Toronto Community Housing Corporation sought access to youth court records of a tenant to use in eviction proceedings under the Residential Tenancies Act.
The court addressed a procedural "chicken and egg" problem: TCHC needed information about the youth proceedings to determine which statutory test applied for access, but could not access records without first establishing the applicable test.
The court adopted a bifurcated approach, initially obtaining and reviewing the Information to provide counsel with necessary details.
The court also addressed the novel issue of whether notice should be given to the young person despite no statutory requirement under section 119(1)(s)(ii) of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, finding that notice was desirable in the interests of justice given the serious consequences of potential eviction and the rehabilitative purposes of youth justice legislation.
