The Ontario Criminal Court Process, Step by Step

By Robb MacDonald · Updated 6 October 2026

An Ontario criminal case usually moves through bail, a first appearance where disclosure arrives, a Crown pretrial, one or more judicial pretrials, and then either a resolution or a trial. Most cases are resolved, withdrawn or stayed without a trial. Trial dates are typically set eight months to a year after bail is dealt with.

What happens right after a criminal charge?

Police either release the person with a date to appear in court, or hold them for a bail hearing, which must start within 24 hours where a justice is available. After bail, the accused is either released on conditions or detained until trial. If someone is detained, a faster trial date can usually be obtained.

This is also the stage most often wasted. Many lawyers take no steps on a file until the Crown's first disclosure arrives, sometimes nearly two months after the charge. By then, helpful evidence can be gone. Video from a store or a building is often overwritten within days or weeks. Witnesses who saw what happened are hardest to find later. Robb and his colleagues start straight away, bringing in investigators where needed to find and preserve that evidence while it still exists.

Our guide to how bail works in Ontario covers the hearing itself and what sureties need to know. The rules tightened in July 2026, and our article on the 2026 bail changes explains what is different.

What is disclosure, and when do you get it?

Disclosure is the Crown's evidence. Since R. v. Stinchcombe, [1991] 3 S.C.R. 326, the Crown has had a constitutional duty to hand over all relevant information in its possession, whether it helps or hurts its case. That includes police notes, witness statements, video, 911 calls, expert reports and forensic results.

The first court appearance is usually four to six weeks after bail, which is roughly how long the Crown needs to put together initial disclosure. A lawyer retained before then can appear on the client's behalf, collect the disclosure and start looking for the weaknesses in the case. Disclosure often arrives in stages. Pushing for what is missing is a big part of the early work.

What happens at a Crown pretrial?

Once the disclosure has been reviewed, the defence meets with the assigned Crown attorney. The conversation covers the evidence, any problems with it, and what a resolution might look like. Bail variations are often negotiated here too.

This is where a large share of cases are decided. Depending on the file, the Crown may agree to withdraw or stay the charges, to diversion, or to a resolution where the accused earns a withdrawal or a discharge through counselling, community service, a charitable donation or restitution. What moves a Crown is specific: a problem with identification, a Charter issue that could exclude evidence, or a client who has already done the counselling and can document it. Arriving prepared with that material puts clients on far better footing for withdrawals, bail changes and lenient sentences.

What is a judicial pretrial?

If the case does not resolve with the Crown, it goes to one or more judicial pretrials. A judicial pretrial is an off-the-record meeting with the defence lawyer, the Crown and a judge, usually in chambers. It is used to narrow the issues, estimate how long a trial would take, and explore resolution with a judge's input. Section 625.1 of the Criminal Code makes a pretrial conference mandatory before any jury trial.

A judicial pretrial is not a hearing and nothing said there is evidence. But it is a real opportunity. If the Crown's position is unreasonable, a judge's view of the case can move it, and the defence can show weaknesses in the evidence without revealing its whole hand.

Which court will hear the case?

That depends on how the Crown proceeds. Most offences are hybrid, meaning the Crown can choose summary conviction or indictment. Summary cases are tried in the Ontario Court of Justice by a judge alone, and the maximum sentence for most summary offences is two years less a day.

If the Crown proceeds by indictment, the accused usually gets to choose, under section 536, between a trial before an Ontario Court of Justice judge, a Superior Court judge alone, or a Superior Court judge and jury. It is a strategic decision. A small number of offences, such as theft or mischief of $5,000 or less, stay in the Ontario Court of Justice regardless. Murder and the other most serious offences go to the Superior Court and are tried by a jury unless both sides agree otherwise.

A preliminary inquiry is now available only for offences carrying a maximum of 14 years or more, and only if requested. It tests whether there is enough evidence to go to trial, and it is the first chance to cross-examine the Crown's witnesses under oath.

How long does a criminal case take in Ontario?

Simple cases can resolve in a few months. Cases that go to trial commonly take a year or more. Under R. v. Jordan, 2016 SCC 27, delay is presumed unreasonable once a case passes 18 months in the Ontario Court of Justice or 30 months in the Superior Court, after subtracting delay caused by the defence. Section 11(b) of the Charter guarantees the right to be tried within a reasonable time.

Those ceilings still apply, but the remedy changed in July 2026. A new part of the Criminal Code now requires courts to weigh how complex a case is, and to exclude time spent on certain late-filed applications in sexual offence cases. Most importantly, a court can stay a charge for unreasonable delay only where no other remedy would be appropriate and just. Delay arguments are now harder to win outright, so tracking delay from the first appearance matters more, not less.

Robb has had charges stayed on a delay argument for a client who had been considering a guilty plea. You can read that and other client stories.

What happens at trial?

The Crown has to prove every element of the offence beyond a reasonable doubt. The accused does not have to prove anything and does not have to testify. Most trials turn on cross-examination: whether the Crown's witnesses hold up when their accounts are tested against each other, against their earlier statements and against the physical evidence.

Trials carry real risk. If a case goes to trial and is lost, the sentence is usually heavier than what was available on an early guilty plea. That is why the decision to go to trial should be made with a lawyer who has actually tried cases and can give an honest read of the evidence.

Sometimes the honest read is that the case can be won. John Hoang was charged with aggravated assault in what the media called the road rage stabber case. Two lawyers told him his case was hopeless and advised him to plead guilty to a three-year sentence. He retained Robb one week before trial and was acquitted on all counts. Read about R. v. Hoang. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

What happens after a guilty plea or verdict?

The judge decides the sentence, usually at a separate hearing. The range runs from an absolute or conditional discharge, which avoids a conviction, through probation, fines and conditional sentences served in the community, to jail. A discharge is not available for an offence with a mandatory minimum or a maximum of 14 years or more. An accused who is convicted can appeal the conviction or the sentence, and the deadlines are short, generally 30 days.

If you have been charged, or think you are about to be, call (416) 315-1505 or email rm@lawintoronto.com. Robb MacDonald has practised criminal defence for more than twenty years, trained under Edward Greenspan QC, and is in court about five days a week. The office is at 130 Spadina Ave. #606, Toronto, ON M5V 2L4, and Robb answers day and night.