Urgent Motions in Ontario Civil Litigation: How to Get an Emergency Court Date

Most civil motions in Ontario move through the ordinary scheduling process — book a date, serve materials, wait your turn. But sometimes waiting is exactly what a party cannot afford: a bank account is about to be drained, a property sale is about to close, or evidence is about to disappear.

For those situations, Ontario's Superior Court has ways to move faster than the normal motions list. Getting there, though, takes more than simply telling the court your matter feels urgent.

This guide explains what makes a motion genuinely urgent in the court's eyes, the kind of relief typically sought on an emergency basis, and how the process generally works.

What Makes a Motion "Urgent"

Courts see many motions that parties describe as urgent, but genuine urgency is a narrow category. It generally means: without prompt court intervention, something irreversible or seriously harmful will happen before a normal hearing date could be arranged. A deadline you created for yourself is not the same as a risk the other side is about to act on.

Typical fact patterns include a risk that assets will be moved or dissipated, an imminent sale or transfer of disputed property, or an ongoing act — like continued use of confidential information — that keeps causing harm the longer it continues.

The Kind of Relief Usually Sought

Ontario courts apply a demanding, multi-part test before granting this kind of extraordinary relief — generally weighing whether there is a serious issue to be tried, whether the requesting party would suffer real harm that money alone could not fix later, and where the overall balance of convenience lies between the parties. This is judge-made law applied case by case, not a fixed checklist, and courts are cautious about granting it.

How to Actually Get an Expedited Hearing

1. Confirm the urgency is real, not just inconvenient — a lawyer can help assess whether your facts meet the threshold courts apply.
2. Prepare the motion record properly, even under time pressure. Rushed, incomplete materials undermine urgent motions more than almost anything else.
3. Contact the court about scheduling. Courts have processes for flagging a motion as urgent so it can be brought forward rather than waiting in the ordinary queue — the details vary by courthouse.
4. Address notice to the other side. Courts strongly prefer that the other party gets notice and a chance to respond, even on short notice; relief granted without any notice at all is rare and treated as temporary and exceptional.
5. Expect a follow-up hearing. Emergency relief is often interim only — a fuller hearing, with both sides properly heard, usually follows.

Certificates of Pending Litigation — A Related Tool

When a lawsuit claims an interest in real property, a Certificate of Pending Litigation can be registered against title. It does not decide who owns the property, but it puts the world on notice of the dispute and can effectively freeze a sale or refinancing until the case is resolved — useful when the property itself, not just money, is at risk.

After You Get Temporary Relief

Emergency orders are rarely the end of the story. Expect the court to schedule a further hearing where both sides can be heard in full, and expect the other side to have an opportunity to argue the temporary order should be lifted or changed. Urgent relief buys time and protects the status quo — it does not resolve the underlying dispute.

Frequently asked questions