Halton County Law Association

Refresher materials on requesting or renewing OPS Guest Wi-Fi to support attendance at in-person hearings. In addition, work has been undertaken to enhance the application process.

Materials included:

• The Court Wi-Fi Memo (English | French)
• Desktop Communication (Single source bilingual)

OPSGuest Wi-Fi Services are available at 72 courthouses across Ontario, including here at the Milton courthouse.

In order to use the OPSGuest Wi-Fi service, you must submit an application to obtain a 6-month OPSGuest Wi-Fi account. Once the application is received, accounts are created within approximately 72 business hours and the user will be notified of their account credentials (username and password) via email. OPSGuest Accounts will expire 6 months after activation, and upon expiry, applicants are required to re-apply for a new account by resubmitting an application form.

Click here to submit your request for Wi-Fi services.

Requests for alternative formats or assistance completing the application form can be directed to wifi@ontario.ca.

Sorry... we're closed today, Thursday, August 8, 2024

The library will reopen tomorrow, Friday, August 9, 2024, at our regular business hours of 9:00 am to 4:30 pm. Library staff will be available on-site today. If you need any help, please email info@haltoncountylaw.ca or call 905-878-1272.

The HCLA Library will be closed on Thursday, August 8th due to an installation project involving meeting pods. During this period, access to the library will be restricted to ensure safety to our members and visiting counsel. While the library is closed, the HCLA Lounge and Robing Rooms will remain open.

Additionally, staff will be available to assist you via email at info@haltoncountylaw.ca or by phone at 905-878-1272 during our regular office hours.

We apologize for any inconvenience this closure may cause and appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to improve our facilities to better serve our legal community.

All courthouse libraries across Ontario have access to Westlaw (Criminal, Family, Estates), LexisNexis (QL or Practical Guidance) or vlex searches of Canadian cases, laws, checklists, forms, CPD and more to assist you.

The SCJ Bench and Bar meeting was held on Wednesday May 15, 2024.

Following our quarterly Bench and Bar meeting, there are a few reminders to members who have hearings at the Milton Court:

• Login in at least 15 minutes before the start of your hearing. It takes some time for the Registrar to sign in all counsel and court days are being delayed as many counsel are not signing into Zoom early enough.
• When signing in on Zoom, your screen name should be: First name, Last name, email address and whether you are counsel or agent. In SCJ pronouns are not mandatory but helpful.
• Complete the "Participant Information Form" as per the Practice Direction (Click here to download) and upload to the Hearing Bundle in CaseLines. This can be submitted jointly.
• Do not email Registrars after the end of the court day. The Registrar may not be working the next morning and will not see the email for many days. Instead, send documents via the portal to the filing office, unless the Judge specifically instructs that documents are to be sent to the judicial assistant or Registrar. Follow the filing protocol.
• If you need access to Wi-Fi for CaseLines, ask to be added to Wi-Fi at the courthouse as early as possible before the hearing. You can use the Registrar's email to sign up for the day, however, the better option is to apply for a 6 month Wi-Fi account (Click here to view the Wi-Fi application). The law librarian will also have the forms for the 6 month Wi-Fi application.

Resuming Administrative Dismissal Notices and Orders - effective May 13, 2024

The chair of the Halton Police Service Board has sent a letter appealing to Ontario’s Attorney General over the poor conditions of the courthouse in Milton.

Click here to view the CHCH News article dated February 14 2024.

The HCLA Library, Lawyer’s Lounge and Robing Rooms are closed, and will be closed for at least a month to allow for remediation (of mould and asbestos) to be done. There is a small window of time next week for anyone who may have personal items (such as barrister’s robes) in the library/lounge/robing rooms to pick them up. Here are the details:

The HCLA Library, Lawyer's Lounge and Robing Rooms have been closed off from entry due to the discovery of mould and asbestos.
Pinchin is assigned to the area for a remediation project scheduled to start the Friday of next week. HCLA staff have been in contact with Pinchin, CBRE, and a vendor, Sensyst, to discuss scope and timing of the remediation project.

Preparations for the remediation project will begin next week Tuesday (September 19^th) and will end on Thursday (September 21^st). During this time period the HCLA staff are able to assist any members who need to collect their personal belongings from the lounge area or the robing rooms. 

If you need to collect your personal belongings, please contact Arielle Vaca, Librarian, by email so she is aware someone will need assistance.

The remediation project is estimated to be completed within a month. There will be no access to the HCLA Library, Lawyer's Lounge and Robing Rooms once the project has started. The librarian will continue to work from home and communicate via email (info@haltoncountylaw.ca). The telephone cannot be answered remotely, however the voicemail will be monitored remotely. If any voicemail messages are left, the librarian will respond/contact you via email.

Attached is a photo (IMG_6532.jpeg) showing that the area is now off limits, subject to any arrangement to be made for retrieval of items on either Tuesday or Wednesday (September 19/20).

In addition, please be advised that the Peel Law Association has graciously offered to assist our members in whatever way they can, while our Library is closed. If you need any assistance, please contact Arielle by email and she will assist in either helping you directly, or make arrangements with the PLA.

We will provide an update on when the library/lounge/robing rooms will again be open, as soon as we receive information.

Thank you for your patience.

Incident notification and photo attached below. The update indicates the “air samples collected were found to have acceptable airborne fibre concentrations”.  The samples were collected from the law library and adjacent hallway.

Due to this incident notification, HCLA members, visiting counsel and the librarian have no access to HCLA facilities (robing room, lounge and library). 

The librarian will be working from home until further notice. If you require assistance, please send an email to info@haltoncountylaw.ca. The phone will not be answered.

First Update - Incident Notification 7430 - Initial Notice 9-6-2023 9 PM.pdf

Sharing the latest IAQ reports for Courtrooms 1 and 2. The report advises under “Results and Conclusions” that “Mould spore concentrations in both Courtrooms were lower than, and consisted of similar spore types, as compared to the outdoor control samples and PAMI data.  Sample results did not indicate an impact on air quality at the time of the testing and as a result is safe for occupancy.” 

Toronto Star article "Mould found - again - at aging Milton courthouse"

331135 Revised Mould Air Sample Report, 491 Steeles E, Milton, CBRE, Aug 28, 2023.pdf

331135 Site Review 01, Flr 3, MCH, 491SteelesE,Milton, CBRE, August 24, 2023.pdf