Law360 Canada (August 4, 2026, 2:53 PM EDT) -- Nova Scotia’s provincial court is beginning work on an electronic filing and digital document management system for those frequenting the court.

According to a recent news release, work on the court’s “digital transformation” will start immediately. Once completed, the new system “will make it easier for judges, lawyers, court staff, police and other partners to file, share, store and access documents securely.”

The new electronic system “will help reduce delays and improve access,” states the release.

The transformation is expected to be completed by fall 2027.

“We want to use every tool available to make sure Nova Scotians have timely access to justice,” said Minister of Justice and Attorney General Scott Armstrong in a statement. “People come to provincial court at important and often stressful moments. By modernizing how court documents are filed and managed, we can help them move through the system with greater confidence and less delay.”

In his own statement, Provincial Court Chief Judge Perry Borden harkened back to lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced courts across Canada to use technology in a bid to stay at least somewhat operational during widespread lockdowns and social distancing.

“The pandemic showed us the efficiencies that were possible with electronic filing and management of documents and, after much consultation, research and planning, we are now at the stage to implement these improvements,” he said. “We are grateful for the government’s ongoing collaboration and commitment to modernize Nova Scotia’s court system.”

The course of the court’s digital learning curve can be traced back to 2021, when Nova Scotia Justice and the judiciary created a digital task force with a mandate to “digitally transform the provincial court system.”

In March 2020 — just as the pandemic was taking hold across Canada — Nova Scotia’s Supreme Court stopped accepting hard copy documents and began advising lawyers and self-represented parties to use email or fax for “urgent and essential matters.” Not long after, it began allowing for the virtual swearing of affidavits via video.

In early 2021, the provincial court launched a pilot project in two urban centres that would allow police to fax criminal charges needing to be sworn, whereas the traditional system required them to visit courthouses to perform the task.

The pilot was to run until July 31 of that year.

If you have any information, story ideas or news tips for Law360 Canada, please contact Terry Davidson at t.davidson@lexisnexis.ca or 905-415-5899.