If you are part of a legal team, it is important that all team members register for their own Case Center account.

The Ontario Courts’ instance of Case Center can be accessed at the following link: https://ontariocourts.casecenter.thomsonreuters.com/. It is important to bookmark or save this website as a favourite so that you can easily return to the Ontario version of Case Center. Once you access this link, click on “Register” at the top right corner. Fill in the required fields on the registration page. Make sure that your email address is correct! Once you register for your account, Case Center will send you a verification email with a link you must follow to complete the registration process.

Once you’ve created and verified your account, you can log into Case Center by clicking “Log On” at the top right corner of the screen. The Case Center login screen will require you to enter your username or email address and your password. When logging into Case Center, it is important to pay careful attention to the acknowledgement that pops up on the screen. This acknowledgement highlights important information pertaining to your responsibilities using Case Center.

You can view this short video for more information on logging into your account.

There are two ways to access cases in Case Center:

• Email

When a case is created in Case Center for your matter, you will receive an email from Case Center with the subject line: “Ontario Courts have granted access to the following court case.”

Emails pertaining to your case in Case Center will come from a casecenter-noreply@thomsonreuters.com email address. Make sure to save “@thomsonreuters.com” in your list of email contacts to mark Case Center as a trusted sender.

If you have received an email from Case Center inviting you to a case, click the link provided and upload the documents you will rely on for your hearing. Documents must be uploaded at least 5 days in advance of the hearing, or at the same time as any filing deadlines that are less than 5 days as set out by a rule of court or a Regional Practice Direction.

• Directly through Case Center

To locate your case, login to Case Center and select View Case List. The “View Case List” page provides a list of all the cases you have access to in the system.

If you have multiple cases, the Case Filter box can assist you in narrowing down the cases that appear on your case list so that you can locate a specific matter. The Case Filter box provides two options for filtering cases. Each of these options will narrow the results that appear on the page so that you can find the case easily:

1. Hearing Date From / Hearing Date To– these fields can be used to look for a list of cases on a specific date or within a specific date range. Use the calendar icon next to each field to choose the hearing dates you wish to search within, then select “Apply Filter”. Case Center will filter the list of cases so that only cases with hearings within that date range appear on the page. Tip – If you want to search for cases on one specific date, make sure to use that same date in both fields. This will ensure Case Center only returns a list of cases that had a hearing on that date.
2. Case name/reference– this field can be used to search for a case using one of the party’s names as it appears in the style of cause/title of proceeding. Use the field to type the name of one of the parties as it appears in the style of cause, then select “Apply Filter”. For example, if the case is “Lawrence v. Smith”, you can type “Smith” into this field to have Case Center filter the list of cases so that only cases with the word “Smith” appear on the page. Tip – If using more than one word to search (e.g., if the party is a company named “12345 Ontario Ltd.”), make sure to select the “All Words” checkbox. This will ensure that Case Center will only bring back results that contain all the words you’ve typed into the field.
   If the parties in a matter have a commonly used last name, it would be beneficial to search by both party names. Case Center will use all phrases you’ve typed in the “Case name/reference” field only if the “All Words” checkbox is selected. For example, typing “Lawrence Smith” into the field without the “Search by exact phrase” option will have Case Center filter to bring you only “Lawrence v. Smith” in the results.Tip – If you have been provided with the court file number for your case, you can use the 6 digits of the court file number in the “Case name/reference” field. For example, if your court file number is “CV-16-256365” you can type “256365” into the Case name/reference field to have Case Center populate the result. You must ensure the “Search by exact phrase” checkbox is not selected in order for Case Center to load your results.

Lawyers can provide other professionals access to their cases in Case Center. If you are counsel to a matter, please invite your administrative staff to Case Center if they are responsible for uploading your client’s material. It is the responsibility of the counsel listed on the document accepted for filing to invite other legal professionals on their team to the case. This includes all junior counsel, legal assistants, clerks, students, or administrative professionals who will be required to upload or view documents.

If you are the moving party and you have not received a Case Center invitation to upload your documents, you must contact the court office and ask for the invitation to be sent.

If you are the responding party: it is your responsibility to reach out to the moving party if you have not received an invitation within 5 days of the hearing.

Self-represented litigants may wish to invite third parties such as mediation services into their case. Self-represented litigants should exercise caution to ensure they are only providing Case Center access to third parties for the purpose of the court proceeding. If you are a self-represented litigant and do not see the “Invite New Participant” option, you can reach out to the court office so that staff can enable this permission on your account.

To invite professionals to your case in Case Center:

1. Locate the case (found on your “View Case List” screen).
2. Select the Update Case.
3. Select the “People” tab found in the case file.
4. Select “Invite New Participant”.
5. Enter the participant’s email address and their role (if they do not already have a Case Center account).
6. Select all the items listed under Bundle Access.
7. Review the options listed under Access Permissions Select only the options appropriate for the person you are inviting.
8. Select all the items listed under Emails.
9. Once you click “Invite”, an automated Case Center email will be sent to the person containing a link to the case.

You can view a short how-to video here.

In criminal matters, Case Center access will be limited to the judiciary, court staff, Crown and defence lawyers and their legal staff. No criminal matters involving self-represented persons will use Case Center.

Counsel are prohibited from inviting their clients/accused persons to access Case Center. Counsel are required to make other arrangements to share documents, as appropriate, with their clients.

If your case was previously created in Case Center but you are preparing for a new hearing or conference within the same case, court staff will provide you access to a new bundle (folder) 5 days before your new hearing date. If you are the moving party and you have not received a Case Center invitation to upload your documents, you must contact the court office and ask for the invitation to be sent. You are responsible for providing administrative staff or third parties with access to any new bundles that have been created for subsequent hearings.

To provide administrative staff or third parties access to new bundles when they have already been invited to a case:

1. Locate the case (found on your “View Case List” screen).
2. Select the Update Case
3. Select the “People” tab found in the case file.
4. Find the name of the person you want to have access to the new bundle.
   1. Tip – press the “Ctrl” and “F” buttons on your keyboard. Your internet browser will pop up a box. In this box, type the last name of the person you’d like to have access to the new bundle. Case Center will bring you to that name on the page so you don’t have to scroll.
5. Find the name of the new bundle next to that person’s name.
6. Check off the box next to the new bundle name. That person will now have access to the new bundle.

Counsel who have been removed from the record and are no longer representing a party in the case may reach out to the court office to remove their access to a case. Counsel may wish to remove bundle access for law clerks, legal assistants, or junior counsel who no longer require access to the case.

To remove a user’s access to bundles in a case:

1. Locate the case (found on your “View Case List” screen).
2. Select the Update Case button.
3. Select the “People” tab found in the case file.
4. Find the name of the person you wish to remove.
5. Uncheck the bundles next to the person’s name.

That user will no longer be able to access the case as they do not have access to any bundles.

Any orders or endorsements resulting from a hearing using Case Center will be distributed to parties directly through Case Center. Once the order or endorsement has been signed, the Court will upload it into the Orders and Endorsements bundle in your case using the Court’s naming protocol. You will receive an email from Case Center when the order or endorsement has been uploaded.

You can download the order or endorsement directly from Case Center in two ways:

1. From the “Review” screen:

• Ensure the selected bundle is the “Orders and Endorsements” bundle;
• Click “Download” at the top of the screen;
• Select “Download Document”.

2. From the “Update” or case file screen:
   • Click on “Index” at the top of the screen;
   • Click “Select Bundle” to choose the Orders and Endorsement bundle;
   • Find the order or endorsement and select the “PDF” button.

Using either of these options will download a PDF version of the order or endorsement directly to your computer.