Setting an Action Down for Trial in Ontario: What It Means and What Comes Next

Ontario civil lawsuits move through recognizable stages: pleadings, document exchange, examinations, and eventually — for the cases that do not settle along the way — trial. The formal procedural step that shifts a case out of the pre-trial (discovery) phase and into the trial stream is called setting the action down for trial. It sounds technical, and it is, but understanding it helps you know where your case actually stands.

This article walks through what setting down for trial involves, what needs to happen before you get there, and what changes once it is done.

What "Setting Down for Trial" Means

Setting an action down for trial is the formal step that tells the court system a case is ready to move from the discovery and pre-trial phase into the trial process itself. Practically, it typically involves filing a trial record — a compiled set of documents summarizing the pleadings and key procedural history of the case — which puts the matter into the queue for scheduling toward trial.

It is a milestone, not the trial itself. Setting down for trial does not mean a trial date is imminent; it means the procedural groundwork the parties needed to complete beforehand has been finished (or the party setting it down has decided to proceed on that basis), and the case can now move toward that stage.

What Generally Has to Happen First

Before a case is ready to be set down for trial, the pre-trial steps appropriate to that action generally need to be substantially complete. Depending on the track the case is proceeding on — ordinary Superior Court procedure, Simplified Procedure, or Small Claims Court, which uses its own distinct process — this can include:

• Pleadings closed. The Statement of Claim and Statement of Defence (and any reply, counterclaim, or third-party claim) have been exchanged and the issues in dispute are defined.
• Documentary discovery completed. The parties have exchanged relevant documents.
• Oral discovery (examinations for discovery) completed, where applicable to the track the case is on — this step is more limited or absent in Simplified Procedure and Small Claims Court compared to ordinary Superior Court actions.
• Mandatory mediation completed, where it applies. Ontario's mandatory mediation regime under the Rules of Civil Procedure applies to Superior Court civil actions in Toronto, Ottawa, and Windsor (Essex County) — it generally does not apply to Small Claims Court, family law matters, or (with limited exceptions) construction lien actions.
• A settlement or pre-trial conference held, depending on the track — Small Claims Court requires a settlement conference before a case can proceed to trial, and ordinary Superior Court actions typically involve a pre-trial conference as well.

The Trial Record

The trial record is the core document filed to set an action down. It generally compiles the pleadings and key procedural documents into one package for the court, giving the trial scheduling process what it needs to place the matter in the system. Filing this record is what formally moves the case out of the discovery phase.

What Changes Once a Case Is Set Down

• The active discovery phase is generally considered closed. Once a case is set down for trial, the parties are expected to have finished the fact-gathering steps appropriate to their track; new, open-ended discovery generally is not expected to continue as a matter of course.
• The case moves toward trial scheduling. Being set down starts the process that leads toward an actual trial date, though the amount of time between setting down and the trial itself varies considerably depending on the court's schedule and the complexity of the matter.
• Settlement pressure often increases. Many cases resolve in the window after setting down but before trial, as the reality of an approaching trial date sharpens both sides' incentives to settle.
• Further procedural steps generally require the court's leave. If a party later wants to add new evidence, amend pleadings, or take additional discovery steps after the case has been set down, they may need to seek the court's permission, since the case has formally moved past that stage.

Common Questions About Timing

A frequent source of frustration is the gap between setting a case down and actually getting a trial date — this can be a significant wait depending on the court region and its caseload, and simplified or streamlined procedures (such as Simplified Procedure, designed for mid-sized claims) exist in part to reduce the overall time and cost of getting a case to resolution compared to the ordinary process.

Frequently asked questions