A summons under Ontario's Provincial Offences Act is a court document that names a charge and requires the person to attend court at a stated time and place. Unlike most tickets, it carries no amount to pay out of court. Highway Traffic Act charges such as careless driving under section 130 can start this way, and so can charges under other provincial statutes and municipal by-laws.
The Act has two ways to start a case with a summons, and they lead to different fine ceilings and different appeal courts. This article follows the paper from the day it is served to the day after a decision, section by section. Provincial offences are not crimes, so the rules for a first appearance on a criminal charge do not apply here.
Which papers can start a provincial offence case?
Five documents come up, and people often call all of them a ticket. Two of them are filed with the court, not handed to the person charged.
- Offence notice
- The usual ticket. Under section 3(2) it shows the set fine, and it can be paid without going to court.
- Certificate of offence
- The officer's sworn statement that an offence was committed. It is filed in the court office and starts a Part I case.
- Part I summons
- Issued with a certificate of offence instead of an offence notice. Section 3(3) requires personal service within 30 days after the alleged offence.
- Information
- A charge laid before a justice of the peace, under oath or, for a provincial offences officer, with a written statement that its contents are true (section 23). It starts a Part III case.
- Part III summons
- Served by an officer at or near the scene before the information is laid (section 22), or issued by a justice after reading the information (section 24).
How do a Part I summons and a Part III summons differ?
Both order attendance in court, and section 26(1) sets the same basic contents for a summons issued under section 22 or 24. What changes is the route behind the paper. The court office named on the summons can say whether the case was started by a certificate of offence or by an information.
| Point | Part I summons | Part III summons |
|---|---|---|
| What starts the case | A certificate of offence filed in the court office, s. 3(1) | An information laid before a justice of the peace, s. 21 and 23 |
| Deadline to serve | Personally, within 30 days after the alleged offence, s. 3(3) | No 30-day rule. The charge itself must be started within the limitation period, s. 76 |
| Who checks the charge first | No justice reviews it before the first date | A justice confirms the officer's summons, issues one, or cancels it, s. 24 |
| Highest fine | The lower of 1,000 dollars or the fine in the statute, and no jail, s. 12(1) | The full penalty in the statute. Where it sets none, 5,000 dollars, s. 61 |
| Meeting with the prosecutor under s. 5.1 | Written for offence notices that offer it, so not a summons | Not available. A justice may order a pre-trial conference, s. 45.1 |
| Appeal goes to | A provincial judge of the Ontario Court of Justice, s. 135(1) | A provincial judge, or the Superior Court of Justice if a provincial judge decided the case, s. 116(2) |
| Time to appeal | 30 days after the decision, s. 135(2) | The period in the rules of court, s. 116(3) |
One more rule links the two parts. Once a Part I summons or offence notice has been served, section 21(2) bars a new Part III proceeding for the same offence unless the Attorney General or an agent consents. A prosecutor cannot simply restart a ticket case as an information to reach the higher penalty.
What happens between the summons and the first court date?
For a Part III summons served at the scene, the court has not seen the charge yet on the day the paper is handed over. The steps run in this order.
- The officer serves the summons at or near the scene. Section 22 allows it when the officer believes on reasonable and probable grounds that the person found there committed the offence.
- The officer then lays an information before a justice of the peace, under oath or with the written statement that section 23(1.2) permits.
- Section 24(1) lets the justice hear the officer and witnesses without the defendant present, then confirm the summons that was served.
- On the first appearance date the defendant, or a representative, attends at the time and place on the summons. Later dates, including the trial, follow as the court sets them, which is why the summons also orders attendance afterwards.
When the officer did not find the person at the scene, the order changes. The information is laid first and the justice issues a summons, which section 26(2) has an officer serve in person or, if the person cannot conveniently be found, by leaving it at the last known or usual home with someone who appears to be at least sixteen and lives there. For a person living outside Ontario, section 26(3) treats the summons as served seven days after it is sent by registered mail.
Can a summons be paid without going to court?
No. The summons has no out-of-court payment option, because its wording is an order to attend. Section 26(1)(c) says a summons shall
require the defendant to attend court at a time and place stated therein and to attend thereafter as required by the court in order to be dealt with according to law.
Provincial Offences Act, s. 26(1)(c)
Attendance does not always mean the defendant in person. Section 50(1) lets a defendant appear and act personally or by representative, and a licensed paralegal is a representative the court may not bar under section 50(3). Section 51 keeps one power with the court: even when a representative appears, the court may order the defendant to attend personally.
What can the court do if nobody appears?
Section 54(1) applies once the prosecutor proves the summons was served. The court then has two choices:
- hear and decide the case in the defendant's absence; or
- adjourn, and if it thinks fit, issue a new summons or a warrant for the defendant's arrest.
A conviction in absence still produces a fine with a due date. Section 66(5) has the clerk send notice of that fine and of the right to ask for more time to pay.
How high can the fine go after a summons?
The ceiling depends first on the part of the Act and then on the statute that creates the offence. The bars below are drawn to one scale, with 5,000 dollars as full width.
How long does the prosecution have to start the case?
Section 76(1) bars a proceeding started after the limitation period in the statute that creates the offence. Where that statute is silent, the period is six months from the date of the alleged offence. A justice can extend it only with the defendant's consent, under section 76(2).
Some statutes set their own period. Section 130(7) of the Highway Traffic Act allows two years for careless driving. A Part I summons has a separate and much shorter clock, because section 3(3) requires it to be served within 30 days.
Where does the case go after the decision?
In a Part III case, section 116(1) lets the defendant or the prosecutor appeal a conviction, a dismissal, a sentence or an order for costs. A decision of a justice of the peace goes to a provincial judge of the Ontario Court of Justice, and a decision of a provincial judge goes to the Superior Court of Justice. The notice of appeal is due within the period set by the rules of court, and section 116(4) lets it be filed together with a request to extend that time.
The appeal in a Part I case is to a provincial judge, with a 30-day deadline under section 135(2). A charge under the Criminal Code follows another set of rules, described on the firm's page about summary conviction criminal matters.
Karb Law is led by Angelina Shuster, a paralegal licensed by the Law Society of Ontario. Proceedings under the Provincial Offences Act are within a licensed paralegal's scope of practice. This article is general information about procedure and is not legal advice, and reading it creates no paralegal-client relationship. To have a summons reviewed, the firm offers a free assessment.
