences can still block enforcement, such as the foreign proceeding involving fraud, a genuine denial of natural justice, or a result that would be contrary to Ontario's basic public policy. Once recognized, the judgment can generally be enforced using Ontario's usual enforcement tools, including a writ of seizure and sale or garnishment. Given how fact-specific recognition can be, getting advice early in the process is worthwhile.