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Civil Litigation Cases - Summary Judgment - Partial (3). Mellace v. Mellace
In Mellace v. Mellace (Ont CA, 2026) the Ontario Court of Appeal allowed an appeal, this brought against "a partial determination" of mutual applications in a family corporation context.
Here the court considers the appellant's argument that the lower court erred in hearing only part this application, comparing this with similar 'partial' summary judgement motions:[24] It is open to the court to hear and decide part of an application where that part is ready for determination while other aspects proceed to a further and other hearing: 407 ETR Concession Co. Ltd. v. Ontario (Minister of Transportation), 2004 CanLII 10753 (Ont. S.C.), at para. 33, rev’d on other grounds, (2005), 2005 CanLII 21673 (ON CA), 199 O.A.C. 221 (C.A.); see e.g., P.S. v. Ontario, 2014 ONCA 900, 123 O.R. (3d) 651, at para. 23. As with partial summary judgment under r. 20 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194, however, hearing an application on a partial basis will be appropriate only where the issues can be readily bifurcated and dealt with expeditiously in a cost-effective manner, while minimizing the risk of inconsistent findings: see Butera v. Chown, Cairns LLP, 2017 ONCA 783, 137 O.R. (3d) 561, at para. 34; Service Mold + Aerospace Inc. v. Khalaf, 2019 ONCA 369, 146 O.R. (3d) 135, at para. 14; Leitch v. Novac, 2020 ONCA 257, 150 O.R. (3d) 587, at para. 29, leave to appeal refused, [2020] S.C.C.A. No. 194; Chitaroni Estate v. Coleman (Township), 2025 ONCA 424, 70 R.P.R. (6th) 205, at para. 16.
[25] As with the decision to hear a partial motion for summary judgment, absent an extricable error of law, the decision to hear part of an application is discretionary and entitled to deference: see Chitaroni Estate, at para. 18.
[26] I would not interfere with the application judge’s discretionary decision to bifurcate the application. There were numerous court appearances before the hearing resulting in the order under appeal. It is unclear whether, during those court appearances, the wife opposed proceeding on a partial basis. While her factum below resisted bifurcation, in oral argument, counsel at no point argued that the matter should not be heard on a partial basis. The matter had been adjourned on several occasions to allow for cross-examinations and the completion of undertakings. At the hearing, the application judge had before her an extensive record. During oral submissions on appeal, the wife’s counsel confirmed that only the business valuation remained to be prepared, the outcome of which did not bear on the issues before the court. On this record, I am not prepared to interfere with the discretionary decision of the application judge to proceed to hear the applications on a partial basis. . Canada One Family Network v. Cach Platform Inc.
In Canada One Family Network v. Cach Platform Inc. (Ont Div Ct, 2025) the Ontario Divisional Court dismissed a commercial tenant's appeal, this brought against "an order terminating Canada One’s lease with Cach, granting Cach possession of the Property, ordering that Canada One pay Cach any arrears of rent and rent up to the date that Cach gained possession of the property and declaring that Ms. Zhu had no signing authority or control over Cach’s bank account at the Royal Bank and declaring that Wah Hui Lam, the principal of Cach had sole signing authority and control regarding that bank account".
Here the court considered 'partial summary judgment':[24] The Appellants submit that the motion judge erred in law in granting partial summary judgment. According to the Court of Appeal partial summary judgment is a “rare procedure that should be sparingly invoked”. The reason for this is two-fold. First, instead of fostering timely and affordable justice, partial summary judgment motions can increase both delay and costs. Second, partial summary judgments can increase the danger of inconsistent findings being made at trial when there is a more complete record: see Way v. Schrembri, 2020 ONCA 691, 8 B.L.R. (6th) 158, at para. 16.
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