PROVINCIAL OFFENCES

The Ontario Court of Justice hears virtually all provincial offences matters as well as offences against municipal by-laws. Examples of such cases include:

• Highway Traffic Act charges such as speeding or traffic violations;
• Municipal by-law charges relating to excessive noise, animal control, or garbage disposal; and
• Charges laid under provincial legislation such as the Environmental Protection Act, Occupational Health and Safety Act, Dog Owners’ Liability Act and the Trespass to Property Act.

Municipalities administer courts where most provincial offence cases are tried and they also prosecute most of these cases. If you have questions about court services or accessibility, contact the municipal offices shown on your ticket or summons.

Many relatively minor offences that are prosecuted under Part I or Part II of the Provincial Offences Act can be settled out of court by payment of the amount written on the offence notice (ticket).

General information about:

• municipal court locations is on the Ministry of the Attorney General’s website;
• tickets and fines is on the Ministry of the Attorney General’s website;
• set fines can be found at How Do I Learn about Set Fines?;
• French language rights: A defendant whose language is French is entitled to a bilingual trial. If charged under federal legislation, an accused person has the right to a French trial. For more information please see the Ministry of the Attorney website on French language rights and Justice in Both Languages, and
• Other languages: If you require an interpreter for a Provincial Offences Act (POA) matter, please contact the POA court in which your matter is being heard to request an interpreter. Contact information for all municipal court offices in Ontario.

Legislation, Court Rules and Practices

The key piece of legislation is the Provincial Offences Act. See also Provincial Offences Act Rules and Regulations. Ontario regulations under the Provincial Offences Act set out the:

• Short-form wordings for offences to be used on the offence notice (R.O. 1990, Reg. 950 for Part I offences and by R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 949 for parking tickets);
• Costs (R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 945); and
• Victim fine surcharges (O. Reg. 161/00).