Ontario has enacted one of the most significant procedural reforms in Canadian civil litigation, and for some, it couldn’t have come at a better time.

For years, a growing number of individuals have exploited the accessibility of courts like Ontario’s Small Claims Court to wage campaigns of serial litigation against critics, activists, and ordinary citizens. The strategy is straightforward and devastatingly effective: file enough claims, and the cost of defending them, even meritless ones, becomes its own form of punishment. Most targets settle. Not because they’ve done anything wrong, but because fighting costs more than paying.

As of October 15, 2024, Ontario has a new set of tools to address exactly this problem.

What Changed

The Enhancing Access to Justice Act, 2024, which received Royal Assent on March 6, 2024, with the critical Section 140 amendments proclaimed into force on October 15, 2024, fundamentally restructures how Ontario courts deal with vexatious litigants.

Previously, obtaining a vexatious litigant order under Section 140 of the Courts of Justice Act required filing a standalone application in Superior Court, essentially starting an entirely new legal proceeding. For people already drowning under the weight of serial litigation, the irony was cruel: stopping the abuse required yet more expensive litigation.

The amended framework changes this in several key ways.

Motions within existing proceedings are now permitted. Parties no longer need to commence a separate application. A motion can be brought within a case already before the court, dramatically reducing procedural complexity and cost.

Judges can act on their own initiative. A Superior Court or Court of Appeal judge who observes vexatious conduct can now initiate the process without waiting for a party to bring a motion.

New Rule 2.2 of the Rules of Civil Procedure creates a streamlined, structured process with standardized forms, defined timelines for notice, response, and reply, and a mandatory initial judicial review before any hearing is ordered.

All persons involved in ongoing litigation with the subject are notified. This is perhaps the most powerful change for cases involving serial litigants. When a vexatious litigant order is sought, every person currently in litigation with the subject receives notice and an opportunity to provide evidence. A serial litigant’s many targets can finally be heard together.

What Qualifies as Vexatious

Ontario courts have established clear factors for identifying vexatious litigation. A person may be declared a vexatious litigant if they have persistently and without reasonable grounds instituted proceedings or conducted proceedings in a vexatious manner.

The courts consider whether actions were brought to re-litigate issues already decided by a competent court; whether the same grounds and issues are recycled across subsequent filings; whether the proceedings are obviously incapable of success; and whether actions are brought for an improper purpose, including harassment or oppression.

Critically, courts have recognized that vexatious litigants often use court proceedings as part of a broader campaign. Conduct outside the courtroom (including complaints to regulatory bodies, social media campaigns, and other forms of pressure) can be considered when assessing whether the pattern of litigation is genuinely vexatious.

A party with a technically meritorious claim can still be declared vexatious if the conduct surrounding their litigation demonstrates improper purpose. Volume, pattern, and intent all matter.

The Effect of a Vexatious Litigant Order

Once a vexatious litigant order is made, the subject cannot commence or continue any legal proceeding in any Ontario court without first obtaining leave from a Superior Court judge. The court becomes a gatekeeper, requiring the person to demonstrate a reasonable basis for any proposed action before it can proceed.

Under the new framework, the registrar can refuse to issue or file documents from a person subject to a vexatious litigant order. Existing proceedings brought without leave can be stayed or dismissed without notice.

This is not a ban on accessing the courts. A person declared vexatious can still pursue legitimate claims, they simply must demonstrate to a judge that the claim has merit before it proceeds. The order prevents the filing of baseless actions, not the pursuit of justice.

Why This Matters Now

The weaponization of small claims litigation is not a theoretical problem. Across Ontario and other Canadian jurisdictions, individuals (some of them lawyers themselves) have used the relatively low filing costs and informal procedures of small claims courts to pursue dozens of actions against critics, journalists, activists, and community members.

The pattern typically involves defamation claims arising from public commentary or social media posts. Individually, each claim may involve a modest amount. Collectively, the litigation burden is crushing. Targets must retain counsel, prepare defences, attend hearings, and live under the cloud of multiple active lawsuits, sometimes for years. The process itself is the punishment, regardless of outcome.

For those who cannot afford to defend themselves, the pressure to settle is immense. For those who can, the time and emotional toll is severe. And for the public discourse that should be protected by principles of free expression, the chilling effect is real and measurable.

The Law Society of Ontario has its own mechanisms for addressing lawyers who abuse the legal system, and censure of such conduct is not unprecedented. But Law Society proceedings operate on their own timeline and address professional conduct rather than the ongoing harm to individuals caught in the litigation web.

The new Section 140 framework provides a direct path for those individuals to seek systemic relief.

Practical Considerations

The reformed process is more accessible than its predecessor, but it is not trivial. A successful motion or application still requires evidence of persistent vexatious conduct: documentation of filings, outcomes, patterns, and impact. The evidentiary threshold is high because the remedy is extraordinary: it restricts a person’s access to the courts.

However, several features of the new framework reduce barriers. The standardized forms reduce legal drafting costs. The ability to bring motions within existing proceedings eliminates duplicate filing fees. The notification of all persons in ongoing litigation with the subject creates a natural coalition of affected parties who can share evidence and costs.

For cases involving serial litigants with dozens of actions on the record, the evidentiary record may already be largely assembled. Court filings are public. Outcomes are documented. Patterns are visible.

Organizations focused on civil liberties and access to justice should take note. The same framework designed to protect the courts from abuse also protects the targets of that abuse; and by extension, protects the public’s right to speak, criticize, and participate in civic life without fear of retaliatory litigation.

Looking Ahead

Ontario’s reformed vexatious litigant framework is not yet widely understood, even among legal practitioners. The amendments are new, the forms are recent, and reported decisions under the updated rules are still emerging. But the tools are now available, and they are significantly more accessible than what existed before.

For anyone currently facing a pattern of serial litigation from a single plaintiff, particularly litigation that appears designed to punish speech rather than vindicate genuine legal rights, the new Section 140 process deserves serious consideration.

The legal system exists to resolve disputes. When it is used instead to create them, the system now has better means to respond.

This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Persons considering a vexatious litigant application should consult with a licensed Ontario lawyer.

Sources and References:

• Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.43, s. 140
• Enhancing Access to Justice Act, 2024, S.O. 2024, c. 2 (Royal Assent: March 6, 2024; s. 140 amendments proclaimed in force: October 15, 2024)
• Ontario Regulation 322/24 (Rules of Civil Procedure amendments, Rule 2.2)
• Petker Law, “Vexatious Litigants in Ontario: Court Process & Consequences” (March 2025)
• Rogers Partners LLP, “Obtaining a Vexatious Litigant Order — The Process Matters” (January 2024)
• Gowling WLG, “Vexing the vexatious: A new vexatious litigant regime in Ontario” (August 2024)
• WeirFoulds LLP, “Commercial Litigation Insights: Vexatious Litigant Proceedings Reformulated” (August 2024)