Significant Amendments to the Provincial Offences Act & Municipal Act

Current Provision	Current Practice	Proposed Amendment or Section “replaced by”	New Provision	Impact of the Proposed Amendment
POA 5 (Repealed)	Adjournment requests must be heard in court as a “matter brought forward to be adjourned”.	Section 5 expanded to include subsection 5 (6).	Clerk of the court can reschedule date and time of trial. Notice to be given 21 days.	Streamlining – Client Service Category The clerk of the court will be able to provide an alternate date without the defendant having to appear. Streamlining - Court Administration Category Fewer administrative steps are required. A new process for informing the prosecution and enforcement agencies will be required to be created by court administration. One time only, subsequent requests must be made to the court.
POA 5 (Repealed)	Provincial Offences Act did not address the issue to date. Matters are not rescheduled. Notice of trial is given when defendants do not attend for the meeting.	Section 5 expanded to include subsection 5.1(4).	Clerk of the court can reschedule date and time of first attendance meeting time. To be done at least two days before meeting date. One time provision.	Streamlining – Client Service Category Defendant’s exercising this option will be able to reschedule within the established guidelines. Process will be required to coordinate changes with prosecution office.
POA 9.1	Matter listed for trial decision - R v. Pino court case currently prohibits conviction.	New subsection 9(1)(b)	Defendant deemed not to dispute charge when not attending meeting with prosecutor.	Streamlining – Court Administration Category Matters will not be required to be scheduled for trial for the cases where defendants did not attend meetings as requested. Streamlining - Prosecution Category Potential reduction in the number of trial preparations and appearance of enforcement officers in court.
POA 11.1	No current provision.	New subsection 11.1(1)	Striking conviction when error in administration made.	Streamlining – Court Administration Category Inadvertent processing errors can be remedied more effectively.
POA 12(1)	Maximum fine for Part I offence = $500.00.	New subsection 12(1.1)	Maximum fine for Part I offence = $1000.00 for fines imposed after Schedule 4 comes into force.	Efficiency. Part 1 process (simplified) can be utilized for broader range of charges.
POA 39	Provincial offences officer must serve summons.	New subsection 39(2.1)	Someone other than a provincial offences officer may serve summons.	Streamlining – Client Service Category Witnesses required by defendants’ must request provincial offences officer to serve a summons for witnesses on their behalf. Police often do not provide this service.
POA (No section)	No current provision. Local practice only.	New subsection 45.1(1)	Judicial pre-trial conferences.	Effectiveness of case management process. The court can order a pre-trial. This process can be effective at narrowing the scope of a trial potentially reducing trial time can order pre-trials.
POA 68 (2)	Limitation period on obtaining certificate of default for civil enforcement of unpaid fines is 2 years from date of default.	POA 68 (2) repealed	Limitation period for civil enforcement of unpaid fines is removed.	Effectiveness of collection process. This provision appears to remove the 2-year limit from date of default for obtaining certificates of default in enforcing POA fines in civil court.
POA 69 (14.1)	There is no mechanism for a person with a fine in default to apply to have the fine reduced or expunged.	New subsection 69(14.1)	(14.1)… a defendant may… apply to a justice to reduce or expunge a defaulted fine under subsection (15) where the defendant meets the criteria for inability to pay defined in the regulations.	Effectiveness: Where a fine is reduced to an amount that a defendant is able to pay, the City may collect some amount where it would have collected nothing before this amendment.
POA 135(2)	Appeal must be filed within 15 days of conviction.	New subsection 135 (2)	Appeals under Part 1 & 2 of the POA filed within 30 days of conviction.	Consistency in procedures. Timelines for appeal is now consistent for Parts 1,2, & 3 of the Act.
POA 165(9)	The City needs permission of the Attorney General to add collection agency fees to the amounts owed for fines in default.	POA 165(9) amended	The City is allowed to add collection agency fees “in accordance with section 304 of the Municipal Act, 2001” when collecting fines.	Streamlining: No need to obtain written consent from the Attorney General to collect these costs.
Municipal Act s. 441.1	For a fine in default where the defendant owns property in Ottawa: The City obtains a certificate of default from the Ontario Court of Justice; files this certificate with the Superior Court of Justice; obtains a writ of seizure and sale of land from the court and files the writ with the land registry.	Municipal Act s. 441.1	The Treasurer may add any part of a provincial offence fine that is in default to the tax roll for any property in the local municipality for which all of the owners are responsible for paying the fine and collect it in the same manner as municipal taxes.	Streamlining and efficiency in the collection process. This section will mainly apply to properties owned by a single individual or corporation. Where it applies, this new provision will streamline the process for obtaining a lien on real estate and should enhance collection prospects as the lien should have the same priority lien status as property taxes.