Practice Directions, Notices and Guidelines

Bail hearings

Bail hearing procedures are set out in the Ontario Court of Justice Protocol Re Bail Hearings

Applications to vary release orders and police undertakings

Individuals may apply to vary their release conditions by electronic means rather than attending at the courthouse. The Court’s Consent Variation Procedures for Release Orders and Police Undertakings govern consent variations of release conditions.

Individuals who have been released by the Court should use the Application for Consent Variation of Bail Form.

Individuals who have been released by the police should use the Application for Consent Variation of Police Undertaking Form.

Northeast and Northwest Regions Pilot

The Court has implemented a pilot project in the Northeast region (Timmins, Cochrane, Haileybury and Sault Ste. Marie) and the Northwest region (Kenora, Dryden and Sioux Lookout) to enhance access to fair and timely bail proceedings by reducing the number of administrative appearances in bail court. For more information, please see Practice Direction: Bail Court Waiver of Appearance and Bring Forward Protocol.

Case management court

The procedures for appearing in case management courts are set out in the Court’s Practice Direction: Criminal Case Management Appearances.

To ensure an accused person’s constitutional right to a trial within a reasonable time is respected, the Ontario Court of Justice has established a Jordan-Compliant Trial Scheduling procedure. Under this practice direction, parties will be expected to have completed all intake (case management) steps and be ready to resolve the case or schedule a trial or preliminary inquiry within six months of the Information sworn date.

12-Week Adjournment from First Appearance for Counsel Matters - Various locations in the Central East, Central West, East, Toronto and West Regions

In accordance with a Practice Direction, counsel matters will be adjourned from the first or second appearance in case management court for a standard 12-week adjournment. By the end of this adjournment period, the Crown and defence counsel should have completed the intake (case management) steps in the case and be ready to resolve the case or set a trial or preliminary inquiry date. Reducing administrative appearances for counsel matters will shorten case management court dockets and permit the court to spend more time addressing those matters which require more active case management. The locations in which the 12-week adjournment is in effect are listed in the Practice Direction.

Note: The 12-week adjournment will be expanding province-wide as of June 2, 2025.

Appearances by accused persons who are in custody

In accordance with the Court's Practice Direction: Waiver of Personal Attendance and Request for Adjournment/Remand by Accused Person in Custody, accused persons who are in custody may waive their right to appear personally before the Court to request an adjournment, by instructing defence counsel to complete and file the Waiver and Request for Adjournment / Remand in Accused Person’s Absence Form on their behalf.

Appearances by accused persons who are not in custody

Accused persons who are represented by counsel and who have filed an Enhanced Designation of Counsel may have their matters adjourned, without the accused personally appearing, in accordance with the procedure set out in the Practice Direction: Enhanced Designations of Counsel. They may do so using the Sample Enhanced Designation of Counsel Form

Note: In light of the province-wide expansion of the 12-week adjournment, the Enhanced Designation will be retired as of June 2, 2025. As of June 2, 2025, the Court will no longer accept Enhanced Designations. Counsel may continue to file, and appear pursuant to, regular designations of counsel (under s. 650.01 of the Code).

The Court’s Practice Direction: Judge-led Intensive Case Management Courts explains the role of judge-led intensive case management courts (JICMCs) and provides links to the connection information for these courts.

Judicial pre-trials are held by videoconference, unless otherwise directed by the presiding judge. In accordance with the Revised Guidelines re Mode of Appearance for Ontario Court of Justice Criminal Proceedings, self-represented accused who lack technology will be accommodated with an in-person judicial pre-trial.

Judicial Criminal Pre-trial Best Practices and Rule 4.2 of the Criminal Rules of the Ontario Court of Justice provide more information about judicial pre-trials.

To ensure an accused person’s constitutional right to a trial within a reasonable time is respected, the Ontario Court of Justice has established a Jordan-Compliant Trial Scheduling procedure. Under this practice direction, the Court will offer parties a trial date that is expected to result in the case being completed within 15 months of the Information sworn date. Parties will be expected to have completed all intake (case management) steps and be ready to resolve the case or schedule a trial or preliminary inquiry within six months of the Information sworn date.

Additionally, there is a remote procedure for setting dates for preliminary inquiries and trials, using a combination of an online Trial / Preliminary Inquiry Scheduling Form and a trial scheduling conference with the Trial Coordinator’s office. Details of this procedure are found in the Procedure for Scheduling of Criminal Trials and Preliminary Inquiries.

Once dates have been set, the Court’s Practice Direction: Trial Dates directs that the preliminary inquiry or trial proceed on those dates.

The Court’s Practice Direction: Section 11(b) Charter Applications is intended to provide for fair, timely and efficient determination of s. 11(b) Charter applications. This includes hearing the application at least four months before trial so that, if the application is granted and a stay of proceedings is imposed, the scheduled trial dates may be utilized for other matters. To facilitate scheduling, the defence is required to advise, at the time a trial date is set, whether it intends to bring a s. 11(b) application; if a trial is scheduled to be heard beyond the Jordan timeline (i.e. more than 18 months from the Information sworn date), a s. 11(b) application will be scheduled unless the defence confirms on the record they are not bringing it.

Certain practice directions apply only to local courts. These are listed below:

• Practice Direction regarding the Integrated Domestic Violence Court at 311 Jarvis Street, Toronto
• Practice Direction: Bail Court Waiver of Appearance and Bring Forward Protocol (Northeast & Northwest Regions only)
• Self-Represented Person’s Court – Toronto Pilot Practice Direction

Many individual courthouses also have protocols that are applicable to that court alone. These protocols cover subjects such as any special arrangements for those appearing in court for the first time, or the process for obtaining a judicial pre-trial.