Foreign Guardianship Orders in Ontario: Fisher v. Danilunas Changes the Landscape

By Keri Gillespie lawyer at Merovitz Potechin LLP on Wednesday March 18, 2026

In 2018, Yasmin Vinograd blogged about the practical difficulty faced by foreign-appointed guardians seeking access to Ontario assets belonging to an incapable person.

The central obstacle was section 86 of Ontario’s Substitute Decisions Act, 1992 (“SDA”). This section permits Ontario courts to reseal foreign guardianship orders only where the order originates from another Canadian province or territory, or from a “prescribed jurisdiction.”

We are revisiting this issue in 2026. Ontario has still not named any country as a prescribed jurisdiction under Section 86(2).

The Traditional Difficulty with Foreign Guardianship Orders in Ontario

As a result, the prevailing view following Cariello v. Parrella was that guardianship orders made outside Canada could not be resealed under the SDA.

Foreign guardians were therefore left with two imperfect options:

1. bring an application to have the foreign guardianship order recognized as a non-monetary judgment, relying on the Supreme Court of Canada’s decisions of Morguard Investments v De Savoye, [1990] 3 SCR 1077 (SCC), Beals v Saldanha, 2003 SCC 72, and Pro Swing Inc v ELTA Golf Inc, 2006 SCC 52 ; or
2. commence a new guardianship application in Ontario.

At the time, no decision had applied the SCC’s test. There was no precedent for a real and substantial connection in a foreign guardianship order. As a result, the first option remained largely theoretical in practice.

That changed with Fisher v. Danilunas, 2025 ONSC 4359.

Fisher v. Danilunas: A Breakthrough for Foreign Guardianship Orders in Ontario

In Fisher, the Court of Protection in the United Kingdom appointed the applicants as deputies for Ms. Danilunas.

Because Ms. Danilunas owned assets in Ontario, the applicants sought to have the UK order resealed under Section 86 of the SDA. In the alternative, they sought an ancillary enforcement order to access and use her Ontario funds for her care.

The Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee raised concerns about whether section 86 provided statutory authority for recognition. They also questioned whether Ontario’s safeguards for incapable persons would be adequately preserved if the foreign order were recognized.

The Court noted this legislative gap and expressed concern about differences between Ontario’s regime and foreign systems. The court therefore invited further submissions on whether common law recognition was available and directed a second hearing.

At the second hearing, the Court considered evidence regarding the UK guardianship regime. It also addressed the practical necessity of managing assets in Ontario. The Court of Protection was described as a specialized court that makes formal judicial determinations of incapacity, with deputies appointed through a supervised court process.

Although the UK system differs structurally from Ontario’s guardianship framework, the Court found that it shares a similar design to protect vulnerable persons while respecting individual autonomy.

Importantly, the Court stated that it saw no basis to require the UK deputies to commence a new guardianship proceeding in Ontario, where a formal protective process had already taken place in the incapable person’s home jurisdiction.

The New Standard for Recognition

The Court ultimately held that foreign guardianship orders in Ontario may still be recognized through the common law. This applies despite the continued absence of prescribed jurisdictions under Section 86 of the SDAJustice Myers stated:

Provided that the foreign court order is final, was made with a real and substantial connection to the parties and issues, was not obtained by fraud or a breach of natural justice, and would not violate Canadian public policy, it should be enforced.

However, how this works in practice remains to be seen…

Why This Matters

This is the first published Ontario decision confirming a new path for recognition. Despite the lack of prescribed jurisdictions under Section 86 of the SDA, foreign guardianship orders in Ontario may be recognized without a fresh guardianship proceeding.

For foreign guardians seeking authority over Ontario assets, the decision provides a more practical and efficient path to recognition. It offers guidance on what to include in the application and whether the foreign jurisdiction aligns with Ontario’s regime for protecting incapable individuals.

Thanks for reading!