Criminal — Toronto Region

This section includes specific direction pertaining to Criminal matters in Toronto before the Superior Court of Justice. It should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction for Criminal Proceedings, which can be found here: Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction for Criminal Proceedings.

For guidelines to determine the mode of proceeding for criminal matters, effective June 15, 2023, parties should consult “PART VIII: MODE OF PROCEEDING: Guidelines to Determine Mode of Proceeding in Criminal” in the Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction for Criminal Proceedings. (i) Presumptive Modes of Hearing The following summary lists the presumptive modes of proceedings in Toronto as provided for in the Guidelines to Determine Mode of Proceeding in Criminal:

(ii) Change to Presumptive Mode of Hearing

1. All events scheduled, on or after April 19, 2022, will proceed in the presumptive mode of hearing set out above unless a judge, prior to the hearing, has directed otherwise.
2. Any party seeking to change the presumptive mode of hearing for an event must raise this request with the court at the earliest attendance or no later than when scheduling the event.
3. The request can be raised with the presiding judge at a Pre-Trial, Trial Confirmation Appearance or Practice Court/Assignment Court.
4. Where necessary, a written request may be sent to the Trial Coordinator’s Office, who will schedule a telephone or virtual attendance before a judge.
5. 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 unless there are exceptional circumstances.

(i) General

6. Effective April 19, 2022 bail reviews, bail hearings and 90 day detention reviews may be scheduled in person in accordance with the Criminal Proceedings Ruleson 2 clear days notice.
7. Where an applicant on a Bail hearing, bail review or 90-day detention review estimates the time for the hearing at more than 2 hours, the applicant must indicate a time estimate and schedule a judicial pre-trial prior to the hearing date. Counsel will be required to justify why more than 2 hours is required for all non-homicide bail hearings, bail reviews, and 90-day detention reviews.

8. Virtual bail hearings, bail reviews and 90-day detention reviews must continue to book a time for the hearing through the trial coordinator in accordance with (ii)(b) below.

   (ii) Remote Bail Hearings (a) Consent releases

9. Counsel will fill out the conditions of release and surety declaration (if applicable). These will be forwarded to the Admin Crown who will forward it to the registrar’s office at: Toronto.SCJ.CriminalCourtSupport@ontario.ca, and to the Criminal Intake Office at Toronto.SCJ.CriminalIntake@ontario.ca.

10. The trial coordinator will assign a judge and a registrar.
11. The registrar will complete the paperwork and provide it to the parties for their signature. A written confirmation from counsel that they have witnessed the sureties’ signatures will be accepted (whether it be over the phone, via Facetime, Skype, etc.).
12. The release order will be sent to an available judge for approval and execution.

13. The signed release order will be returned to the registrar who will provide it to the relevant institution and to the parties.

    (b) Contested Hearings

14. Counsel are to consult each other about the necessity of booking a time for a contested bail / 90-day review.

15. Defence counsel will email materials to the Admin Crown to effect service. Defence counsel will include their availability and the time estimate for the hearing when serving the Crown.
16. Counsel will file all application materials with the trial coordinator’s office at CriminalTrialOffice-SCJ-Toronto@ontario.ca and with the Criminal Intake Office at SCJ.CriminalIntake@ontario.ca. Once a Case Center file has been opened, counsel will receive an invitation to Case Center and shall upload all material.
17. In the case of 90-day reviews, the trial coordinator will email Ms. Maria Ranaudo (Maria.Ranaudo@Ontario.ca) to determine if a bail hearing has been conducted. If there was no bail hearing, the trial coordinator will provide a date for the review hearing. If there was a bail hearing, Ms. Ranaudo will order the transcript by email copying the trial coordinator. An available judge will authorize the transcript order.
18. The trial coordinator will provide a date and time for the hearing once defence materials have been served on the Admin Crown and filed (or fifteen (15) days after the transcript has been ordered in the case of 90-day reviews). Counsel must file all materials by 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday if they wish to conduct the bail review the following Monday. They must serve and file by 10:00 am Thursday if they wish to conduct the bail / bail review / 90-day review the following Tuesday to Friday.
19. To avoid any unnecessary adjournments of scheduled hearing dates, the applicant is not permitted to file additional materials after the 10:00 a.m. deadline on Thursday unless the responding party consents. If possible, the responding party should file their materials at least two clear days prior to the scheduled hearing.
20. The bail / bail review / 90-day reviews can be heard each day at 10:00 a.m. (four (4) possible slots) and 2:00 p.m. (four possible slots).
21. The trial coordinator will provide the interested parties with the videoconference or teleconference information.
22. Counsel should complete the “conditions of release” form and circulate it to the other parties in advance of the hearing.
23. Counsel should ensure they have a copy of the photo identification from the proposed sureties.
24. The defendant need not be present for a bail review. A defendant is likely required to be present for a 90-day detention review (by audio or video) pursuant to s. 502.1(1) of the Criminal Code.
25. If counsel wish for their client to be present, they must make arrangements with the appropriate Admin Crown who will contact the institution and make the request.
26. If released, the registrar will complete the paperwork, scan it and forward it to the parties for signature. As stated above, during this time, we are willing to accept a written confirmation from counsel that they have ‘witnessed’ the sureties’ signatures (whether it be over the phone via Facetime, Skype, etc.).

27. The release documents will then be scanned and sent to the judge for signature and returned to the registrar. The paperwork will then be forwarded to the institution.

    (c) Consent Bail Variations

28. Counsel should fill out and sign the 10b Form available here and forward it to the appropriate Crown.

29. The Crown will review and sign the form.
30. Sureties sign the form either in the presence of counsel or counsel should provide written confirmation that they have ‘witnessed’ the sureties’ signatures by video.
31. The Crown will send the variation to an available judge for approval.
32. The Registrars will be copied by emailing SCJ.CriminalCourtSupport@ontario.ca, and the criminal intake office at Toronto.SCJ.Criminalintake@ontario.ca.
33. Once approved, the paperwork will be completed and provided to counsel.

(i) Filing:

34. All filings for Criminal matters must be emailed to the following address:

    Toronto.SCJ.Criminalintake@ontario.ca and must comply with the court filing requirements in R. 4.01 of the Criminal Proceedings Rules and follow the direction in Part I of the Provincial Practice Direction for Criminal Proceedings. (ii) Case Center:

35. Detailed instructions outlining counsel’s responsibilities in uploading materials to Case Center are set out in Part I of the Consolidated Provincial Practice Directions or can be found in Case Center in the Superior Court of Justice: A Guide to Requirements.

36. The status of Case Center expansion for Criminal matters in Toronto is as follows:

    Case Center is being used for summary conviction appeals, prerogative remedies/special motions, Judicial pre-trials, pre-trial motions, bail hearings, bail reviews and trials. In summary, Case Center shall be used for all criminal events except for the following events:

    • Trial Readiness;
    • Assignment Court;
    • Bail Estreatments; and
    • TBST matters.

37. Upon service and filing of documents, counsel must immediately upload the filed documents to Case Center. If necessary, counsel should contact the Criminal Intake Office to obtain a Case Center invite for the event. Uploading to Case Center the morning of or at the beginning of the hearing, must be avoided.

38. Case Center does not replace service and court filing. Crown and defence counsel must serve and file materials with the court by email in accordance with the applicable rules in the Criminal Proceedings Rulesand Criminal Code and in accordance with the notices.
39. Court Services Division must maintain the electronic file in the appropriate system that has been developed for maintaining the court record.
40. Counsel must have a current email on file with the court. Counsel must ensure that their current email address is included on all court filings.
41. Parties must make Case Center a trusted sender by saving casecenter.com in their contacts list, or regularly check their junk folder for emails from Case Center.
42. Upon receipt of an email from Case Center, which will be sent prior to the hearing, click the registration link to register. Counsel can also register in advance at https://ontariocourts.casecenter.thomsonreuters.com/. It is recommended that counsel prepare by creating an account in Case Center in advance.
43. For more information about Case Center including how to upload documents to Case Center and tips for using it, see the links set out in the Consolidated Provincial Practice Directions.
44. If the Court provides any direction at a judicial pretrial that a matter should not use Case Center in an upcoming pretrial motion, plea or trial, or any special instructions regarding whether certain documents can/cannot be uploaded onto Case Center, counsel is responsible for placing this information on the record.

45. Use the following document naming convention when documents are submitted to the court in electronic format. Each document must indicate the following information:

    • Document type
    • Type of party submitting the document
    • Name of the party submitting the document (including initials if the name is not unique to the case), and
    • Date on which the document was created or signed, in the format DD-MMM-YYYY (e.g. 12-JAN-2021)

46. If uploading documents that will require the in-court registrar to stamp as exhibits, please upload these documents individually as only one electronic exhibit stamp can be added per document.

47. If a document is marked as an exhibit during the hearing, Registrars will download the document and retain it in the usual manner exhibits are retained for the court file.
48. Case Center is not to be used for any matter where the accused is self-represented.

49. Items that should not be uploaded onto Case Center:

    • No materials related to child pornography;
    • No document referring to a confidential informant;

    • Unless specifically directed by the court to do otherwise, Crown and defence counsel will not upload the following documents into Case Center:

      • a sealed document;
      • a document for which a sealing order is sought;
      • a privileged document, or a document where privilege is being asserted;
      • any other document where counsel have concerns, until judicial direction is given.

(i) Communication with the trial coordinators

50. Most communications to arrange dates for trials, judicial pre-trials and applications will occur by email. In e-mail communications with the trial coordinators, Counsel should put, in the subject line, the name of the accused person and the nature of the request (e.g., Trial date, JPT, application date). The email address is CriminalTrialOffice-SCJ-Toronto@ontario.ca.

    (ii) In-custody appearances: Time estimate and purpose of appearance

51. Whenever a matter is being scheduled in court and adjourned for an in-custody appearance, Crown and defence counsel will be expected to provide the following information to the Court:

    • Time estimate (e.g., 30 minutes, 1 hour, etc.); and
    • Purpose of appearance (e.g., bail hearing, guilty plea/sentencing, etc.).
52. In-custody matters scheduled for the purpose of setting a date or in assignment court will be deemed to have a time estimate of 5 minutes, unless counsel advise, and the presiding judicial officer directs, otherwise.
53. When canvassing in-custody appearance dates by email, Crown and defence counsel will be expected to include the time estimate and purpose of appearance in their email request to the Criminal Trial Office. Subject to judicial direction, failure to provide time estimate information in the request may result in counsel not receiving the appearance requested.
54. When an application is made for an Order for Attendance of Prisoner at Court Proceeding (Criminal Code, section 527) (“Judge’s Order”), the requesting party will be expected to include the time estimate and purpose of the appearance in the draft order.

55. Time estimates will not be used as time limits or as authorization to cut off a proceeding. The Courts will be mindful of scheduling constraints and that other matters may be scheduled in the same video suite. Where possible, counsel should update the Court if, during a hearing, they anticipate exceeding the estimated time.

    (iii) Interpreters

56. If an interpreter is required for any scheduled remote appearance and an interpreter has not been requested on the record in court, the person requesting the interpreter (Crown Counsel/the Federal Crown or Counsel for the defendant) shall advise the Toronto Court Interpreter Scheduling Unit (TCIU). The email address to submit requests is TCIU@ontario.ca. The telephone number is 416-327-5666.

57. Counsel requiring the interpreter shall advise of the language, time and date of the proceeding.

    (iv) Reference to ‘Admin Crown’

58. Wherever reference is made to the ‘Admin Crown’ this term is to be interpreted as the Admin Crown or their designate.

    (v) Judges Signing documents

59. Pursuant to s.3.1(2) of the Criminal Code, the clerk of the court may sign orders or other writings on behalf of the presiding judge.

    (vi) Case Management and Resolution Pretrials

60. A pre-trial judge will be made available for the purposes of case management, resolution, or informal discussion of the case upon request to the trial coordinator.

(i) Judicial Pre-trials (JPTs)

61. All JPTs will continue to be heard remotely, by audioconference or videoconference.

    (a) Where the accused person is represented by counsel: For Matters prosecuted by the Provincial Crown:

62. Within 2 business days following committal, after consultation with defence, the Crown, through the administrative Crown or their designate, will book a JPT using the shared Microsoft Outlook calendar.

63. Crown counsel should prepare a Form 17 (for Toronto) at least 10 days before the JPT and send it to all defence counsel in Word Format.
64. Defence counsel should complete the Form 17 (for Toronto) and return it to the Crown at least 5 days before the JPT in Word and PDF format.
65. The Administrative Crown will post the synopsis and the Form 17 in Word and PDF and other relevant documents to the Shared Outlook File for the JPT.

66. The judge conducting the JPT may annotate the Form 17 or prepare a Form 18.

    For matters prosecuted by PPSC:

67. Within 2 business days following committal, the prosecutor or their designate, after consultation with the defence will book a JPT and advise the trial co-ordinators by telephone or email. Federal judicial pre-trials will be scheduled on Wednesdays.

68. Crowns shall prepare a Form 17 at least 10 days before the JPT and send it to all defence counsel in Word Format.
69. Defence counsel should complete the Form 17 and return it to the Crown at least five days before the JPT in Word and PDF format. The Crown will send the synopsis and Form 17 in Word and PDF by email to the trial coordinator.

70. The judge conducting the JPT may annotate the Form 17 or prepare a Form 18.

    (b) Where the accused person is self-represented:

71. Where an accused person is self-represented, the judicial pre-trial will be scheduled at the first appearance of the accused in Superior Court. The JPT will be conducted on the record by audioconference or videoconference on the date agreed upon.

    (ii) Administrative Pre-trial Appearances in the Superior Court – Practice Court (a) First Appearances

72. The first appearance of an accused person in the Superior Court should be scheduled for the fourth week after committal.

73. If the case is prosecuted by the Downtown Crown’s office, the matter should be scheduled for a Monday at 9 am.
74. If the matter is prosecuted by the Scarborough Crown’s office or Guns and Gangs, it should be scheduled for a Tuesday at 9 am.
75. If the matter is prosecuted by the PPSC or DOJ it should be scheduled for a Wednesday at 9 am.
76. If the matter is prosecuted by North York or Etobicoke, it should be scheduled for a Friday at 9 am.

77. If there is a statutory holiday on the day when a matter would normally be scheduled for a first appearance, it may be scheduled two weeks after the JPT or it may be scheduled on the Thursday of the week after the JPT.

    (b) Subsequent Administrative Appearances

78. All subsequent administrative appearances, after the first appearance will be conducted in the same way: remotely, on the day designated for the particular Crown’s office.

79. If there is a reason that the appearance must be in person, the case will be adjourned to 2 pm in a courtroom that has been opened for trial matters.

    (c) Remote Attendance

80. All administrative attendances are presumptively remote.

81. Accused persons shall attend court by audioconference, videoconference or by designation of counsel.
82. Persons in custody at the Toronto South Detention Centre, who are not appearing through counsel by designation, will attend at 9 am. Persons in custody at the Toronto East Detention Center, who are not appearing through counsel by designation, will attend at 11 am.
83. The attendance of persons detained in other institutions will be arranged as needed.
84. In addition to remand dates, the endorsement on the warrant of remand will also indicate the manner in which the accused person will re-attend: “by audioconference” or “by videoconference” or “in person” (in person appearances should be used only if the accused is required to attend for an application, case management, guilty plea or trial).

85. Counsel for the Crown and counsel for the accused shall attend Practice Court by audioconference or videoconference.

    (d) Designations

86. Counsel are encouraged to file designations for accused persons both in and out of custody. If, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, counsel are unable to meet in person with a client to have a designation signed, the designation can be signed by counsel on behalf of the client if the client has so directed.

87. A designation may provide for unlimited appearances by counsel or it may indicate that the lawyer is authorized to appear for limited purposes or for a limited time.

88. Designations may be filed electronically with the court.

    (e) Setting Trial Dates

89. Trial dates should be arranged by all counsel with the trial co-ordinators following the JPT and before the appearance in court.

90. Where a trial date is to be set, counsel will complete a trial confirmation form that will be filed electronically with the court. The trial confirmation form will set out the first available dates for trial for the court and counsel as well as the trial date agreed upon. A trial confirmation form must be completed for all cases including long trials.
91. A trial confirmation date should also be agreed upon.

92. Counsel should continue to contact the trial co-ordinators through the generic email.

    (f) Re-elections and Short Applications (For example, Remove counsel, release exhibits)

93. An accused person may re-elect their mode of trial at the Practice Court appearance.

94. Short applications or matters that are on consent can be scheduled for Practice Court. Longer applications should be scheduled through the trial co-ordinators.

    (g) Case Management

95. Where a case requires case management, the matter may be held down until the end of the set dates or adjourned to another court, to a JPT, or to the afternoon session (2 pm) of Practice Court.

    (iii) Guilty Pleas

96. If an accused person who has an appearance in Practice Court to set a date wishes on that appearance to enter a guilty plea, the matter may be dealt with by the presiding judge or held down until all of the dates have been set or sent to another court or to the afternoon session (2 pm) of Practice Court.

97. Guilty pleas will continue to be scheduled in other courts on any day. For scheduled guilty pleas, the following protocol continues to apply:

    • Counsel will contact the Admin Crown or their designate who will send an email to the Trial Coordinator’s Office using the generic email address: CriminalTrialOffice-SCJ-Toronto@ontario.ca and provide all the necessary documentation for the plea. The Admin Crown/designate will also file the documentation with the Criminal Intake Office at: TORONTO.SCJ.CRIMINALINTAKE@ontario.ca
    • The trial coordinator will schedule a date and time for the plea and advise all parties.
    • If the accused is in custody and the plea is to proceed remotely, the Admin Crown/ designate will advise the institution so that the inmate can be available to participate in the teleconference or videoconference.

98. If the plea is to proceed remotely, the trial coordinator will provide the parties with the teleconference or videoconference information for the hearing.

99. If the plea is to proceed in person, counsel will obtain a judge’s order.

(i) Hearings

100. Hearings will proceed remotely by way of video hearing, unless the appellant or the respondent is self-represented, in which case the matter will proceed by way of in-person hearing.
101. Any appellant currently required, by the terms of their current bail, to surrender into custody prior to the appeal hearing is not required to do so. That condition is varied to one which only requires a surrender into custody if their appeal is dismissed and they are subject to a custodial sentence.
102. All out of custody appellants required to attend the hearings in person are no longer required to do so, unless self-represented. Hearings for self-represented appellants/applicants/respondents shall be conducted in person, unless in custody, in which case they will be conducted remotely.
103. Hearings with Counsel will be conducted by videoconference using Zoom. Counsel shall: (i) forward the Zoom link to their client; (ii) provide their client’s Zoom name (or telephone number if joining by telephone) to the Summary Conviction Appeal Trial Office no later than 3 days prior to the hearing; and (iii) inform the Court at the outset of the hearing that the client is observing the proceedings. The client shall turn off their camera and remain on mute during the hearing and shall not share the Zoom link with anyone. If the hearings are held by teleconference, arrangements will be made by the defence to permit their client to attend through a conference line, but Counsel shall not provide the secure number of the Court to their client.

104. Hearing participants and observers are reminded that, unless permission is given by the court, it is an offence under s. 136 of the Courts of Justice Act, punishable by a fine of not more than $25,000 or imprisonment of up to six months, or both, to record any part of a hearing, including by way of screenshot, as well as to publish, broadcast, reproduce or disseminate any such recording.

     (ii) Service and Filing

105. Notices of appeal/application and supporting materials by a defendant that is not an inmate appeal/application shall be served on the Attorney General for Ontario electronically at: Crown.SCA.SpecialMotions@ontario.ca, or the Attorney General for Canada at OntarioFedProsecutionServices@ppsc-sppc.gc.ca, or SignifierOntarioPoursuitesFedS@ppsc-sppc.gc.ca depending on who had/has carriage of the matter giving rise to the impugned order.

106. The Crown shall provide email confirmation of acceptance of service or rejection of service as soon as practicable.
107. The Notice and a copy of the email confirmation of acceptance of service shall be filed electronically with the court through the criminal intake office at: SCJ.CriminalIntake@ontario.ca along with any documents/materials required under the Criminal Proceedings Rules for the Superior Court of Justice (Ontario).
108. Where the appellant/applicant is the Attorney General, his or her agent, or was the informant or any party other than the defendant (the accused) in proceedings before the court/preliminary inquiry court, the notice of appeal/application shall be served by mail on each person in respect of whom the appeal/application is brought against unless there is counsel of record, in which case service will be effected by sending the notice electronically to counsel. The appellant/applicant shall send a courtesy copy of the notice mailed to the respondent electronically to counsel of record in the proceedings the appeal/application relates to, if there was counsel of record. Filing the notice with the court shall be done electronically by sending it to the criminal intake office.
109. The parties shall electronically serve the opposing party and shall electronically file with the criminal intake office copies of all factums, appeal books/application records and any other material being relied upon. These materials shall be sent to the opposing party and to the court in the same email. This does not preclude a party or the court from rejecting the documents for non compliance with the rules.
110. The appellant/applicant shall serve transcripts electronically by email to the opposing party and file transcripts electronically by email to the criminal intake office.
111. The subject line of all emails should clearly identify the name of the case, court file number (if known), date of hearing (if known), nature of the proceedings (e.g. conviction appeal) and for PPSC matters the court location, and be prefaced by “SCA” if an appeal or “Special Motion” if an extraordinary remedy application.
112. Cases and other source materials referenced in factums shall be hyperlinked and it will not be necessary to file a Book of Authorities unless requested by the judge.
113. E-service and e-filing documents and materials replaces the requirement to serve and file a paper/hard copy.

114. Where the appellant/applicant is self-represented and does not have access to electronic means for e-service and e-filing, documents and materials may be served and filed in paper/hard copy.

     (iii) Facta Filing Timelines

115. For summary conviction appeals, the Appellant shall serve and file their factum not later than sixty (60) days before the day first scheduled for the hearing and the Respondent shall serve and file their factum not later than twenty (20) days before the day first scheduled for the hearing.

116. For extraordinary remedy applications, the Applicant shall serve and file their factum not later than thirty (30) days before the day first scheduled for the hearing and the Respondent shall serve and file their factum not later than ten (10) days before the day first scheduled for the hearing.

     (iv) Bail Pending Appeal/Stays

117. Applications for bail pending appeal and stays of driving prohibition, fine, forfeiture, restitution, victim fine surcharge, probation or conditional sentence orders are subject to the same procedure outlined in this protocol for bail reviews, with modifications as follows:

118. Applications shall be served electronically on the Crown at:

     Toronto.Crown.SCA.SpecialMotions@ontario.ca, or OntarioFedProsecutionServices@ppsc-sppc.gc.ca, or SignifierOntarioPoursuitesFedS@ppsc-sppc.gc.ca depending on who had carriage of the trial. The subject line of the email should clearly identify the name of the case, nature of the proceedings (e.g. bail pending appeal) and for PPSC matters the court location, and be prefaced by “SCA”.

119. The Crown shall provide email confirmation of acceptance of service or rejection of service as soon as practicable.

120. The applicant shall contact the Crown to ascertain the Crown’s position, and canvass the Crown’s available dates if the application is being contested, prior to electronically filing their application with the Court through the criminal intake office at SCJ.CriminalIntake@ontario.ca. Mutually agreeable dates between the parties for a contested hearing shall be set out in the email at the time of e-filing contested applications.
121. The Criminal Intake Office will arrange for a contested hearing to be held remotely and notify the parties.
122. A draft order shall accompany applications on consent, including a Form 10A (if applicable) signed by all parties, and e-filed with the criminal intake office by the applicant, unless self represented, in which case the crown shall electronically file the application and materials with the court.
123. Draft orders should be e-filed in the Microsoft Word format (.docx) rather than a PDF version.
124. The paperwork will be completed by the Criminal Intake Office and provided to the parties for their signature. The applicant shall return the signed paperwork to the criminal intake office by email, and the criminal intake office will distribute the court order(s) to all interested parties and to the institution, if applicable.
125. If the Applicant indicates that they wish to be present, arrangements will be made for them to have access to the teleconference call. If in custody, the Crown will contact the institution to provide the applicant with telephone access. If out of custody, Defence Counsel will make the necessary arrangements but shall not provide the secure number of the Court to their client.