AffidaviAffidavi / Guides / Case Center requirements
Case Center upload requirements, decoded
The rules for Case Center (formerly CaseLines) live across the Consolidated Civil Provincial Practice Direction and the court's how-to guides. Here they are as one checklist. Always confirm against the current practice direction for your list and region — this is the map, not the territory.
File format and size
- PDF for most documents, uploaded with the "Import Bookmarks" option checked — PDF bookmarks are retained and navigable in Case Center after upload.
- Word for factums and draft orders (and forms with fillable fields), so the court can work with the text.
- Maximum 500 pages per uploaded document. The practice direction is explicit; longer records are split into volumes. (Case Center's own guidance warns long documents may freeze while scrolling.)
- No password-protected files.
- Video: up to 2 GB per file.
Document names
The naming protocol: document type – type of party – party name – date created or signed (DD-MMM-YYYY). Examples from the practice direction:
Expert Report – Defendant – Loblaws – 13-MAR-2021
Factum – Applicant – Wong – 21-NOV-2021
Document names must not include firm-specific naming conventions, abbreviations, file numbers or (outside Family cases) form numbers.
Page numbers
- Your own page numbers go top-left or top-centre.
- Case Center stamps its autogenerated numbers in the top and bottom right — leave those corners empty.
Links and bookmarks: what survives upload
| Feature | After upload |
|---|---|
| PDF bookmarks | Retained and navigable (check "Import Bookmarks" when uploading) |
| Internal hyperlinks within one document | Work — this is how an affidavit links to its exhibits |
| External hyperlinks (e.g. CanLII) | Remain active |
| Links between separate uploaded documents | Built inside Case Center with its internal linking feature, after upload |
Bundles
Cases are organized into three bundles — the hearing bundle, the Orders and Endorsements bundle, and (for civil and family cases) the Pleadings bundle — with sections by party and document type. Upload to the correct bundle and section.
Specific documents
- Affidavits with exhibits: one PDF, internal hyperlinks from each reference to its exhibit — see the hyperlinking guide.
- Factums: hyperlink authorities to a publicly accessible site (e.g. CanLII) wherever available. When every authority is hyperlinked, a book of authorities is not necessary.
- Compendiums: a table of contents hyperlinked to the sections within it and to the cited authorities.
- Trial exhibits: each proposed exhibit uploaded separately, with a clear and neutral title, so the registrar can apply the exhibit stamp.
Affidavi outputs exactly this.
Portal-safe names, bookmarks, hyperlinks, page caps and volume splits are what the Format and File stages are for — built on your computer, never uploaded. Launching soon with a 14-day free trial.
See pricing & get notifiedSources: Consolidated Civil Provincial Practice Direction · SCJ: How to Organize & Upload Documents · SCJ: Requirements for Uploading
General information about Ontario procedure, not legal advice. Practice directions change — verify against the current version for your court location.