A first appearance in an Ontario criminal court is a short administrative date in the Ontario Court of Justice, not a trial. The court confirms who the accused person is, the Crown reports on disclosure (the evidence the police and the Crown hold), and the case is adjourned to a later date. Nothing about guilt is decided that day, and no witness is heard.
The date, the time and the courthouse are printed on the paper the police handed over at release. That paper also sets the rules the person has to live by until the case ends, so it is worth reading before anything else.
Which paper did the police hand over?
Most people released by the police leave with one of two documents created by the Criminal Code: an appearance notice or an undertaking. Both name the court date. Only one of them can carry conditions.
| Point | Appearance notice (s. 500) | Undertaking (s. 501) |
|---|---|---|
| What it is for | Requires attendance in court at a stated time and place, and afterwards as the court directs | Releases the person on a written commitment to attend court, with or without conditions |
| Personal details | Name, date of birth and contact information | Name, date of birth and contact information |
| The charge | The substance of the alleged offence | The substance of the alleged offence |
| Conditions | None beyond attending | Attending is mandatory; other conditions only from the list in s. 501(3) |
| Fingerprints and photograph | May set a date to attend under the Identification of Criminals Act | May set a date to attend under the same Act |
| Signature | Signed in duplicate; a refusal to sign does not cancel it | Signed in duplicate; a refusal to sign does not cancel it |
A person who was held for a bail hearing instead leaves with a release order made by a justice or a judge. Its conditions come from the court, not the officer, and the first court date after a bail hearing is set by the court that released the person.
Reading an undertaking, part by part
The layout differs between police services, but the content of every undertaking is fixed by section 501. The sample below is not a real document. It shows where each required part sits and what it does.
Undertaking given to a peace officer
1Name, date of birth, address and telephone number of the accused
2Alleged offence: a short description of the charge
3I undertake to attend court on the date, time and place below, and afterwards as required by the court
4Additional conditions, ticked or written in
5Attend for fingerprints and photograph on (date, time, address)
- The identifying details. If the address changes, a condition under s. 501(3)(c) may require the person to report it.
- The substance of the offence. This is a summary, not the formal charge. The formal document is the Information sworn before a justice, which is what the court works from.
- The one condition every undertaking carries. Section 501(2) makes attendance mandatory, both on the first date and on every date the court sets later.
- Optional conditions. Section 501(3) allows them only if they are reasonable and necessary to secure attendance, to protect a victim or witness, or to stop an offence from continuing. The list is closed: reporting to a peace officer, staying within an area, giving notice of a new address or job, no contact with named people, staying away from named places, surrendering a passport, living at an address, not possessing firearms or other listed weapons, a promise to pay a set amount if the conditions are broken, a deposit in some cases, and other terms that protect a victim or witness.
- The identification date. This appointment is separate from the court date and is often days earlier. Missing it carries its own consequences.
The small print on the back of most forms is a summary of related Criminal Code provisions, which section 501(1) requires every undertaking to carry.
What the court does on the first date
Adult criminal cases out of custody are heard in what the Ontario Court of Justice calls case management court. The first date takes a few minutes in front of a justice of the peace or a judge.
The list and the call
Each courtroom works from a list of the cases set for that day. The Ontario Court of Justice publishes daily criminal court lists online, and its Find My Case page explains the case search for active adult criminal cases. Matters with counsel or a licensed representative are usually called first. When a name is called, the accused person or the representative goes to the front, identifies themselves, and the business of the day is dealt with.
Disclosure
Disclosure is the material the Crown intends to rely on: police notes, statements, video and other evidence. On the first date the Crown says whether an initial package is ready. If it is, it is given out or released electronically; if it is not, the case is put over so it can be prepared. Duty counsel, lawyers funded by Legal Aid Ontario, are present in most courthouses for people who appear without a representative.
The adjournment
The case then moves to a new date, usually several weeks away. Before that date comes the work the first appearance only starts: reviewing disclosure, a meeting with the Crown called a Crown pre-trial, and sometimes a judicial pre-trial.
Attending by Zoom
Under the court's Mode of Appearance practice direction, updated 31 March 2025, out-of-custody accused persons may attend case management court by Zoom or in person, unless a judicial officer directs otherwise. Video is preferred; telephone audio is accepted when video is not possible. Some smaller satellite courts lack the equipment and may require in-person attendance, including for first appearances. For readers in York Region, adult criminal case management sits at the Newmarket Courthouse, 50 Eagle St. W., in Courtroom 201, Monday to Friday, and the court's Newmarket location page publishes the Zoom and telephone details.
How many appearances before a trial date is set?
For out-of-custody adult cases on an Information sworn on or after 1 June 2026, the Ontario Court of Justice now expects no more than three appearances in case management court, unless a judicial officer orders otherwise. The milestones in its trial scheduling practice direction, revised that day, are these:
- Within four months of the Information being sworn, a judicial pre-trial is scheduled if one is anticipated, and it must be scheduled if substantial disclosure has not arrived by then.
- By the first appearance after six months, disclosure has been addressed and a meaningful Crown pre-trial has taken place.
- At that appearance the case is either resolved or set down for a trial or a preliminary inquiry.
- The court offers trial dates expected to finish within 15 months of the Information being sworn.
The direction does not apply to people in custody, to young persons under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, or to cases in a specialized court program. It applies to self-represented accused persons with any necessary modifications.
Summary or indictable: why the Crown's choice matters
Many common charges are hybrid offences. The Crown decides, or elects, whether to proceed by summary conviction or by indictment, and that choice is usually stated in court early in the case. It changes the maximum penalty, the procedure, and who may appear for the accused person.
Summary proceedings have a time limit. Under section 786(2) of the Criminal Code, they cannot be started more than 12 months after the events, unless the prosecutor and the defendant agree. For a hybrid charge laid more than a year after the events, that limit can leave proceeding by indictment as the only route open.
What the Criminal Code lets a paralegal do
A licensed paralegal is regulated by the Law Society of Ontario and may act on summary conviction matters within the limits the Law Society sets. Section 802.1 of the Criminal Code restricts agents from appearing where the defendant is liable to more than six months' imprisonment, with exceptions that include an adjournment request and an agent authorized under a program approved by the province. Where the Crown proceeds by indictment, the matter is outside a paralegal's licence. Karb Law's criminal matters work covers charges on which the Crown has elected to proceed summarily.
When a date is missed or a condition is broken
Section 145 of the Criminal Code makes it a separate offence to fail, without lawful excuse, to attend court as required by an appearance notice, a summons, an undertaking or a release order, and to fail to keep a condition of an undertaking. Each of these is a hybrid offence with a maximum of two years' imprisonment on indictment.
A missed date also allows the court to issue a warrant. A defect in how the offence is described on the paper is not a lawful excuse for staying away (s. 145(6)).
Conditions can be changed. Under section 502, an undertaking can be varied with the written consent of both the accused person and the prosecutor, or by a justice on an application by either side. Until a change is made, the conditions as written apply.
A criminal charge and immigration status
For a permanent resident, a refugee claimant or a person on a work or study permit, the outcome of a criminal case can matter as much in immigration law as in criminal law. Whether a conviction leads to inadmissibility depends on how the offence is classified, and the Crown's election plays a part in that. The site explains how a conviction is matched to a Canadian offence for immigration purposes, and the criminal inadmissibility page covers the hearings that can follow. Our article on record suspension waiting periods picks up the story after a sentence is complete.
Where Karb Law fits in
Angelina Shuster is a paralegal licensed by the Law Society of Ontario, working from Richmond Hill with clients across the GTA. Karb Law represents people on summary conviction matters in the Ontario Court of Justice and on the immigration questions a charge can raise for a non-citizen. An appearance notice, an undertaking and the first disclosure package can be reviewed through a free assessment.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create a paralegal-client relationship. How any charge proceeds is decided by the Crown and the court on the facts of each case.
