Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE:
January 09, 2026
CASE NO(S).:
OLT-25-000540
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 26(1) of the Expropriations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.26.
Claimant
Jay Paul Sharma
Respondent
The Regional Municipality of Durham
Subject:
Determination of compensation
Description:
Determination of Compensation
Property Address:
1460 Regional Road 3
Municipality/UT:
Durham/Durham
OLT Case No:
OLT-25-000540
OLT Lead Case No:
OLT-25-000540
OLT Case Name:
Sharma v Durham (Regional Municipality)
Heard:
December 11, 2025 by video hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
Jay Paul Sharma (“Claimant”)
Jason Bogle
The Regional Municipality of Durham (“Region”)
Adnan Naeem, Alexander McPherson
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY WILLIAM R. MIDDLETON ON DECEMBER 11, 2025 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
1This decision arises from a Case Management Conference (“CMC”) held on December 11, 2025 by videoconference.
2The Claimants have commenced a proceeding under section 26 of the Expropriations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.26 (“Act”) for compensation arising from the Region’s expropriation of parts of lands owned by the Claimant (“Expropriation”) located at 1460 Regional Road 3 in Clarington, within the Region (“Subject Property”).
3This matter is at an early stage but the Parties agree that a hearing date should be scheduled and a Procedural Order (“PO”) ought to be soon issued to assist with the ongoing progress of this matter.
4The Tribunal has scheduled a hearing to commence on Wednesday, May 5, 2027 at 10 a.m. for a period of 3 days as follows:
5Parties are asked to log in to the event at least 15 minutes before it begins to test their video and audio connections:
GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/344779885
Access code: 344-779-885
6Parties are asked to access and set up the application well in advance of the event to avoid unnecessary delay. The desktop application can be downloaded at GoTo Meeting or a web application is available: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html
7Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoTo Meeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to it by calling in to an audio-only telephone line: (647) 497-9373 or (Toll Free) 1-888-299-1889. The access code is: 344-779-885.
8Individuals are directed to connect to the event on the assigned date at the correct time. It is the responsibility of the persons participating in the event to ensure that they are properly connected at the correct time. Questions prior to the event may be directed to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator.
9The Parties are likely to seek mediation in an effort to resolve this proceeding and the Tribunal encouraged them to contact the Tribunal’s Mediation coordinator to that end or to simply deliver a request for mediation in accordance with Rule 26 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Practice and Procedure. In the meantime, the Claimant’s counsel indicated that he will be seeking to retain an appraiser to evaluate the value of the property taken under the Expropriation.
10Subsequent to the CMC, the Parties delivered a draft PO to the Tribunal for its consideration and review.
11Counsel for the Claimant also appeared to recognize that its Application/ Statement of Claim may contain claims beyond the purview of the Tribunal under the Act. He is likely to seek to amend it on consent, failing which the Region may determine that it is necessary to initiate motion practice to strike certain portions of that pleading.
ORDER
12THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS THAT:
The hearing of this proceeding has been scheduled as described above;
The Procedural Order appended as Attachment ‘A’ to this Order shall govern the future conduct of this proceeding; and
This Vice-Chair shall be seized for the ongoing case management of this proceeding but shall not be seized for any mediation that may be convened or for the final hearing of this matter.
“William R. Middleton”
WILLIAM R. MIDDLETON
VICE-CHAIR
Ontario Land Tribunal
Website: www.olt.gov.on.ca Telephone: 416-212-6349 Toll Free: 1-866-448-2248
The Conservation Review Board, the Environmental Review Tribunal, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and the Mining and Lands Tribunal are amalgamated and continued as the Ontario Land Tribunal (“Tribunal”). Any reference to the preceding tribunals or the former Ontario Municipal Board is deemed to be a reference to the Tribunal.
ATTACHMENT A
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 26 (1) of the Expropriations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.26.
Claimant: Jay Paul Sharma
Subject: Determination of compensation
Description: Determination of compensation
Property Address: 1460 Regional Road 3
Municipality: The Regional Municipality of Durham
Municipal File No: 2021-1950
OLT Case No: OLT-25-000540
OLT Lead Case No: OLT-25-000540
OLT Case Name: Sharma v. Durham (Regional Municipality)
Procedural Order
- The Tribunal may vary or add to the directions in this procedural order at any time by an oral ruling or by another written order, either on the parties’ request or its own motion.
Organization of the Hearing
The video hearing will begin on Wednesday, May 5, 2027 at 10 a.m., as directed by the Tribunal in the Notice of Hearing.
The parties’ initial estimation for the length of the hearing is 3 days. The parties are expected to cooperate to reduce the length of the hearing by eliminating redundant evidence and attempting to reach settlements on issues where possible.
The parties identified at the case management conference are set out in Attachment 1.
The issues are set out in the parties’ pleadings. There will be no changes to these pleadings other than as contemplated in this Order unless the Tribunal permits, and a party who asks for changes may have costs awarded against it.
The order of evidence shall be as set out in Attachment 2. The Tribunal may limit the amount of time allocated for opening statements, evidence in chief (including the qualification of witnesses), cross-examination, evidence in reply and final argument. The length of written argument, if any, may be limited either on the parties’ consent, subject to the Tribunal’s approval, or by order of the Tribunal.
Any person who intends to participate in the hearing, including parties, counsel and witnesses, is expected to review the Tribunal’s Video Hearing Guide, available on the Tribunal’s website.
Pleadings
The claimant served and filed an Application and Statement of Claim on July 21, 2025.
The respondent served and filed its Reply to the Application and Statement of Claim on August 7, 2025.
The claimant shall file on consent or by way of motion an Application and Amended Statement of Claim by January 30, 2026, to scope its request for relief to the Tribunal’s determination of the fair market value and any injurious affection to the lands expropriated by the respondent.
Mediation
The parties agree to take part in mediation for the purpose of resolving all or part of the claim and the parties shall comply with the provisions of Rule 26.7.
The parties shall file with the Registrar an Expropriation Mediation Request Form according to Rule 26.5 on or before February 6, 2026, with that mediation to take place no earlier than May 8, 2026, subject to the Tribunal’s availability and that of the parties’ independent Accredited Appraiser Canadian Institute (AACI)-designated appraisers (each an “appraiser”).
The parties intend that their appraisers attend the mediation.
The respondent encourages the claimant to invite other related persons who have a claim to the compensation for fair market value of the expropriated lands to take part in the mediation so to achieve the just, most expeditious and least expensive resolution of all outstanding claims for compensation with respect to the expropriation.
Evidence
The parties do not anticipate needing discovery, examinations for discovery or undertakings, and commit to cooperate in respect of the exchange of evidence and to rely, where possible, on written expert witness statements including appraisal reports. The claimant may reserve a right to discovery should they wish to proceed as such. Notwithstanding the foregoing, all examinations for discovery shall be completed by on or before March 1, 2027 and any motions arising from such discovery must be filed in writing by March 31, 2027.
A party who intends to call witnesses, whether by summons or not, shall provide to the Tribunal and the other parties a list of the witnesses and the order in which they will be called. This list must be delivered on or before March 12, 2027 and in accordance with paragraph 29. A party who intends to call an expert witness must include a copy of the witness’ curriculum vitae and the area of expertise in which the witness is prepared to be qualified.
Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before January 15, 2027, and use best efforts to try to resolve or reduce the issues for the hearing. Following the experts’ meeting(s) the parties must prepare and file a Statement of Agreed Facts and Issues with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before January 29, 2027.
An expert witness shall prepare an expert witness statement, which shall list any reports prepared by the expert, or any other reports or documents to be relied on at the hearing. Copies of this must be provided as in paragraph 29. Instead of a witness statement, the expert may file his or her entire report if it contains the required information. If this is not done, the Tribunal may refuse to hear the expert’s testimony.
Expert witnesses who are under summons but not paid to produce a report do not have to file an expert witness statement; but the party calling them must file a brief outline of the expert’s evidence as in paragraph 29. A party who intends to call a witness who is not an expert must file a brief outline of the witness’ evidence.
On or before March 18, 2027, each party shall provide copies of their witness and expert witness statements to the other party and to the OLT case co-ordinator and in accordance with paragraph 29.
On or before February 19, 2027 the parties shall confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required and any party seeking to limit or exclude the written or oral evidence of any witness must file a written motion for that relief.
On or before April 1, 2027, each party shall provide copies of their visual evidence to the other party in accordance with paragraph 29. If a model will be used, the parties must each have a reasonable opportunity to view it before the hearing.
A party may provide to the other party and the OLT case co-ordinator a written response to any written evidence on or before April 5, 2027, and in accordance with paragraph 29.
The parties shall cooperate to prepare a joint document book which shall be shared with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before April 6, 2027.
A person wishing to change written evidence, including witness statements, must make a written motion to the Tribunal.
A party who provides written evidence of a witness to the other parties must have the witness attend the hearing to give oral evidence, unless the party notifies the Tribunal on or before April 6, 2027, that the written evidence is not part of their record.
The parties shall prepare and file a preliminary hearing plan with the Tribunal on or before March 19, 2027 with a proposed schedule for the hearing that identifies, as a minimum, the parties participating in the hearing, the preliminary matters (if any to be addressed), the anticipated order of evidence, the date each witness is expected to attend, the anticipated length of time for evidence to be presented by each witness in chief, cross-examination and re-examination (if any) and the expected length of time for final submissions. The parties are expected to ensure that the hearing proceeds in an efficient manner and in accordance with the hearing plan. The Tribunal may, at its discretion, change or alter the hearing plan at any time during the hearing.
All filings shall be served and submitted electronically unless otherwise directed. Electronic copies may be served and filed by email, an electronic file sharing service for documents that exceed 10MB in size, or as otherwise directed by the Tribunal. The delivery of documents by email shall be governed by Rule 7. The Parties shall file a Joint Document Book and a Joint Book of Witness Statements in PDF format, bookmarked with hyperlinks to all items listed in any table of contents within each Book.
Adjournments
- The Tribunal’s Rule 17 applies to any adjournment requests.
Date:
Tribunal Registrar
Attachment 1: Parties and Counsel
Party
Party Status
Counsel
Jay Paul Sharma
Claimant
Sack (Q.C.) & Bogle Law Professional Corporation Barristers & Solicitors 137 Berkeley Street
Toronto, ON M5A 2X1 Jason E. Bogle
Tel: 416-482-0799 jason@bogleslawoffice.com
The Regional Municipality of Durham
Respondent
The Regional Municipality of Durham
Legal Services Department
605 Rossland Road East
Whitby, ON L1N 6A3
Adnan Naeem
Tel: 905-668-4113 ext. 2026 Adnan.Naeem@durham.ca
Alexander McPherson
Tel: 905-668-4113 ext. 1792 Alexander.McPherson@durham.ca
Attachment 2: Order of Evidence
Claimant, Jay Paul Sharma
Respondent, The Regional Municipality of Durham
Reply, Claimant (if necessary)
Attachment 3: Timetable
Event
Date
File amended application statement of claim on consent
January 30, 2026
File Expropriation Mediation Request Form
February 6, 2026
Exchange appraisal reports
April 17, 2026
Mediation, with appraisers on or after
May 8, 2026
Expert witnesses to meet
January 15, 2027
File statement of agreed facts and issues
January 29, 2027
Confirm whether all hearing dates required and file any written motions to limit or exclude evidence
February 19, 2027
Exchange witness and expert witness statements
March 18, 2027
File preliminary hearing plan
March 19, 2027
Exchange visual evidence
April 1, 2027
Any examinations for discovery completed
Written motions arising from discovery
March 1, 2027
March 31, 2027
File written responses to any written evidence
April 5, 2027
Advise OLT if witness(es) no longer required
April 5, 2027
File joint document book and joint book of witness statements with OLT coordinator
April 6, 2027
File final hearing plan
April 6, 2027
Hearing
May 5, 2027