Early 2022 decisions interpreting Ontario s new mandatory dismissal for delay regime were glad tidings for defendants, suggesting the regime would be strictly applied. However, over the course of 2022, the pendulum swung in the other direction, with an increasingly flexible approach being applied.
In January 2022, Justice Belobaba (one of four judges on the Toronto Class Actions List) dismissed an action for delay under section 29.1 of Ontario’s Class Proceedings Act, 1992..