The defendants moved for security for costs under Rule 56.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure on the basis that the plaintiffs had moved to England and were no longer resident in Ontario.
The court accepted that the threshold requirement under Rule 56.01(1)(a) was met because the plaintiffs resided outside the jurisdiction.
However, after assessing the second stage of the analysis, the court concluded that requiring security would be unjust.
The plaintiffs demonstrated that posting security would cause financial hardship and the court found the personal injury action had strong merits, including a likely finding of liability in a rear-end collision and medical evidence supporting a permanent impairment meeting the statutory threshold under the Insurance Act.
Balancing the competing interests, the motion for security for costs was dismissed.