Courts of Ontario

Accounts of the Indigenous law governing dispute resolution in the area now called Ontario, Canada, date from the early to mid-17th century. French civil law courts were created in Canada, the colony of New France, in the 17th century, and common law courts were first established in 1764. The territory was then known as the province of Quebec.^[1]

A portion of the province of Quebec was designated Upper Canada by the Constitutional Act 1791. Almost immediately after the colony was created, Upper Canada's colonial government abolished the French civil law and established English common law courts in private law matters. The union of the Canadas had little effect on the court system in what became Canada West. Periodic reform continued in the region's courts before and after Canada West was renamed Ontario upon Confederation in 1867.

Ontario's courts were reformed and reorganized on several occasions in the 19th century. Major changes included the creation of the Court of Chancery of Upper Canada, a court of equity, in 1837, and the fusion of common law and equity in 1881. Periodic reform continued in the 20th century. In 1972, Ontario acquired another new court, the Divisional Court. Its courts' current names and roles were largely settled by the 1990s.