What has to be shown to convince a court to allow an alternative method of service in Ontario?

To get court approval for an alternative method of service, a plaintiff generally has to show two things: that the usual method of service isn't realistically working, and that the proposed alternative is genuinely likely to actually bring the lawsuit to the defendant's attention. On the first point, courts want real evidence of effort, not just a claim that service would be inconvenient — details of specific attempts, dates, addresses tried, and what happened at each one. A single failed attempt is usually not enough on its own; the court wants to see that conventional service was genuinely pursued and didn't work.

On the second point, the proposed alternative needs some connection to how the defendant actually communicates or can reasonably be expected to see something — for example, an email address they're known to use, a social media account showing recent activity, or a family member likely to pass along the documents. Courts are generally cautious about approving a method that's merely theoretically possible but unlikely to actually reach the person. Combining the alternative method with a more traditional backup, such as mail to a last known address, often strengthens the request by giving the court more than one path by which the defendant might genuinely receive notice.