Case Center does not replace filing requirements currently in place, such as the Ministry’s Justice Services Online (JSO). It is only once your documents have been accepted for filing that you may upload them into Case Center.

After court documents have been accepted for filing, parties must upload the accepted signed/stamped documents to Case Center themselves, except as explained below.

In all Regions, except Toronto and the East Region:

• For Family Cases (not including cases brought under the Child Youth and Family Services Act), Court Services will upload filed documents to Case Center on behalf of self-represented persons.
• For Civil Cases, self-represented persons should attempt to upload documents to Case Center if possible.  Court Services will review event bundles and, where appropriate, take steps to ensure that the self-represented person’s filed materials are available in Case Center for the judicial officer presiding at the event.

Effective October 14, 2025, in the Toronto Region:

• Documents accepted for filing through the Ontario Courts Public Portal in Civil, Family, Small Claims, and Divisional Court Cases will be automatically uploaded to Case Center. Refer to the Toronto Region Consolidated Practice Direction for more information.

You can find more information on filing documents with the court on the Filing page.

All documents uploaded to Case Center must follow the Court’s standard document naming protocol, as follows:

• Document type (including the form number in family cases),
• Type of party submitting the document,
• Name of the party submitting the document (including initials if the name is not unique to the case), and
• Date on which the document was created or signed, in the format DD-MMM-YYYY (e.g. 12- JAN-2021). **It is important that the date field follows this format, or the document will display the date of the upload rather than the date it was filed.**

For example, documents should be uploaded into Case Center as follows:

• Expert Report – Defendant – Loblaws – 13-MAR-2021
• Financial Statement Form 1 – Respondent – A. Wong – 21-NOV-2021
• 11b Application – Defence – Nathanson – 12-JAN-2021

Document names shall not include firm-specific naming conventions, abbreviations, form numbers or file numbers.

Please see the “How to Organize and Upload Documents” section for information on how to edit document names after they have been uploaded here: https://www.ontariocourts.ca/scj/guides-and-service-resources/case-center/how-to-organize-upload-documents/

The exception to the above naming convention is for a judicial officer’s order or endorsement. Orders and endorsements will be uploaded to Case Center by court staff once it is released. More information on orders and endorsements can be found in the “Uploading endorsements and orders” section here.

It is mandatory to upload into Case Center:

• Every document you have filed with the court in respect of the hearing or conference;
• Any other document in the court file that you intend to rely on at the hearing or conference that has not been submitted to Case Center by another party;
• A compendium containing the excerpted portions of the cases and of the evidence to which the party intends to refer during the hearing or conference (for civil cases);
• A completed Participant Information form;
• Any previous orders and endorsements; and,
• Draft orders in editable Word format for review of the judicial officer.

Documents must be uploaded promptly after service or as soon as practicable after the party has been invited into the Case Center case. Uploading documents in advance helps to ensure that the presiding judicial officer has sufficient time to review your documents before the hearing.

Parties must ensure that all previous orders and endorsements in the case that are relevant at the hearing have been uploaded into the Orders and Endorsements sub-bundle in Case Center so they can be accessed by the judiciary at future hearings. Parties must also ensure that all pleadings have been uploaded into the Pleadings sub-bundle in Case Center.

• For Family cases, counsel and parties must also upload Form 35.1 A affidavits into the Pleadings sub-bundle so they can be accessed at upcoming events.

It is also counsel and parties’ obligation to upload proposed exhibits into Case Center within the appropriate event bundle. Each exhibit should be clearly labelled with a clear and neutral description as the document title so that it is easily identifiable. Each exhibit should be uploaded as a separate document, as the Registrar can only add one electronic exhibit stamp per document.

If you are the last defence counsel to fill out the pre-trial conference form in a criminal matter before the Superior Court of Justice, you must upload the form into the “Pre-Trial Conference Form” section of the Judicial Pre-Trial bundle. For more information on the pre-trial conference form, see the following link: https://www.ontariocourts.ca/scj/areas-of-law/criminal/criminal-rules-forms/

1. Prior to uploading to Case Center, counsel must ensure the prefix -ph- is at the beginning of the file name so that the file name appears as follows: -ph- JPT form.pdf
2. After upload, Crown and Defence counsel may access the form by navigating to the “Review” page of the case and selecting “Click hyperlink to download document here.”
3. If any edits are made to the form, after it has been uploaded by the last defence counsel, the updated version of the form must be uploaded to Case Center by following these steps:
   1. Access the “Sections” tab of the case.
   2. Select View Documents next to the “Pre-Trial Conference Form” section.
   3. Select Upload New Version. Case Center will replace the previous version of the form with the updated copy.
   4. The updated version of the form can be downloaded through the “Review” page of the case.

The following two videos walkthrough how to fill out and upload your completed Judicial Pre-Trial form to Case Center:

The following documents should not be uploaded to Case Center:

1. Sealed Documents – Unredacted versions of documents that are or, are proposed to be, the subject of a sealing order should NOT be uploaded into Case Center. Although the notice of motion for the sealing order can be uploaded, the unredacted document proposed to be sealed must be emailed to the Trial Coordination Office, identifying the case name, court file number and the hearing date (if assigned), together with a request that the document be forwarded to the presiding judge or associate judge as a sealing order is being sought. If the hearing takes place by telephone or video conference, immediately following the granting of the sealing order, the moving party must enclose an unredacted version of the document in a sealed envelope, append the court order/endorsement to the envelope, and file it in hardcopy at the court office for inclusion in the court file.
2. Motions for Removal as Lawyer – In motions for removal as lawyer of record under rule 15.04(1.2) and (1.3) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, unredacted motion materials should not be uploaded into Case Center. Similarly, in motions to remove a lawyer under r. 4 (13) of the Family Law Rules, evidence in support of the motion should not be uploaded into Case Center. These documents should be emailed to the Trial Coordination Office for delivery to the judicial officer, unless a regional practice direction or notice to the profession provides for another method of delivery.
3. Judicial approval of settlements involving parties under disability – Where a motion or application under rule 7.08 of the Rules of Civil Procedure requires redaction pursuant to subrules (4.2) and (4.3), unredacted motion or application materials, as the case may be, should not be uploaded into Case Center. Unredacted motion or application materials should be emailed to the Trial Coordination Office for delivery to the judicial officer, unless a regional practice direction or notice to the profession provides for another method of delivery.
4. Affidavits of Service 
   • In civil cases, upload affidavits of service only if service is contested or proof of service is necessary for determining the motion (e.g., motions where responding materials were not filed, solicitor removal motions, motions to add a party (defendant), etc.).
   • In family cases, upload affidavits of service to Case Center in all family cases.

5. Criminal Matters– The following items should not be uploaded into Case Center for criminal matters:

1. • Materials or documents that could be considered child pornography.
   • Documents referring to a confidential informant.
   • Unless specifically directed by the court to do otherwise, Crown and defence counsel will not upload the following documents into Case Center:
     • a sealed document;
     • a document for which a sealing order is sought;
     • a privileged document, or a document where privilege is being asserted; or
     • any other document where counsel have concerns, until judicial direction is given. If counsel have concerns about uploading any specific item, they should seek the direction of the Court at a judicial pretrial. Counsel should ensure that this direction is placed on the record at the subsequent court appearance to be endorsed on the indictment or other written record by the Registrar.