Find below recently published Ottawa decisions, available for free through CanLII.org.
Family Matters
Chyher v. Al Jaboury (2025 ONSC 4252)
In a parenting trial, the Court ordered the Respondent to pay $60,000 in costs due to unreasonable and harmful conduct, including alienation and bad faith actions, despite his partial success. The Court emphasized proportionality, settlement offers, and the Respondent’s detrimental behavior toward the children and the Applicant.
Justice T. Engelking
Singh v. Kaur (2025 ONSC 4122)
The Court ordered interim parenting time for the father while addressing family violence allegations involving extended family. The decision emphasized the child’s best interests, including stability, cultural considerations, and the impact of family dynamics, rejecting a 50/50 parenting schedule due to concerns about extended family members’ conduct.
Associate Justice I. Kamal
Civil Matters
Overtveld and Gi-Las Management v. Joy Overtveld et al. (2025 ONSC 295)
The Court held a lawyer personally liable for costs after he initiated unauthorized, baseless litigation to avoid case management. His conduct, including failing to substantiate his retainer and disregarding procedural obligations, warranted substantial indemnity costs under Rules 15.02 and 57.07.
Justice M. Labrosse
Place Laurier Ltd. v. The Manufacturers life Insurance Company (2025 ONSC 4172)
The Court dismissed an appeal of an arbitration award, finding no legal errors in the arbitrator’s determination of land value. Leave to appeal was granted on some issues, but the arbitrator’s reasoning and application of legal principles were upheld.
Justice K. Jensen
Mitel Networks Corporation v. Division Integral de Telefonia S.A. DE CV (2025 ONSC 4142)
The Court granted default judgment against a distributor for breaching a distribution agreement and failing to pay $1,174,966.98 USD. The plaintiff was awarded damages, interest, and costs after extensive efforts to serve the claim under the Hague Service Convention.
Justice A. London-Weinstein
Rossetti v. Rossetti et al. (2025 CanLII 66313)
A family property dispute was resolved with a vesting order granting two co-owners equal ownership. Procedural hurdles, including unrepresented estates and an unlocatable trustee, were addressed. The court found the vesting order equitable, given the lack of opposition and the co-owners’ financial contributions to property taxes.
Justice S. Corthorn
Chekhovtsova v. Mutschler, et al. (2025 ONSC 4077)
A motion to set aside a dismissal for delay was denied. The Court found no satisfactory explanation for the seven-year delay, no evidence of intent to prosecute within time limits, and significant prejudice to the defendant due to lost evidence and witness unavailability.
Associate Justice I. Kamal
Issa v. Aiello (2025 ONSC 4055)
The Court upheld the validity of a 2016 will, finding it was duly executed and supported by uncontroverted evidence. Allegations of undue influence, lack of testamentary capacity, and improper execution were dismissed as unsupported by evidence, and the applicant’s claims were rejected in their entirety.
Justice R. Ryan Bell
Re: MacDonald Street, Wellington, Ontario (2025 ONSC 3261)
The Court declared a municipality the owner of an unregistered road, citing public expenditure, historical dedication, and statutory authority, and issued a vesting order to correct title.
Justice S. Corthorn
Criminal Matters
R. v. Schmid (2025 ONSC 4092)
The Court sentenced the offender to 16 years for sexual offences against children and child pornography, emphasizing denunciation, deterrence, and public protection. Mitigating factors included no prior record and willingness to seek counselling, while aggravating factors included abuse of trust, significant victim harm, and the offender’s moderate risk of reoffending.
Justice P. Roger
Court of Appeal Decisions of Local Interest
R. v. G.D. (2025 ONCA 549)
The Court reduced the custodial portion of a youth sentence and extended probation, emphasizing the appellant’s significant rehabilitative progress and the potential harm of transferring him to an adult facility.
Justices J.M. Fairburn, G. Trotter, and A. Harvison Young
R. v. Cole (2025 ONCA 535)
The Court granted an extension of time to appeal, finding the accused’s guilty plea uninformed due to unawareness of an automatic lifetime driving suspension under provincial law, a significant collateral consequence. The justice of the case warranted the extension despite lengthy delays and potential prejudice to the Crown.
Justice L. Roberts
R. v. Rashed (2025 ONCA 515)
The Court upheld the directed acquittal of an accused charged as an accessory after the fact to murder, finding insufficient evidence to support willful blindness regarding the victim’s death. The Court also ruled there was no air of reality to the included offence of being an accessory after the fact to attempted murder.
Justices K. van Rensburg, G. Huscroft, and J. Copeland
Ahmed v. Abdelmoaein (2025 ONCA 508)
The Court allowed the appeal, finding the father did not consent to or acquiesce in the child’s wrongful retention in Canada. The application judge erred by conflating future relocation intentions with consent to immediate retention, ordering the child’s return to the U.K. under the Hague Convention.
Justices J. Simmons, P. Rouleau, and S. Pepal
R. v. Budlakoti (2025 ONCA 490)
The Court dismissed the appellant’s entrapment defence, finding no police misconduct and concluding the appellant willingly participated in firearms trafficking.
Justices L. Roberts, R. Pomerance, and M. Rahman