Is there any need to plead foreign law in the defence?

The choice of law issue in any event is premature. Unless or until the defendants plead the laws of other jurisdictions in their statement of defence, the assumption at this stage of the proceedings is that the law of Ontario will apply to the determination of the common law claims. As T. Ducharme J. noted in Caglar v. Moore, [2005] O.J. No. 4606 (S.C.), at para. 15: The approach of the courts to foreign law is well established. The existence of a foreign law is treated as a fact and the party seeking to rely upon it must both plead it and prove it. If the foreign law is not pleaded or not properly proven, the court will apply the lex fori as "it is the only law available." The existence of an applicable foreign law is a material fact, which must be pleaded under rule 25.06(1). Moreover, where, as in this case, the foreign law is the basis for an affirmative defence, rule 25.07(4) also requires that it be pleaded. The need to plead foreign law is a requirement of longstanding in Ontario that has been consistently applied. [Footnotes omitted.]