An Ontario offence notice comes with choices, and one of them is easy to read past. Some notices offer a meeting with the prosecutor to discuss resolving the charge, usually called an early resolution meeting.
Here is that meeting from start to finish under the Provincial Offences Act: what the notice is offering, how a meeting is requested, what can be agreed in the room, and what the Act does when a meeting is missed.
What the notice offers, and how to ask for the meeting
The Act's word for a ticket is an offence notice. Section 5.1(1) of the Provincial Offences Act says the meeting procedure applies only if the offence notice indicates that a meeting with the prosecutor is available. If the notice does not offer it, section 5.1 does not apply to that ticket.
The charges behind these notices vary, from speeding to the other Highway Traffic Act offences described on the traffic tickets page. The procedure does not change with the charge.
Under section 5.1(2) of the Provincial Offences Act, a defendant may request the meeting within 15 days after being served with the offence notice, instead of giving a notice of intention to appear under section 5, which is the route to a trial.
- The defendant marks the request on the offence notice and delivers it to the court office in the manner the notice specifies, or makes the request in any other manner the notice specifies (section 5.1(2)).
- Section 5.1(2.1) says the offence notice is not valid unless it is received by the court office specified in it.
- The clerk of the court then gives the defendant and the prosecutor notice of the meeting's time and place, as soon as is practicable (section 5.1(3)).
What happens at the meeting
Section 5.1(7) describes what the meeting can produce. The defendant and the prosecutor may agree that the defendant will enter a guilty plea to the offence or to a substituted offence, and that both will make submissions as to penalty, including an extension of time for payment.
A substituted offence is a different offence from the one on the ticket. The Act says the two sides may agree to one. It gives nobody a right to any particular result.
Submissions as to penalty are what each side tells the justice about the penalty.
If they do agree, section 5.1(8) of the Provincial Offences Act says the defendant appears before a justice, as the prosecutor directs, in one of two ways:
- with the prosecutor, entering the plea and making the submissions out loud; or
- without the prosecutor, within 10 days, entering the plea out loud and making the submissions in the form set by the regulations.
Under section 5.1(9), the justice may then enter a conviction and impose the set fine, or another fine permitted by law, for the offence the plea was entered to.
So the agreed route ends in a guilty plea, and a conviction if the justice enters one.
Two other outcomes are written into the same section. If no agreement is reached, or the justice does not accept the guilty plea and refers the matter to trial, section 5.1(11) has the clerk send notice of the trial's time and place.
If the meeting is missed
Section 9(1)(b) of the Provincial Offences Act says a defendant who requested a meeting but did not attend it is deemed not to wish to dispute the charge.
Deemed means the law treats the defendant as having chosen that, whether or not they did. Section 9(2) then has the clerk examine the certificate of offence, the record of the charge filed with the court. If it is not defective, the clerk enters a conviction in the defendant's absence, without a hearing, and imposes the set fine. If it is defective, as the regulations define that, the clerk quashes, or cancels, the proceeding. Section 11 of the Provincial Offences Act lets a defendant convicted without a hearing apply within 15 days of learning of it to have it struck out; the clerk must strike it out if satisfied that, through no fault of theirs, they could not attend the meeting.
Section 9(1)(c) covers the later step. A defendant who reached an agreement under section 5.1(7) but did not appear at the sentencing hearing under section 5.1(8) is also deemed not to dispute the charge, and section 9(5) has a justice examine the certificate.
The other routes on the same notice
Which route fits a particular charge depends on its facts.
- A trial. Section 5(1) lets a defendant give notice of intention to appear in court to enter a plea and have a trial. Section 5(4) says that notice is not valid unless the court office specified on the offence notice receives it.
- Paying the fine. Section 8(1) lets a defendant who does not wish to dispute the charge pay the set fine and the applicable costs and surcharges. Under section 8(2), the court office's acceptance of payment is a guilty plea, a conviction and a fine in the amount of the set fine.
- Doing nothing. Under section 9(1)(a) of the Provincial Offences Act, a defendant is deemed not to dispute the charge once at least 15 days have passed after service without a notice of intention to appear, a meeting request or a guilty plea under section 7 or 8.
One route drops out when the meeting is on offer. Section 7(1), a guilty plea with submissions in court, is written for a defendant "who does not have the option of meeting with the prosecutor under section 5.1." Where the meeting is offered, section 5.1(7) is where the Act places submissions as to penalty.
Questions people ask
How long does an early resolution meeting take?
The Provincial Offences Act does not say. Section 5.1 counts in days, for requesting the meeting, rescheduling it and appearing afterward, and says nothing at all about minutes. The clerk's notice under section 5.1(3) gives the time and place of the meeting, not its length.
Can I reschedule an early resolution meeting?
Once. Under section 5.1(4) of the Provincial Offences Act, a defendant whose scheduled time does not suit may deliver one written request to reschedule to the clerk of the court at least two days before the meeting, and the clerk arranges a new time within 30 days of the original one. Section 5.1(5) requires notice of the new time to both sides.
Can I attend an early resolution meeting by phone or video?
The Act allows it. Section 5.1(6) says the defendant and the prosecutor may attend their meeting by electronic method in accordance with section 83.1. Section 83.1(1) defines an electronic method as video conference, audio conference, telephone conference or another method set by regulation, and section 83.1(8) requires a court office offering the meeting to have the means for electronic attendance available.
Is an early resolution meeting the same as a trial?
No. Section 5.1(2) makes the meeting request an alternative to the notice of intention to appear under section 5, which leads to a trial. The meeting is a discussion with the prosecutor about resolving the charge. If no agreement is reached, or a justice does not accept the agreed guilty plea, section 5.1(11) has the clerk send notice of the trial's time and place.
I am a licensed paralegal, licensed by the Law Society of Ontario and practising in Toronto. I also spent 26 years on the Justice Beat at the Toronto Sun, which is where the plain-English habit comes from; the about page has the rest.
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This article is general information about how the process works, not legal advice about your situation.