The Government of Ontario declared a State of Emergency on March 17, 2020 in relation to COVID-19.
A few days later, pursuant to section 7.1(2) of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, the legislature of Ontario established a Regulation temporarily suspending the operation of limitation periods and time limits in proceedings made under a statute, regulation, rule, by-law or order of the government of Ontario for the duration of the emergency. The suspension of limitation periods and time limits in proceedings is effective as of March 16, 2020. The Regulation can be found at the following link: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/200073.
A limitation period refers to a prescribed time within which a potential litigant may commence a claim in the court. As in other areas of law, within estates litigation, different types of claims will be associated with different time limits and are governed by different legislation. For the duration of the state of emergency, potential litigants can put their minds at ease that the prescribed limitation periods are suspended. Please consult a lawyer with regard to your specific situation to receive proper advice.