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Court and Traffic Tickets (Provincial Offences)

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Durham Region Provincial Offences Court Services

The Durham Region POA Court will be open for full services on Friday, September 29, 2023, however, other Regional services may be unavailable in observance of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Durham POA Court will also remain open for full services on Monday, October 2, 2023.

Pursuant to section 85 of the Provincial Offences Act, the time limits for proceedings in the Ontario Court of Justice prescribed under Provincial Offences Act in sections 5(6), 5.1(2), 5.1(12), 9(1)(a), 11(1), 11(5), 17(4.1), 17.1(6.1), 18.1(5), 18.2(1), 18.3(1), 19(1), 19(4), 66(1), 69(1), that would expire on October 2, 2023 are extended until
October 3, 2023. To review the section 85 order, click here.

Visitors to the Durham Region POA court office will be required to conduct passive screening prior to entering the facility. Passive screening means that visitors remain diligent about their own fitness to appear and self-screen for symptoms of COVID-19; visitors should not physically attend if they are unwell.

To reduce wait times in our Court Services office, all in-person services are also available online throughout the tabs below.

General Information

About Us

The Durham Region Provincial Offences Court Services office handles charges laid under the Provincial Offences Act (POA). Offences under the POA include those committed under the Highway Traffic Act, the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act, the Trespass to Property Act, the Liquor Licence and Control Act, and other provincial legislation, municipal by-laws and minor federal offences.

Durham Region POA staff are responsible for setting trials and early resolution meetings, receiving fine payments resulting from charges laid by the various police forces and enforcement agencies operating within the Region, and managing the filing of POA matters including reopenings and applications for extensions of time to pay fines.

Court Appearance and Zoom Link Information

All Provincial Offences Act (POA) court appearances may be held in-person or by audio/videoconferencing. If you have a matter scheduled and would like more information about POA court proceedings, please visit our Court Appearances webpage.

Our court office is located at Regional Headquarters, Lower Level, 605 Rossland Road East in Whitby. The Court Services office hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday (excluding holidays). A Provincial Offences drop-off box is available for after-hour (no cash) fine payments and court document submission. The drop-off box is located beside the south entrance of the building.

You can also contact our office by telephone between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday (excluding holidays), at 905-668-3130 or (toll-free) 1-866-779-8839. Our fax number is 905-668-3166. General inquiries can be emailed to poa.courts@durham.ca.

Guide for Defendants in Provincial Offences Cases

The Guide for Defendants in Provincial Offences Cases provides defendants with general information about the court process for Provincial Offences. It does not provide legal advice. It does not cover every circumstance that might arise in your case.

Types of Tickets

Offence Notice Options (ICON location code 2860)

You have 15 days to select one of the options on the back of your ticket. If you do not select an option within 15 days, you are deemed not to dispute the charge and the Clerk of the Court may convict you in your absence. Additional costs will be added.

Option 1: Plead Guilty - Pay the Whole Fine

By paying the fine, you are admitting guilt. You must pay the 'total payable' in full. Once you pay, a conviction will be registered and the offence may appear on your driving record. Demerit points apply to some Highway Traffic Act offences.

Options for paying are:

Online at paytickets.ca.
In person
By mail
Over the phone with a VISA, VISA Debit, MasterCard or MasterCard Debit. To make a phone payment, please call Court Services at 905-668-3130 or (toll-free) 1-866-779-8839 during regular office hours.

Option 2: Early Resolution - Meet with a Prosecutor

You can speak with a prosecutor about your offence without going to trial. If you do not come to an agreement, you can request that a trial date be set.

You can request a meeting with a prosecutor by submitting a request through www.ontario.ca/TicketsandFines, or by completing an Early Resolution Request form. You may also file your request in-person or mail it to the address indicated on the back of your ticket.

You will be mailed an Early Resolution Meeting Notice to the address on file with the court. If your address changes, you have to notify the court office. If you do not attend your Early Resolution Meeting, you will be deemed not to dispute the charge and you may be convicted in your absence.

Option 3: Plead Not Guilty - Trial Request

Your or your representative may request a trial by completing a Notice of Intention to Appear form. You may also file your request in-person or mail it to the address indicated on the back of your ticket.

You will be mailed a Notice of Trial to the address on file with the court office. The Notice of Trial will tell you when and how to appear to challenge your ticket, as well as how to obtain disclosure. On your trial date, there will be an expectation that you are prepared to proceed with your matter.

If your address changes, you must notify the court office. If you do not get a Notice of Trial in the mail, it is your responsibility to follow up with the court office. If no one attends your trial, you will be deemed not to dispute the charge and you may be convicted in your absence.

Parking Tickets

Parking tickets vary by municipality. Review the information on the back of your ticket for instructions on how and where to pay your fine, or how to request a trial. If you need more information about your parking infraction, contact the municipality that issued you the ticket.

Fines that are past due may be forwarded to our court office to collect payment, depending on the municipality that issued the ticket. Additional costs will apply. We do not have access to your parking ticket data until the municipality notifies our court that your fine is past due, which can take between 35 to 75 days after you receive the ticket.

Summons

An enforcement officer will issue a summons for more serious offences. It has no set fine amount. You are required to appear on the date and time indicated on your summons. If you are unable to appear for your court date, you must send someone in your place. If neither you or your representative attend for your court date, the Justice of the Peace can issue a warrant for your arrest or can find you guilty and sentence you in your absence.

If no one attends your court date, you must contact the court office to inquire about the outcome of your court appearance as you will not receive any further notices from the court.

To check the status of your tickets or fines, including how much you owe and where to pay, visit: www.ontario.ca/ticketsandfines

Fine Payment Information

Please note that we do not accept payments via E-Transfer or email; do not email your credit card information.

How to Pay a Fine

To pay your fine, select one of the options below. Please do not email your credit card information to make payment.

Pay Online

You can pay your fine with VISA or MasterCard on the Paytickets website. An additional service fee applies.

See below for important information when trying to pay an Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) ticket or a Red Light Camera ticket on Paytickets.

Information on how to pay an automated speed enforcement ticket

Information on how to pay a red light camera ticket

Pay in-person

You can pay at any Provincial Offences Court in Ontario. For a list of other court locations, visit the Ministry of the Attorney General website.

If you wish to attend our court office after business hours to pay your fine, you can place your payment into the Provincial Offences drop-off box located beside the south entrance of the building at 605 Rossland Road East in Whitby. Please do not pay your fine with cash when using the drop-off box.

Pay by telephone

You can pay by telephone with VISA, VISA Debit, MasterCard or MasterCard Debit from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (excluding holidays). Call Court Services at 905-668-3130 or (toll-free) at 1-866-779-8839.

Pay by mail

Mail your payment to the Provincial Offences Court, 605 Rossland Road East, PO Box 740, Whitby, Ontario L1N 0B3.

Send your Offence Notice (ticket) or Notice of Fine and Due Date. Certified cheques should be made payable to 'The Regional Municipality of Durham'. Dishonoured cheques collect more fees. We may go to a private collection agency. We do not accept American Express.

Victim Fine Surcharge

At the bottom of every ticket there are two different amounts shown, the set fine and the total payable. The difference between these two amounts is called the Victim Fine Surcharge (VFS) and is imposed by the provincial government. You have to pay a Victim Fine Surcharge on every fine, except parking. This is a fee added by the Province of Ontario. It is collected to help victims of crime. The VFS is on a sliding scale based on the amount of the set fine.

Calculate your Victim Fine Surcharge

Collections and Enforcement

Failure to pay your fine can cause:

Your driver's licence to be suspended (a reinstatement fee is charged).
Licence plate denial.
Additional fees added.
Collection activity, such as deducting funds from your wages, deducting funds from your bank account, filing liens against your property, seizing and selling of your property, and your defaulted fine information being submitted to a credit bureau.

You might receive notice from our Collections Department. This means your fine is past due. You will then need to contact our Collections Department by email or telephone at 905-666-6243 or toll free at 1-866-223-3315. Your driver's licence may be suspended. Additional fees will be added.

Court Services

Application for Extension of Time to Pay

If you are unable to pay your fine by the due date, you may apply for more time to pay. You can either submit an Extension of Time to Pay Application online or attend the court office in-person. The Clerk of the Court will review your extension application and may grant it if good faith payment efforts have been made and the application of extension is not being used to evade payment.

It is your responsibility to call us three business days after you have submitted your application to inquire if your extension has been granted or denied.

Reopening Application

If you were convicted without a hearing on a ticket and wish to apply to have the matter reopened by the court, you are required to complete a reopening application. If the matter you are applying to be reopened is a parking infraction, you must fill out a parking infraction reopening. At this time, you are not required to have your affidavit commissioned.

Facts for reopening:

If you were initially given an Offence Notice (ticket) and you were convicted at no fault of your own, or you did not receive a Notice of Trial or Early Resolution, you can apply for a reopening. You have 15 days after becoming aware of the conviction to apply.
The reopening may or may not be granted. You must call us three business days later, and we'll tell you the outcome.
If a reopening is granted, you will receive a new Notice of Trial or Early Resolution Meeting Notice by mail. You must notify us if your address changes.
If the reopening is not granted, the conviction will remain. You may file an appeal.

Transcripts

A transcript is a typed-written record of the court proceeding. To order a transcript, you must fill out a Transcript Order Form. Once your order is submitted, the Transcript Coordinator will contact you to provide you with the required deposit amount. All transcript deposits are non-refundable and your order will not be confirmed until the deposit has been paid in full.

Effective April 1, 2022, transcript fees have changed. For more information about these changes, refer to the Fees for Court Transcripts, which is regulated by Ministry of Attorney General.

Disclosure Requests

Disclosure is a copy of the officer's notes and/or other important evidence that may exist. How you order disclosure depends on the type of ticket or summons you receive.

Disclosure for Traffic Tickets and Summonses

Contact the Durham Region Prosecution Office to obtain disclosure on tickets and summonses issued by Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS), Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) or the Durham Region Health Department. You can submit a request for disclosure online, in person, by fax or by completing the Disclosure Request Form. Prosecution Services telephone number is 905-666-6252.

Disclosure for Other Charges

For charges, including parking, laid by other agencies such as the City of Oshawa, Ministry of Transportation or GO Transit, contact the original agency who issued the ticket. If you do not know which agency charged you, please contact the court office and we will provide you that information.

Appeals

Read the Guide to Appeals in Provincial Offences Cases. You must fill out and file appeal forms within 30 days of your conviction. Go to the Appeal Court located at 150 Bond Street East in Oshawa.

Depending on the type of charge you are appealing, you may need to order transcripts of the court proceeding.

Accessibility

We provide accessibility assistance and services, including:

Accessible formats of documents.
Assistive listening devices.
Visual language interpretation support (American Sign Language).
Rooms that can accommodate an individual with a disability.
Scheduling meetings or proceedings at times that allows a person to deal with their disability or medical related needs.
Phone or email support in order to meet a disability related need.

To request these services, contact us by email or telephone at 905-668-7711 or toll-free at 1-866-779-8839 before your visit or court date.

Forms and Resources

General Forms

Please note that some forms can be translated into other languages using the Google Translate function at the top of your browser.

Printable Forms

Bilingual and French Forms

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I can't attend my early resolution meeting?

If you need to change the date of your early resolution meeting, you must contact the court office by email at least three business days before your scheduled meeting date. You can also complete the Early Resolution Postponement Form. Please include your name, scheduled court date and ticket number(s) in your correspondence.

What if I can't attend my trial date?

If you know ahead of a scheduled trial date that you cannot attend court or go ahead with your case, immediately contact the court office shown on your ticket or summons to ask if, and how, the trial date can be rescheduled. If on a scheduled court date you cannot attend or go ahead with your case, you or someone else on your behalf will have to go to the court to ask the justice of the peace if the case can be rescheduled and explain why. If it is a trial date, and the justice of the peace does not reschedule the case, your trial might go ahead and you might be found guilty.

Do I need legal representation? Is duty counsel available?

You do not require legal representation to appear in Provincial Offences Court, nor is duty counsel available to represent you. Legal aid is generally not given for POA matters but you can contact your local Legal Aid office to confirm your eligibility.

How do I find out about my driving record or the status of my driver's licence?

All suspensions and driving record information is maintained and administered by the Ministry of Transportation (MTO). If you need to inquire about your driving record or the status of your driver's licence, please contact MTO, Driver Control, at 1-800-303-4993. You can also perform a driver's licence check online through the MTO.

How do I file a formal complaint against a Justice of the Peace?

If the complaint is concerning the conduct of a Justice of the Peace, contact the Justice of the Peace Review Council.

Acts and Legislation

Many laws and statutes are available on the e-Laws website.

The Region of Durham - Provincial Offences website has been designed with accessibility in mind. We are working towards having the content on our website meet compliance of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) Level AA.

Exceptions: Documents received from external organizations may not be in an accessible format. If these documents are needed in an accessible format, please call 905-668-3130.