Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: May 14, 2026
CASE NO.: OLT-25-000747
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 26(1) of the Expropriations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.26, as amended
Claimant: Yorkdale Cafe Ltd.
Respondent: HMK in right of Ontario as represented by the Ministry of Infrastructure
Description: Determination of compensation
Property Address: 26 Overlea Blvd
Municipality/UT: City of Toronto
OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000747
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-25-000747
OLT Case Name: Yorkdale Cafe Ltd. v. Ontario (Ministry of Infrastructure)
BEFORE:
WILLIAM R. MIDDLETON
Tuesday, the 12th
VICE-CHAIR
day of May, 2026
THE TRIBUNAL having received and considered a draft Procedural Order delivered by the Parties;
AND THE TRIBUNAL having agreed to the final hearing date proposed by the Parties;
THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS THAT:
The Procedural Order attached hereto as Schedule “A”, shall govern the future conduct of this proceeding leading up to and including the hearing, which is scheduled to commence on March 22, 2027 for a period of five (5) days; and
This Vice Chair shall be seized of this matter for the purpose of ongoing case management, including all motion practice, but shall not be seized for the hearing of this proceeding or for any mediation which may be convened.
“Matthew D.J. Bryan”
MATTHEW D.J. BRYAN
REGISTRAR
Ontario Land Tribunal
Website: 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.
SCHEDULE A
- 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 March 22, 2027 at 10:00 AM at https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/709076365 Access code: 709-076-365
The parties’ initial estimation for the length of the hearing is five (5) 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 to the hearing are set out in Attachment 1.
The issues are set out in the Claimants’ Notice of Arbitration and Statement of Claim and in the Respondent’s Reply.
The order of evidence shall be as set out in Attachment 2 to this Order. 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.
Requirements Before the Hearing
Exchange of Unsworn Affidavit of Documents of the Claimant and Respondent will be exchanged (with sworn copies to follow in advance of Examinations for Discovery) on or before May 22, 2026.
Examinations for Discovery shall take place on or before the week of July 20, 2026. All Undertakings provided at the Examinations for Discovery of the parties will be answered within 60 days following the Examination for Discovery, or by September 14, 2026.
Any motions resulting from documentary of oral discovery shall be filed in writing on 30 days following the receipt of the answers to undertakings given on oral discovery on or by October 19, 2026.
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 October 2, 2026. 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 December 11, 2026 and use best efforts to try to resolve or reduce the issues for the hearing. Following the experts’ meeting the parties must prepare and file a Statement of Agreed Facts and Issues with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before February 19, 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. 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. 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 January 15, 2027, the parties shall provide copies of their witness and expert witness statements to the other parties and to the OLT case co-ordinator.
On or before February 15, 2027 the parties shall (a) confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required and (b) file a written motion in the event that a party seeks to limit or exclude any written or oral evidence.
On or before March 2, 2027, the parties shall exchange copies of their visual evidence. If a model will be used, all parties must have a reasonable opportunity to view it before the hearing.
The parties shall cooperate to prepare a joint document book and a joint compendium of witness statements / expert reports, in PDF format bookmarked with hyperlinks to any items listed in any table of contents, which shall be filed with the OLT on or before March 2, 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 at least 7 days before the hearing 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 12, 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 in the course of the hearing.
All filings shall be submitted electronically in PDF format, bookmarked with hyperlinks to all items listed in any table of contents. Electronic copies may be 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 the Rule 7.
No adjournments or delays will be granted before or during the hearing except in accordance with a written motion brought in accordance with the Tribunal’s Rule 17.
TRIBUNAL REGISTRAR
KEY PROCEDURAL DATES
EVENT
DATE
Exchange of Affidavit of Documents
May 22, 2026
Examinations for Discovery to be conducted by
Week of July 20, 2026
Answers to Undertakings
September 14, 2026
Exchange of Witness Lists
October 2, 2026
Motions for Answers to Undertakings to be filed
October 19, 2026
Exchange of Witness and Expert Statements
November 13, 2026
Last Day for Parties to Request Mediation by
November 30, 2026
Last Day for Experts’ Meeting
December 11, 2026
Exchange of Reply Witness and Reply Expert Statements
January 15, 2027
Advise OLT if Any Hearing Dates are No Longer Required
Written Motion to limit or exclude written or oral evidence
February 15, 2027
Filing of Statement of Agreed Facts
February 19, 2027
Exchange of Visual Evidence
March 2, 2027
Joint Document Book and Joint Compendium of Witness Statements / Expert Reports to be filed (bookmarked in PDF with hyperlinks to all items listed in any table of contents)
March 2, 2027
Advise OLT if any witnesses no longer required
March 12, 2027
Hearing Plan to be filed
March 12, 2027
Hearing
Week of March 22, 2027
ATTACHMENT #1
PARTIES
Counsel for the Claimant:
LOOPSTRA NIXON LLP
Barristers and Solicitors
130 Adelaide Street, Suite 2800
Toronto, ON M5H 1P9
Jason Beitchman
LSO#: 56477O
Tel: (416) 597-5416
Email: jbeitchman@LN.Law
Zenabe Durant
LSO#: 93754D
Tel: (289) 217-1583
Email: zdurant@LN.Law
Counsel for the Respondent:
AIRD & BERLIS LLP
Brookfield Place
181 Bay Street, Suite 1800
Toronto, ON M5J 2T9
Brendan O’Callaghan
LSO#: 30028A
Tel: 647.426.2832
Email: bocallaghan@airdberlis.com
Anna Lu
LSO#: 80069H
Tel: 416.865.3419
Email: alu@airdberlis.com
Jonathan Marun-Batista
LSO#: 89066D
Tel: 416.865.3089
Email: jmarunbatista@airdberlis.com
ATTACHMENT #2
Order of Evidence
The order of presentation of evidence shall be:
(i) case for the Claimant;
(ii) case for the Respondent; and
(iii) reply by the Claimant (if necessary).