Substituted Service in Ontario Civil Litigation: Suing Someone You Can't Find

You need to sue someone, but you can't find them. Maybe they moved without leaving a forwarding address, maybe they're actively avoiding you, or maybe you never had a reliable address to begin with. Ontario's civil courts have a solution for exactly this problem: substituted service.

This guide explains what substituted service is, when courts will allow it, and what you generally need to show to get an order permitting it.

What Substituted Service Means

Normally, a Statement of Claim has to be personally delivered to the defendant, or delivered in one of the other standard ways Ontario's rules recognize. Substituted service is a court-ordered exception: permission to serve the defendant using a different method than the standard rules would normally require, because conventional service has proven impractical or impossible.

It doesn't skip service altogether — it changes how the defendant is deemed to have received notice of the claim.

When Courts Will Allow It

Courts generally require the plaintiff to show that conventional service is genuinely not working or not realistically possible, not just inconvenient. Relevant considerations typically include:

• Whether reasonable, documented efforts have already been made to serve the defendant in the usual way
• Whether the alternative method proposed is likely to actually bring the claim to the defendant's attention, not just technically satisfy a formality
• Whether there's a genuine practical obstacle, such as an unknown or changing address, active evasion, or a defendant who has left the country without a known forwarding location

Courts are generally cautious here, because a defendant's right to genuine notice of a claim against them is fundamental — the alternative method still has to have a real chance of reaching them, rather than merely satisfying a paperwork formality that the defendant will never actually see.

What an Order Might Permit

Depending on the circumstances, a substituted service order could allow service by methods such as:

• Email, if there's a reliable address associated with the defendant
• A social media account known to be actively used by the defendant
• Regular mail or courier to a last-known address, sometimes combined with another method
• Service on a relative, roommate, or business associate likely to pass the documents along
• Posting notice in a way reasonably likely to come to the defendant's attention

The specific method approved depends heavily on the facts of each case — what worked in one case won't necessarily be approved in another.

How to Ask the Court for It

1. Document your service attempts. Keep a clear record of every attempt to serve conventionally, including dates, methods, and outcomes.
2. Identify a realistic alternative method. Have evidence supporting why the proposed method is likely to reach the defendant.
3. Bring a motion asking the court for an order permitting substituted service, supported by an affidavit setting out the above.
4. Follow the order precisely once granted — substituted service only works if you comply exactly with what the court authorized.
5. Keep proof that you followed the order, since the defendant, or a later court, may scrutinize whether service was actually completed as directed.

After Service Is Deemed Effective

Once substituted service is properly completed under a court order, it's treated the same as any other valid service — the timelines for the defendant to respond generally begin running from that point, just as they would after conventional service. If the defendant still doesn't respond, the usual consequences of default can follow, including a motion for default judgment in the plaintiff's favour.

Frequently asked questions