How Fast Can You Get an Injunction in Ontario?

What Is an Injunction?

An injunction is a court order that requires a person or company to stop doing something (a prohibitive injunction) or, less commonly, to do something (a mandatory injunction). In Ontario, the Superior Court of Justice grants injunctions under section 101 of the Courts of Justice Act, which permits the order where it appears “just or convenient” to do so. It is an equitable, discretionary remedy: even a party who meets the legal test is not automatically entitled to one.

Two structural points matter before anything else. First, an injunction is not a standalone proceeding — it attaches to an underlying lawsuit. You issue a claim and then move for the injunction within it, which also means the basic two-year limitation period under the Limitations Act, 2002 applies to the underlying claim. Second, injunctions are Superior Court remedies. The Small Claims Court, which handles money claims up to $35,000, has no general power to grant them, and because a claim for injunctive relief is not a claim exclusively for money or property, it generally proceeds under the ordinary procedure rather than the simplified procedure available for money claims up to $200,000.

Injunctions arise most often in commercial disputes — departing employees taking confidential information, shareholders being frozen out, assets being moved beyond reach, or a counterparty about to destroy the value of a contract. Our Toronto injunction practice sits within the firm's broader commercial litigation group for exactly this reason: the injunction is usually the opening move of a larger commercial fight.

The Three-Part Test: RJR-MacDonald

The governing framework comes from the Supreme Court of Canada in RJR-MacDonald Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General), [1994] 1 SCR 311. A judge asks three questions:

1. Is there a serious issue to be tried? This is a low threshold — the claim must be neither frivolous nor vexatious. The judge does not decide the case at this stage.
2. Will the moving party suffer irreparable harm if the injunction is refused? Irreparable harm is harm that money cannot later fix: loss of trade secrets into a competitor's hands, destruction of a business's goodwill, a unique property sold to a third party, or a defendant who will be judgment-proof by trial. If damages would be an adequate remedy, the injunction is refused. In practice, this branch decides most motions.
3. Does the balance of convenience favour the order? The court weighs which party suffers more from being wrong in the interim — the plaintiff without the injunction, or the defendant restrained by it.

The threshold rises for stronger remedies. Where the moving party seeks a mandatory injunction — an order compelling positive action — the Supreme Court in R. v. Canadian Broadcasting Corp., 2018 SCC 5 confirmed that a strong prima facie case is required, not merely a serious issue. The same elevated standard applies to Mareva freezing orders.

Realistic Timelines: Days, Weeks, or Months

How long an injunction actually takes depends on the level of urgency you can demonstrate and the procedural route that fits it.

• True emergency (24 hours to a few days). Assets being wired out of the jurisdiction, confidential data being exfiltrated, a closing or demolition scheduled this week. Counsel prepares the motion record on an emergency basis and asks the court for an urgent ex parte hearing. In Toronto, urgent commercial matters can be directed to the Commercial List, which is structured to hear time-sensitive business disputes.
• Urgent, on short notice (one to two weeks). Where a few days' notice to the other side is possible without destroying the remedy, courts prefer it. The order that results is more durable because the defendant was heard.
• Standard contested interlocutory motion (roughly four weeks to several months). Affidavits are exchanged, witnesses may be cross-examined out of court, facta are filed, and the parties wait for a hearing date. Evidence-heavy motions with multiple cross-examinations sit at the longer end.
• Permanent injunction (after trial). Commonly a year or more from commencement, since it requires a final decision on the merits.

One warning applies across all of these routes: delay is corrosive. A party who waits weeks after learning of the harm will face the obvious question of how the harm can be irreparable if it was tolerated for so long. If an injunction may be needed, the time to see a litigator is immediately — not after settlement talks drift.

What Drives the Cost of an Injunction

Injunction motions are among the most work-intensive steps in civil litigation, and the fee reflects a handful of identifiable drivers:

• Urgency. An emergency motion compresses weeks of drafting, evidence assembly, and legal research into days, often with more than one lawyer working simultaneously.
• Evidence volume. The motion is decided on affidavits. Assembling exhibits, financial records, and witness evidence — and answering the other side's record — is where most of the hours go.
• Cross-examinations. Contested motions frequently involve out-of-court cross-examinations on the affidavits, each of which must be prepared for and defended.
• Specialized orders. Mareva and Anton Piller orders carry heavier disclosure obligations, and an Anton Piller order adds the cost of an independent supervising solicitor.
• Loser-pays exposure. Ontario's costs regime means the unsuccessful party on the motion typically pays a portion of the winner's legal costs, in either direction.

For a fuller picture of how litigation billing works in this province — retainers, hourly structures, and the loser-pays rule — see our explainer on Toronto litigation lawyer fees.