Early resolution meetings for Ontario traffic tickets

An early resolution meeting is the meeting with the prosecutor set out in section 5.1 of the Provincial Offences Act, and you can have one only if your ticket offers it. Section 5.1(1) says the section applies "if the offence notice indicates" that the meeting option is available. The option depends on where you were charged: under the forms regulation, O. Reg. 108/11, a standard offence notice is Form 3, but the notice must be in Form 4 "in those parts of Ontario where a defendant may request a meeting with a prosecutor" (s.3(2)).

The difference shows on the back of the ticket. According to the Ontario Court of Justice's Guide for Defendants in Provincial Offences Cases, a Form 3 ticket offers three choices: pay, plead guilty and make submissions about penalty, or ask for a trial. On a Form 4 ticket, the middle choice becomes a box you check to request a meeting with the prosecutor. Where the meeting option is missing, s.7 of the Act provides the plea-with-submissions route for a defendant who "does not have the option of meeting with the prosecutor under section 5.1".

Section 5.1 sits in Part I of the Act, which covers tickets started by a certificate of offence, and it is tied to the offence notice. A Part III summons does not come with the statutory meeting option, although the court's Guide notes that some courts have the prosecutor meet defendants before the trial date. Parking and camera tickets are outside this guide and outside this practice.

You request an early resolution meeting within 15 days after being served with the offence notice, using a method the notice itself specifies (POA s.5.1(2)). The steps, in order:

1. Check the ticket for the meeting option. If the back offers only payment, a guilty plea with submissions, and a trial, the statutory meeting is not available to you. The questions at the end of this guide cover what you can still ask for.
2. Count 15 days from the day you were served. Ontario's ticket and fines page says the meeting is not available once you have paid the fine, already requested a trial, or been deemed not to dispute the charge for not responding within 15 days. Payment is not a neutral step: under s.8(2), the court office accepting payment counts as a guilty plea, a conviction and the set fine.
3. Make the request the way the notice specifies. Section 5.1(2) allows two routes: mark the request on the offence notice and deliver it to the court office in the manner the notice specifies, or make the request "in any other manner specified in the offence notice". Ontario's online system is one such manner for many court offices: enter the ticket details, choose "Request an early resolution meeting", fill in every field including your email and phone number, and submit.
4. Keep proof you sent it. Record the date and method. Windsor's court office, for example, prefers online requests because they generate a confirmation email.
5. Watch for the notice of meeting. The clerk must give you and the prosecutor notice of the meeting's time and place "as soon as is practicable" (s.5.1(3)). The forms regulation prescribes separate Early Resolution Meeting Notices for in-person meetings (Form 7.1) and electronic meetings (Form 7.2). Timing varies by court: Windsor says its meetings are set about 6 to 8 months after the offence.
6. Reschedule only if you have to. Section 5.1(4) allows one written request to the clerk, delivered at least two days before the meeting, and the clerk must set a new time within 30 days of the original one. Some court offices ask for more notice than the statute, so follow the instructions on your notice and the court's page.
7. Request disclosure before the meeting. Disclosure is the prosecution's evidence, and it is free but has to be requested. How to ask at each court office is covered in how to request disclosure for a traffic ticket in Ontario.

Each court office handles early resolution requests its own way: most take requests online through ontario.ca or the court's own form, by mail or in person within the 15 days, Barrie offers meetings only after a trial request or a Part I summons, once the Notice of Trial arrives, and the Timmins and Thunder Bay pages list no early resolution option. The summaries below come from each court's own pages as read in September 2026. Your offence notice, and the court's current page, govern if anything differs.

Toronto's row covers three courthouses; send anything to the one named on your notice, and rescheduling details are on the Toronto page linked in the table. In Barrie, a meeting is available only after you request a trial (Option 3) or receive a Part I summons. Where no early resolution option is published, the questions at the end of this guide cover what else you can ask for.

At the meeting, you and the prosecutor may agree that you will plead guilty to the offence charged or to a substituted offence, and that you will both make submissions on penalty, including an extension of time to pay (POA s.5.1(7)). The Ontario Court of Justice's Guide for Defendants also lists withdrawal of the charge, or a guilty plea to a less serious charge, as possible resolutions; the statute itself lists only the plea and penalty submissions. Section 5.1(7) says the parties "may agree"; it does not require an agreement, and no one can tell you in advance what a particular prosecutor will agree to.

Going to the meeting does not use up your right to a trial, as the court's Guide makes clear. If the matter goes to trial, s.5.1(12) lets the clerk reschedule it for administrative reasons by giving a revised notice within 21 days of the trial notice. The Ontario Court of Justice's scheduling direction for Provincial Offences Act matters says the court will offer a trial date expected to finish the trial within 15 months of the certificate of offence being filed.

The meeting does not have to be in person. Section 5.1(6) lets the defendant and the prosecutor attend the meeting "by electronic method" under s.83.1, which defines that as video conference, audio conference, telephone conference or another method set by regulation. Section 83.1(8) requires the court office named on a ticket that offers the meeting to have the means for electronic attendance.

Missing the meeting can lead to a conviction without a hearing. Section 9(1)(b) of the Provincial Offences Act treats a defendant who requested a meeting but did not attend it as not wishing to dispute the charge. The clerk then examines the certificate of offence and, if it is not defective, enters a conviction in your absence and imposes the set fine; if it is defective, the clerk quashes the proceeding (s.9(2)). The court's Guide for Defendants warns that missing either the meeting or the court date scheduled after it may lead to a guilty finding.

If you reached an agreement at the meeting but then miss the sentencing hearing under s.5.1(8), the result is similar, but a justice acts instead of the clerk. Under s.9(1)(c), that defendant is also deemed not to dispute the charge. A justice examines the certificate and, if it is not defective and is complete and regular on its face, enters a conviction with the set fine (s.9(5)).

A conviction entered after a missed meeting can be struck out under s.11 if you apply within 15 days after becoming aware of it and the clerk is satisfied, by your affidavit or other evidence, that through no fault of your own you were unable to attend. If the conviction is struck out, your notice offered a meeting, and you wish to proceed that way, the clerk gives notice of a new meeting (s.11(4)(b)). The reopening steps are covered in the guide to what happens when a ticket goes unanswered.

Preparation starts with disclosure, the prosecution's evidence against you. Ontario's guidance tells anyone who requests an early resolution meeting to prepare before the date in the notice, and says disclosure is free but you have to ask for it, sometimes in writing. How to ask, and where to send the request at each court office, is covered in how to request disclosure for a traffic ticket in Ontario. What arrives before a meeting may be limited: York Region, for example, provides only the officer's notes for an early resolution notice.

The same Ontario page lists other preparation: getting legal advice, hiring a representative such as a lawyer or licensed paralegal, and reading the court's Guide for Defendants. Section 50(1) of the Provincial Offences Act lets a defendant appear in court personally or by representative. Which licence can act on a traffic ticket is explained in lawyer or paralegal for a traffic ticket.

The Paralegal is the practice of Danil Slovak, a licensed paralegal (LSO #P10302) and its only licensee, who defends Ontario traffic tickets. A free 15-minute phone consultation covers your options on the ticket, whether an early resolution meeting or a trial fits your situation, and the deadlines that apply. The call does not include reviewing your disclosure.