Urgent and Emergency Motions in Ontario Family Court

When a family situation feels like it is falling apart in real time — a parent who has taken a child and won't say where they are, or a spouse who has just emptied a joint account — waiting weeks for a scheduled motion date is not an option. Ontario's family court system recognizes this. It provides a path to seek an emergency motion in Ontario family court that can put an order in place within hours or days, sometimes without even telling the other party first. But that path comes with a high bar, and judges do not grant emergency relief lightly.

This article explains the difference between an urgent motion and a true emergency motion, what threshold you need to meet, how without-notice (ex parte) orders work, and what to expect after an emergency order is granted. The tone here is practical — a genuine family emergency is frightening, and understanding the process helps you act quickly and clearly.

Urgent vs. Emergency: Is There a Difference?

People often use the two words interchangeably, but Ontario family courts draw a practical distinction.

An urgent motion is one the court will hear on short notice — typically days rather than weeks — because delay could cause harm. Both parties are notified and given (limited) time to respond. A parenting dispute where one parent is about to relocate a child, or a dispute over access that has recently broken down, might qualify as urgent without crossing into true emergency territory.

An emergency motion (sometimes called a without-notice or ex parte motion) goes further: it asks the court to grant an order before the other party even knows you have gone to court. This is the most serious step in family litigation, and courts treat it accordingly.

The governing rules are found in the Family Law Rules, which set out the procedural framework for all Ontario family proceedings.

The Threshold for Emergency Relief

To obtain a without-notice order, you must satisfy the court that:

• Notice would cause a risk of harm — telling the other party in advance would expose a child or you to immediate physical harm, or would allow the other party to remove a child from Ontario or hide assets before the order could take effect; or
• Notice is not reasonably possible — for example, you genuinely cannot locate the other party.

Courts are also alert to situations involving domestic violence, where giving notice could compromise safety. If a child's physical or emotional well-being is at immediate and serious risk, that weighs heavily in favour of granting emergency relief without notice.

What will not meet the threshold: general unhappiness with a parenting arrangement, a long-standing access dispute that has not recently escalated, or disagreements about decision-making responsibility (what used to be called "custody") that have been ongoing for months without a new triggering event.

How a Without-Notice Motion Works

Before You File

Gather every piece of evidence you can:

• Text messages, emails, or voicemails documenting the threat or incident
• Photographs (of injuries, of the home, of documents)
• Police or Children's Aid Society (CAS) reports, if any exist
• A clear, factual affidavit — courts want specific dates, times, and events, not general statements about the other party's character

Your materials need to tell a story: what happened, when it happened, why waiting even a few days would cause irreparable harm.

At the Hearing

Emergency motions are often heard by a judge in a brief, focused session. You (or your lawyer) will present the motion materials. Because the other side is not there, the judge will scrutinize your evidence carefully. Courts are aware that they are hearing only one version of events.

A judge may:

• Grant the order as requested
• Grant a more limited version of the order
• Refuse the motion and direct that it proceed on notice instead
• Ask for additional information before deciding

What an Emergency Order Can Cover

Emergency orders in family proceedings most often deal with:

• Parenting time and decision-making responsibility — for example, an order that a child be returned to one parent immediately, or that decision-making on a specific matter (medical, educational) rests with one parent pending a full hearing
• Non-removal orders — preventing a child from being taken out of Ontario or out of the country
• Exclusive possession of the matrimonial home — asking one spouse to leave the family home on an emergency basis
• Asset preservation — restraining a party from disposing of or encumbering property

The scope of an emergency order is deliberately narrow. The court is not resolving the case — it is pressing pause until both sides can be heard.

The Return Date: What Happens Next

Every without-notice order must include a return date — a scheduled court date, typically within days, at which the other party is served with the order and the motion materials and has the chance to respond. This is a fundamental protection: ex parte orders are not meant to be permanent advantages.

At the return date hearing:

• Both parties appear (or their lawyers do)
• The respondent can challenge the order, present their own evidence, and ask the court to change or revoke it
• The court reassesses whether the emergency conditions continue to justify the relief granted

This is why the evidence you file on the original motion matters so much. If the situation was accurately presented, the order is far more likely to survive the return date.

Frequently asked questions