Yorkdale Cafe Ltd. v. Ontario (Ministry of Infrastructure), 2026 CanLII 46866

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:

Tuesday, the 12th

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 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”

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).