What happens if the debtor moves to another province before I can collect on my Ontario judgment?

If a debtor leaves Ontario before you complete enforcement, your Ontario judgment remains valid — it does not expire because the debtor moved. However, Ontario enforcement tools (garnishment notices, writs filed with Ontario sheriff offices) only operate within Ontario. If the debtor no longer has wages, bank accounts, or property here, those tools may produce nothing.

Your practical options include: first, checking whether the debtor still has any Ontario assets — real property may remain registered in Ontario even if they have physically relocated. A writ on title will surface if they ever sell Ontario property. Second, if the debtor now lives and works in another province, register your Ontario judgment in that province under its reciprocal enforcement legislation and use local enforcement tools there.

You should act relatively promptly on interprovincial registration. Ontario's limitation period for enforcing a judgment is two years; taking no steps at all for two years could raise a limitation argument. Courts have some flexibility here, but active enforcement steps are better protection.

Locating the debtor's new employer or bank requires information gathering — sometimes through a skip-tracing process or by hiring an investigator, sometimes simply by reviewing public records, social media, or asking third parties who know the debtor's whereabouts. Once you know where the debtor works or banks, you can pursue garnishment in the new province.

A lawyer with cross-border enforcement experience can help coordinate registration and enforcement across provinces efficiently.