May 22, 2025
Due to a potential service disruption at Canada Post, mail services may be impacted at our tribunals. In the event of a service disruption, parties are asked to use online options such as e-filing portals where available, or email.
If email or online options are not available, parties may also use courier services to send their documents. If you, or a party, are waiting to receive documents from a tribunal, email or a courier may be used.
If you have any questions, please contact the tribunals.
Laws, rules and decisions
Learn about the laws, rules and decisions at Tribunals Ontario.
Legislation and regulation
Adjudicative Tribunals Accountability, Governance and Appointments Act
The Adjudicative Tribunals Accountability, Governance and Appointments Act, 2009 (ATAGAA) lets the government group adjudicative tribunals into an organization called a cluster, when “the matters that the tribunals deal with are such that they can operate more effectively and efficiently as part of a cluster than alone”.
ATAGAA requires adjudicative tribunals to publish governance and public accountability documents including: a mandate and mission statement, qualifications for members (adjudicators), service standards, a complaints policy and an ethics plan. ATAGAA also requires that appointments of members are made following a competitive, merit-based competition.
The full text of the legislation and regulations can be accessed on ontario.ca.
Statutory Powers Procedure Act
The Statutory Powers Procedure Act (“the Act”) provides a general framework for the conduct of hearings before Ontario’s administrative tribunals. Effective June 3, 2021, a new provision has been added to the Act making it an offence to record or publish a tribunal hearing unless an exception applies. Exceptions include unobtrusive recordings made by a party, representative or member of the media if authorized by the tribunal. Learn more about this amendment.
Practice directions and policies
Practice directions
Practice directions support the rules of procedure and provide guidance about what the tribunal expects of the parties and what the parties can expect of the tribunal. They help parties to understand the rules.
- Practice Direction on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Tribunal Proceedings
- Memo Regarding References to the Crown (October 20, 2022)
- Updated Practice Direction on Hearing Formats (effective November 30, 2020)
Policies
Decisions
Decisions issued by Tribunal Ontario’s tribunals are available on the Canadian Legal Information Institute’s (CanLII) website. CanLII is a non-profit organization that makes Canadian law accessible for free on the Internet.