News update

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has announced that all deadlines on IP matters under the Patent Act, Trademarks Act and Industrial Design Act falling between April 1, 2020 and ending on April 30, 2020 will be extended to May 1, 2020. CIPO has again confirmed that further extensions may be possible as the pandemic situation evolves.  Further information is available here.

In order to assist charities that find themselves in a dire financial situation as the result of COVID19, the Public Guardian and Trustee (PGT) has drafted temporary guidelines to allow charities to access restricted funds in order to stay solvent. 

Please note that our website will be offline from 8 am to noon on Saturday, November 21 for planned maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board is offering a financial relief package to help businesses deal with the effects of COVID-19.

The Law Society of Ontario is allowing licensees on monthly payment plans to defer their fees for two months. The payment scheduled for April 7 will now be withdrawn during the first week of June.

LAWPRO has announced that it will not be sending notices or following up on the collection of any delinquent accounts or missed filings (quarterly real estate and litigation transaction filings, unpaid premiums, or deductibles, etc.). Those wishing to stop automatic monthly or quarterly billing have the option to do so up until June 1. Please email service@lawpro.ca to do this.

The Government of Ontario has issued an order under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act that changes how documents are served on the Crown and related entities.

The Government has now released the list of essential businesses. Pursuant to Numbers 61 and 65 on the list of essential businesses, professional and social services that support the legal and justice system and professional services including lawyers are deemed to be essential businesses.

The Ministry of the Attorney General has expanded the Civil Claims Online system to allow more documents to be filed online. While filings will be accepted through the online system, until normal operations resume, only those matters that are scheduled by the judiciary for an urgent hearing will proceed. Court services will be available for urgent hearings and service will be limited for non-urgent matters.

The LSO Corporate statement regarding COVID 19, including Practice Management FAQs (for Licensees); Licensing & Accreditation Information (for Candidates) and LSO Business Operations FAQs can be found here.