Criminal — Central East Region

Effective June 30, 2025, Updated May 12, 2026

This Practice Direction applies to all proceedings in the Superior Court of Justice, Central East Region. It supersedes all previous region-specific Practice Directions and Notices to the Profession for the Central East Region. Counsel and parties are advised to refer to the relevant Parts of the Consolidated Provincial Practice Directions.

1. For complete information on the Presumptive Mode of Hearing Guidelines for the Superior Court of Justice Guidelines, please see:

   Guidelines To Determine Mode of Proceeding in Civil | Superior Court of Justice

2. The chart below lists the presumptive modes of hearing for matters in the Central East region.

3. All events that have been scheduled as a virtual hearing prior to the release of this Notice will proceed as scheduled as a virtual hearing despite the Guidelines. As new events are being scheduled, they will proceed in accordance with this Notice and in accordance with the Guidelines.
4. All events that are being scheduled on or after March 1, 2024 will proceed in the presumptive mode of hearing set out above unless a judge or where applicable an associate justice, prior to the hearing, has directed otherwise.
5. Any party seeking to change the presumptive mode of hearing for an event must raise this request with the court at the earliest opportunity and no later than the first scheduled the event.
6. The request must be made in writing and emailed to the Trial Coordinator’s Office, copied to all other parties.
7. Failure to raise this at the first available opportunity will result in the event proceeding in the presumptive mode of hearing. The request will not be considered on the scheduled hearing date.

8. Any party seeking to change the presumptive mode of hearing for an event must raise this request no less than 60 days before the event with the presiding judge or their designate. The accused mustbe present in person or via video link for this request.
9. A written request must be sent to the Trial Coordinator’s Office, which will schedule a virtual or in person attendance before a judge.
10. Failure to raise this at the first available opportunity will result in the event proceeding in the presumptive mode of hearing. The request will not be considered on the scheduled hearing date.

11. Documents must be filed electronically. It is expected that written materials and documents for criminal, family and civil matters will be filed with the court electronically. If, however, a party is unable to file materials and documents electronically, they may file same in person at the courthouse filing office, together with an explanation of why electronic filing is not feasible.
12. Information regarding standard document naming protocols and the electronic filing of materials for Court and Court fee payments is contained in the Consolidated Provincial Practice Directions.
13. PLEASE ENSURE STRICT COMPLIANCE WITH TIMELINES and COURT FILING DOCUMENT STANDARDS. Court documents which do not comply with these document standards, including the maximum length for such documents, will NOT be accepted (i) for filing; and (ii) shall not be uploaded to Case Center.
14. Compendiums: in civil matters, where counsel file more than twenty-five (25) pages of documentary evidence, whether by affidavit or otherwise, counsel must, in addition to the filing of such documentation, file a Compendium which shall contain only those documents and caselaw that counsel intend to refer to in argument. Failure to comply may result in your matter not being heard.

16. All filings for Criminal matters are to be filed through the following email addresses:

    Barrie – Barrie.SCJ.courts@ontario.ca

    Bracebridge – Bracebridge.courts@ontario.ca

    Cobourg – Cobourg.court@ontario.ca

    Lindsay – Lindsay.courts@ontario.ca

    Newmarket – yorkcrimSCJ@ontario.ca

    Oshawa – Durham.SCJ.Courts@ontario.ca

    Peterborough – Peterborough.scj.courts@ontario.ca

17. For further direction, please refer to the Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction in Criminal Proceedings.

18. Court documents which do not comply with these document standards, including the maximum length for such documents will NOT be accepted for filing (and therefore cannot be uploaded to Case Center).
19. PLEASE ENSURE STRICT COMPLIANCE WITH TIMELINES and COURT FILING DOCUMENT STANDARDS.

20. Parties are expected to comply with the requirements for uploading materials outlined in the Provincial Practice Directions and the following document Case Center in the Superior Court of Justice: A Guide to Requirements | Superior Court of Justice, located on the court’s website. These include deadlines to upload materials to Case Center ahead of a hearing, requirements for the materials which are uploaded, and guidelines on the material that should not be uploaded to Case Center.

21. Calendly will be used in Central East Region to facilitate scheduling the following appearances:

    • Regionally – Civil Pre-trials, , Central East Triage Court;
    • Newmarket – Family Dispute Resolution Officer (DRO) Conferences; and
    • Barrie, Bracebridge, Midland, Collingwood, Orillia – Family Dispute Resolution Officer (DRO) Conferences.

22. Please refer to the tip sheet which is posted on the court’s website. This tip sheet can be found here: Calendly Tip Sheet for Counsel and Self-Represented Parties.

23. The links for each matter which uses Calendly are set out below:

    Regional

    Civil – Pre-trials: https://calendly.com/ce-civil-pretrials

    Civil – Triage Court for Administrative Dismissals: https://calendly.com/ce-civil

    Civil –Triage Court: https://calendly.com/ce-civil

    Newmarket

    Family – Dispute Resolution Officer Conferences (DROs): https://calendly.com/ce-newmarket-dro

    Barrie, Bracebridge, Midland, Collingwood, Orillia

    Family – Dispute Resolution Officer Conferences (DROs): https://calendly.com/ce-barrie-dro

24. Additional steps are set out in this Consolidated Practice Direction for specific events.

132. A Zoom link for the pre-trial will be available through Case Center approximately one (1) to two (2) days prior to the event.
133. The only individuals who may be present for the pre-trial are counsel who have carriage of the file, a litigant who has authority to settle, any party who is self-represented, and the pre-trial judge.
134. No recording may be made of the pre-trial by any participant. The exception is where a party is self-represented, in which case a recording of the pre-trial will be made by court staff at the direction of the presiding judge for the assistance of the Court. Neither the recording nor a transcript of the pretrial conference may be released to anyone without an order of a judge of the Court.