Criminal law · Ontario

Court Delays in Ontario (2026): Your Right to a Timely Trial Under R. v. Jordan, and What the Numbers Show

Section 11(b) of the Charter guarantees the right to be tried within a reasonable time. In Ontario, delay has become one of the most important factors in both criminal and family cases.

By Sriiram MohanNovember 8, 20269 min read

Key takeaways

R. v. Jordan, 2016 SCC 27 set presumptive ceilings: 18 months in provincial court and 30 months in superior court.
Defence delay is deducted; exceptional circumstances, such as unforeseeable events or particularly complex cases, can justify delay above the ceiling.
Reported stays for unreasonable delay in Ontario rose from 82 in 2017 to 178 in 2023, according to news reporting on provincial data.
Federal research found median criminal case completion time rose from 5.5 to 7.1 months after Jordan.
Family and civil courts have no Jordan ceiling, and delays there can stretch case conferences and trials by months or years.

Delay is not a technicality. For an accused person, years under bail conditions can mean lost jobs, separation from family and the stress of an unresolved charge. For complainants and the public, delay erodes confidence that justice will be done. For separating families, it can mean years without a final parenting or support order. This article explains the law and the evidence.

The Jordan framework

Section 11(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees any person charged with an offence the right to be tried within a reasonable time. In R. v. Jordan, 2016 SCC 27, the Supreme Court of Canada replaced an unpredictable balancing test with clear ceilings:

Court	Presumptive ceiling
Ontario Court of Justice (provincial court), no preliminary inquiry	18 months from charge to the actual or anticipated end of trial
Superior Court of Justice, or provincial court after a preliminary inquiry	30 months

How delay is calculated

Calculate total delay from the date of the charge to the anticipated end of trial.
Subtract defence delay: delay the defence waived or caused, for example by being unavailable for dates the court and Crown could offer. R. v. Cody, 2017 SCC 31 clarified that illegitimate defence conduct is deducted, but legitimate steps to respond to the charges are not.
If the net delay exceeds the ceiling, it is presumptively unreasonable. The Crown can rebut this only by proving exceptional circumstances: discrete events that were reasonably unforeseeable or unavoidable, or a particularly complex case.
If the net delay is below the ceiling, the defence can still succeed in clear cases by showing it took meaningful steps to expedite the matter and the case took markedly longer than it reasonably should have.

The remedy for a breach of section 11(b) is a stay of proceedings: the charges end.

What the numbers show

There is no national count of Jordan stays. A Department of Justice Canada research brief uses Statistics Canada court data instead and reports that the median time to complete a criminal case rose from about 5.5 months to 7.1 months after Jordan.
In Ontario, reporting by CBC News and CTV News found stays for unreasonable delay rose from 82 in 2017 to 178 in 2023, and more than 580 Ontario cases were stayed for delay from 2016 through 2023.
Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General has said that stays for delay remain rare as a share of all cases, while prosecutors have called for more judges, staff, Crowns and courtrooms (CP24, January 2026).
In 2025, the Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice and the Chief Justice of Ontario made a joint public appeal to the federal government for more judicial appointments.

Delay in family and civil courts

Jordan applies only to criminal charges. Family and civil cases have no constitutional ceiling, and the strain shows. The Auditor General of Ontario reported in 2019 that neither the Ontario Court of Justice nor the Superior Court publicly reported next available hearing dates for family cases. The Advocates' Society has warned of a crisis in civil and family court delays, citing waits of up to five years for some civil actions to reach trial. Practitioners also reported early problems with Ontario's new online court portal in Toronto (CP24, January 2026).

For families, the practical answer is often to use the time well: negotiate interim arrangements, use mediation or arbitration where appropriate, and bring focused motions for what cannot wait, such as temporary parenting schedules, support and disclosure.

What this means if you are charged

Delay rights must be protected from the first appearance. Your lawyer should track every adjournment and who caused it.
Be ready to proceed. Defence delay is deducted, so making yourself available for early dates strengthens a later application.
Raise the issue in time. An 11(b) application must be brought before trial with a complete record.
Delay is one defence among many. Charter issues, disclosure and the strength of the evidence still matter.

Frequently asked questions

Will my charges be dropped if my trial takes more than 18 months?

Not automatically. Defence delay is subtracted, and the Crown can justify some delay. If the net delay is still above the ceiling and no exceptional circumstances apply, the charges should be stayed.

Does Jordan apply to impaired driving and assault charges?

Yes. Jordan applies to every criminal offence, including impaired driving, refusal and assault.

Is there a time limit for family court cases?

No constitutional ceiling applies to family cases, but courts can make interim orders while a case proceeds, and parties can seek case management to keep it moving.

Sriiram MohanPrincipal Lawyer, Sriiram Mohan Law P.C. · Barrister, Solicitor & Notary Public · Licensed by the Law Society of Ontario

Sources

This article provides general information about Ontario and Canadian law as of the date above. It is not legal advice and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Laws and court decisions change; speak with a lawyer about your specific circumstances.