Interpretation
 2. (1) In these rules, “address” means a person’s street or municipal address, mailing address, telephone number, fax number and email address; (“adresse”) “appellant” means a person who starts an appeal; (“appelant”) “applicant” means a person who starts an application; (“requérant”) “application” means, as the context requires, the document that starts a case or the procedure by which new cases are brought to the court for a final order or provisional order; (“requête”) “arbitration agreement” means an agreement by which two or more persons agree to submit to arbitration a dispute that has arisen or may arise between them; (“convention d’arbitrage”) “bond” includes a recognizance, and expressions that refer to the posting of a bond include the act of entering into a recognizance; (“cautionnement”) “case” means an application or any other method allowed in law for bringing a matter to the court for a final order or provisional order, and includes all motions, enforcements and appeals; (“cause”) “change”, when used to refer to an order or agreement, means to vary, suspend or discharge, or a variation, suspension or discharge (depending on whether the word is used as a verb or as a noun); (“modifier”, “modification”) “child” means a child as defined in the Act governing the case or, if not defined in that Act, a person under the age of 18 years, and in a case under the Divorce Act (Canada) includes a “child of the marriage” within the meaning of that Act; (“enfant”) “child protection case” means a case under Part V of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017; (“cause portant sur la protection d’un enfant”) “child support guidelines” means Ontario Regulation 391/97 (Child Support Guidelines) made under the Family Law Act, or the Federal Child Support Guidelines, as the case may be; (“lignes directrices sur les aliments pour les enfants”) “clerk” means a person who has the authority of a clerk or a registrar of the court; (“greffier”) “contempt motion” means a motion for a contempt order; (“motion pour outrage”) “contempt order” means an order finding a person in contempt of court; (“ordonnance pour outrage”) “continuing record” means the record made under rule 9 containing, in accordance with these rules, written documents in a case that are filed with the court; (“dossier continu”) “corporation” French version only. “court” means the court in which a case is being heard; (“tribunal”) “default hearing” means a hearing under section 41 of the
Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996 in which a payor is required to come to court to explain why payment has not been made as required by a support order; (“audience sur le défaut”) “Director of the Family Responsibility Office” means the Director of the Family Responsibility Office under the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996, and “Director” has the same meaning, unless the context requires otherwise; (“directeur du Bureau des obligations familiales”, “directeur”) “document” means information, sound or images recorded by any method; (“document”) “enforcement” means the use of one or more remedies mentioned in rule 26 (enforcement of orders) to enforce an order; (“exécution”) “family arbitration” means an arbitration that, (a)  deals with matters that could be dealt with in a marriage contract, separation agreement, cohabitation agreement or paternity agreement under Part IV of the Family Law Act, and (b)  is conducted exclusively in accordance with the law of Ontario or of another Canadian jurisdiction; (“arbitrage familial”) “family arbitration agreement” and “family arbitration award” have meanings that correspond to the meaning of “family arbitration”; (“convention d’arbitrage familial”, “sentence d’arbitrage familial”) “file” means to file, with proof of service where service is required, (a)  in the court office in the municipality where the case or enforcement is started or to which the case or enforcement is transferred, or (b)  electronically in accordance with these rules; (“déposer”) “final order” means an order, other than a temporary order, that decides a claim in an application, including, (a)  an order made on motion that changes a final order, (b)  a judgment, and (c)  an order that decides a party’s rights, in an issue between the parties or between a party and a non-party; (“ordonnance définitive”) “government agency” means the Crown, a Crown agency, a municipal government or agency, a children’s aid society or any other public body; (“organisme gouvernemental”) “income source” has the same meaning as in the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996; (“source de revenu”) “international child abduction case” means an application involving the alleged wrongful removal to or retention of a child in Ontario that is made under section 40 of the Children’s Law Reform Act or under the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, set out in the Schedule to section 46 of that Act, if the removal or retention involves a jurisdiction outside Canada; (“cause portant sur l’enlèvement international d’un enfant”) “Justice Services Online website” means the Justice Services Online website referred to in subrule 1.1 (1); (“site Web Services de justice en ligne”) “lawyer” means a person authorized under the Law Society Act to practise law in Ontario; (“avocat”) “legal aid rate” means the rate payable by Legal Aid Ontario on an account submitted by a lawyer for copying in the lawyer’s office; (“tarif de l’aide juridique”) “mail”, when used as a noun, means ordinary or regular mail, and when used as a verb means to send by ordinary or regular mail; (“poste”) “municipality” means a county, district, district municipality, regional municipality, the City of Toronto or a municipal corporation formed from the amalgamation of all the municipalities of a county, district, district municipality or regional municipality, and includes, (a)  an Indian reserve within the territorial area of a municipality, and (b)  the part of The Regional Municipality of Niagara that was the County of Lincoln as it existed on December 31, 1969; (“municipalité”) “on motion” means on motion of a party or a person having an interest in the case; (“sur motion”) “paralegal” means a person authorized under the Law Society Act to provide legal services in Ontario; (“parajuriste”) “payment order” means a temporary or final order, but not a provisional order, requiring a person to pay money to another person, including, (a)  an order to pay an amount under Part I or II of the Family Law Act or the corresponding provisions of a predecessor Act, (b)  a support order, (c)  a support deduction order, (d)  an order under section 108 or subsection 213 (2) of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, or under the corresponding provision of a predecessor Act, (e)  a payment order made under rules 26 to 32 (enforcement measures) or under section 41 of the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996, (f)  a fine for contempt of court, (g)  an order of forfeiture of a bond or recognizance, (h)  an order requiring a party to pay the fees and expenses of, (i)  an assessor, mediator or other expert named by the court, or (ii)  a person conducting a blood test to help determine a child’s parentage, and (i)  the costs and disbursements in a case; (“ordonnance de paiement”) “payor” means a person required to pay money under an order or agreement, and includes the estate trustee of a payor who died; (“payeur”) “periodic payment” means an amount payable at regular intervals and includes an amount payable in instalments; (“paiement périodique”) “property claim” means a claim, (a)  under Part I of the Family Law Act, (b)  for a constructive or resulting trust, or (c)  for a monetary award as compensation for unjust enrichment; (“demande portant sur des biens”) “provisional order” means an order that is not effective until confirmed by a court; (“ordonnance conditionnelle”) “recipient” means a person entitled to receive money or costs under a payment order or agreement, including, (a)  a person who is entitled to money for the benefit of a child under a support order, (b)  in the case of a support order made under the Family Law Act, an agency referred to in subsection 33 (3) of that Act, (c)  in the case of a support order made under the Divorce Act (Canada), an agency referred to in subsection 20.1 (1) of that Act, (d)  a children’s aid society entitled to money under an order made under section 108 or subsection 213 (2) of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, or the corresponding provision in a predecessor Act, (e)  an assessor, mediator or other expert entitled to fees and expenses from the party named in the order, and (f)  the estate trustee of a person who was entitled to money under an order at the time of his or her death; (“bénéficiaire”) “Registrar General” means the Registrar General under the
Vital Statistics Act; (“registraire général de l’état civil”) “respondent” means a person against whom a claim is made in an application, answer or appeal; (“intimé”) “special party” means a party, other than a child party, who is or appears to be mentally incapable for the purposes of the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992 in respect of an issue in the case and who, as a result, requires legal representation; (“partie spéciale”) “support deduction order” means a support deduction order as defined in section 1 of the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996; (“ordonnance de retenue des aliments”) “support order” means an order described in subsection 34 (1) of the Family Law Act or a support order as defined in subsection 2 (1) of the Divorce Act (Canada) or in section 1 of the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996; (“ordonnance alimentaire”) “temporary order” means an order that says it is effective only for a limited time, and includes an interim order; (“ordonnance temporaire”) “trial” includes a hearing; (“procès”) “trial sitting” means the period of time set by the court in which a trial will be scheduled to be held; (“session”) “uncontested trial” means a trial at which only the party making the claim provides evidence and submissions. (“procès non contesté”) O. Reg. 114/99, r. 2 (1); O. Reg. 544/99, s. 2; O. Reg. 76/06, s. 2; O. Reg. 439/07, s. 2; O. Reg. 388/12, s. 2; O. Reg. 142/14, s. 2; O. Reg. 69/15, s. 2; O. Reg. 140/15, s. 4; O. Reg. 298/18, s. 3 (1-5); O. Reg. 250/19, s. 1; O. Reg. 649/20, s. 2; O. Reg. 42/21, s. 1; O. Reg. 522/21, s. 2; O. Reg. 781/21, s. 2; O. Reg. 320/22, s. 2; O. Reg. 105/23, s. 2. Temporary orders (1.1) For the purposes of the definition of “temporary order” in subrule (1), temporary orders include orders made under subsection 94 (2) (custody during adjournment) of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 but do not include an order made under paragraph 2 of subsection 101 (1) (interim society care and custody) of that Act. O. Reg. 298/18, s. 3 (6). Primary objective (2) The primary objective of these rules is to enable the court to deal with cases justly. O. Reg. 114/99, r. 2 (2). Dealing with cases justly (3) Dealing with a case justly includes, (a)  ensuring that the procedure is fair to all parties; (b)  saving expense and time; (c)  dealing with the case in ways that are appropriate to its importance and complexity; and (d)  giving appropriate court resources to the case while taking account of the need to give resources to other cases. O. Reg. 114/99, r. 2 (3). Duty to promote primary objective (4) The court is required to apply these rules to promote the primary objective, and parties and their lawyers are required to help the court to promote the primary objective. O. Reg. 114/99, r. 2 (4). Duty to manage cases (5) The court shall promote the primary objective by active management of cases, which includes, (a)  at an early stage, identifying the issues, and separating and disposing of those that do not need full investigation and trial; (b)  encouraging and facilitating use of alternatives to the court process; (c)  helping the parties to settle all or part of the case; (d)  setting timetables or otherwise controlling the progress of the case; (e)  considering whether the likely benefits of taking a step justify the cost; (f)  dealing with as many aspects of the case as possible on the same occasion; and (g)  if appropriate, dealing with all or any part of the case without requiring parties, witnesses or lawyers to attend in person on the basis of written documents or by using telephone or video technology, by way of an order under clause 1 (7.2) (i) or (i.1). O. Reg. 114/99, r. 2 (5); O. Reg. 152/21, s. 2. RULE 3: TIME Time