Table 4
Newly initiated1 general civil cases,2 by type of action,3 2019/2020 to 2023/2024
| 2019/2020 | 2019/2020 | 2020/2021 | 2020/2021 | 2021/2022 | 2021/2022 | 2022/2023 | 2022/2023 | 2023/2024 | 2023/2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | % change from previous year | number | % change from previous year | number | % change from previous year | number | % change from previous year | number | % change from previous year | |
| Landlord and tenant | 2,543 | 11 | 1,378 | -46 | 1,461 | 6 | 1,646 | 13 | 1,645 | -0 |
| Employment | 4,472 | 5 | 5,166 | 16 | 4,288 | -17 | 4,165 | -3 | 4,659 | 12 |
| Mortgage foreclosure | 14,808 | 4 | 8,416 | -43 | 8,063 | -4 | 10,105 | 25 | 14,749 | 46 |
| Lien | 5,709 | 14 | 3,992 | -30 | 3,159 | -21 | 3,512 | 11 | 5,026 | 43 |
| Collection | 28,006 | -6 | 18,628 | -33 | 20,920 | 12 | 24,718 | 18 | 29,472 | 19 |
| Other and unknown contract | 17,322 | -2 | 13,561 | -22 | 14,124 | 4 | 14,771 | 5 | 16,588 | 12 |
| Motor vehicle | 60,620 | 1 | 55,403 | -9 | 36,963 | -33 | 28,515 | -23 | 25,145 | -12 |
| Malpractice | 1,321 | -2 | 1,032 | -22 | 1,034 | 0 | 1,049 | 1 | 1,192 | 14 |
| Defamation | 311 | 0 | 310 | -0 | 340 | 10 | 318 | -6 | 319 | 0 |
| Negligence | 1,623 | 28 | 1,474 | -9 | 1,582 | 7 | 1,328 | -16 | 1,251 | -6 |
| Other and unknown tort | 16,369 | 4 | 16,237 | -1 | 15,011 | -8 | 14,266 | -5 | 15,505 | 9 |
| Bankruptcy | 8,895 | -4 | 6,213 | -30 | 5,954 | -4 | 5,413 | -9 | 5,552 | 3 |
| Probate | 27,575 | 2 | 27,623 | 0 | 29,817 | 8 | 29,886 | 0 | 27,489 | -8 |
| Administrative law | 692 | -5 | 693 | 0 | 979 | 41 | 736 | -25 | 952 | 29 |
| Enforcement | 4,514 | -24 | 1,197 | -73 | 3,030 | 153 | 3,048 | 1 | 3,993 | 31 |
| Adult protection and committeeship | 188 | -22 | 160 | -15 | 320 | 100 | 311 | -3 | 303 | -3 |
| Civil protection | 1,397 | 3 | 1,001 | -28 | 1,150 | 15 | 1,583 | 38 | 1,801 | 14 |
| Constitutional or charter | 147 | 24 | 110 | -25 | 119 | 8 | 145 | 22 | 115 | -21 |
| Unspecified other general civil and unknown | 116,520 | -3 | 79,080 | -32 | 85,780 | 8 | 89,210 | 4 | 101,694 | 14 |
Note(s):
The Civil Court Survey excludes data from Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, and Manitoba, provinces that are not yet reporting information to the survey. This table also excludes data from Saskatchewan for data availability reasons. Criminal court cases are out of scope for this survey. Percentages may not add up to 100% because of rounding. In this table, 2020/2021 (April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021) is considered as the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source(s):
Civil Court Survey (5052).
Table note 1
Newly initiated general civil cases refer to cases that are filed with a civil court for the first time during a specific reporting period.
Table note 2
A general civil case is any civil action that is not a family-related action, such as contracts, torts, bankruptcy, probate matters and other claims involving money.
Table note 3
See Note to Readers for a list of general civil case types and definitions.
- Date modified: