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If this is your first contact with the criminal courts, the outcome you are most likely worried about is the record. This page explains every route that avoids one, and what each of them actually requires.
Book My 15-Minute Assessment →Section 730 of the Criminal Code allows a court to discharge an accused instead of convicting them, where a discharge is in the accused's best interests and not contrary to the public interest.
Do not give a statement and do not plead guilty at your first appearance, which is an administrative date where nothing is decided. Follow every release condition exactly. Note your court date and retain counsel before it, so disclosure can be requested and diversion, a peace bond or a discharge can be pursued at the Crown pre-trial.
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Being charged for the first time is disorienting, and the fear most people arrive with is that their life has already changed permanently. It has not. A charge is an allegation, and section 11(d) of the Charter presumes you innocent until the Crown proves the case beyond a reasonable doubt. A criminal record comes only from a registered conviction, and there are several routes that end a case without one.
Which route is realistic depends on the offence, the disclosure, whether anyone was hurt, whether property was recovered, and your circumstances. What is consistent is that these outcomes are negotiated, not automatic. They are usually settled at the Crown pre-trial, before any trial date is set, and they are far easier to obtain when counsel has read the disclosure and put your circumstances forward properly.
| Route | What it requires | Finding of guilt | What remains afterwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Withdrawal | The Crown concludes there is no reasonable prospect of conviction, or the public interest does not favour prosecution | No | Nothing, subject to local police records |
| Diversion, section 717 | Acceptance of responsibility, plus community service, a donation, a course or restitution | No | Nothing once the charge is withdrawn |
| Peace bond, section 810 | Agreement to keep the peace and be of good behaviour, usually for up to twelve months | No | Nothing after the bond expires; breach is an offence under section 811 |
| Absolute discharge, section 730 | A finding of guilt, then a discharge with no conditions | Yes | Purged from the automated records one year after the decision |
| Conditional discharge, section 730 | A finding of guilt, then probation for up to three years | Yes | Purged three years after the decision, once probation is complete |
| Acquittal at trial | The Crown fails to prove an element beyond a reasonable doubt | No | Nothing |
The purge periods for discharges are set by section 6.1 of the Criminal Records Act and operate automatically: the Royal Canadian Mounted Police must remove an absolute discharge from the automated criminal conviction records one year after the court decision, and a conditional discharge three years after. No application is required, though it is sensible to verify afterwards.
One important limitation: section 730 is not available where the offence carries a minimum punishment or is punishable by fourteen years or life. That is why a discharge cannot be given for impaired driving or over 80, both of which carry minimum penalties under section 320.19.
Nothing is agreed before counsel has read the Crown brief. Sometimes the disclosure shows the case should not proceed at all, and diversion is the wrong objective.
Counsel asks the Crown to divert, addressing the offence, your background, employment, education, any counselling and any restitution already made.
Diversion under section 717 requires the person to accept responsibility for the conduct. This is not a guilty plea and is not evidence in any later proceeding on the charge.
Community service hours, a charitable donation, a decision-making or substance course, an apology letter, or restitution, with documentation of each.
The Crown withdraws the charge in open court. Counsel can then assist with a request to the police service for destruction of fingerprints and photographs.
Counselling begun before the Crown pre-trial, restitution paid without being ordered, a substance use assessment obtained on your own initiative, or steady employment maintained throughout are all considered. They are not guarantees, and they should be discussed with counsel first so they fit the file rather than complicating it, but Crowns and judges do notice the difference between steps taken voluntarily and steps taken under an order.
The most common is pleading guilty at an early appearance to make the matter go away. A guilty plea entered without disclosure and without advice is very difficult to withdraw, and it forecloses every option in the table above. The second is breaching a release condition. A breach charge under section 145 turns a first-time file into a person with two matters before the court and removes much of the goodwill that diversion depends on.
The third is giving a statement. You are entitled to decline to answer questions, and doing so cannot be used against you. The fourth is missing a court date, which leads to a bench warrant and a separate charge of failing to appear. If you cannot attend, counsel can usually appear for you on administrative dates under a designation filed under section 650.01, but this must be arranged in advance.
The fifth is treating the criminal case in isolation. If you are a permanent resident or a temporary resident, a conviction can affect your status under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. If you hold a professional licence, there may be a reporting obligation. If you travel to the United States, admissibility is decided under American law. These consequences should shape the resolution, and they need to be raised at the beginning.
People often ask whether a record really matters if the sentence is only a fine. It does, and in ways that appear years later. Employment screening is the most common: many employers require a criminal record check, and offences of dishonesty or violence weigh heavily in hiring decisions. Professional regulators in law, medicine, nursing, teaching, accounting, real estate and financial services have good character requirements and reporting obligations. Volunteer positions involving children or vulnerable adults require a vulnerable sector check, which can reveal more than an ordinary check.
Immigration consequences can be severe. Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, a permanent resident convicted of an offence punishable by a maximum of at least ten years, or sentenced to more than six months of imprisonment, may be inadmissible for serious criminality, with limited appeal rights. A foreign national can be inadmissible for a single conviction. Citizenship applications are affected by convictions and by charges outstanding during the relevant period.
Travel is affected. United States admissibility is determined by United States officers under their own law, and certain categories, including offences involving moral turpitude and controlled substances, cause difficulty regardless of the Canadian sentence. Other countries have their own rules. Ontario's Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015 governs what may be disclosed on the three standard types of record check in this province, and it limits but does not eliminate the disclosure of non-conviction information.
Court lists are posted at the entrance and outside each courtroom. Bring your release paperwork. Dress as you would for a serious appointment.
Duty counsel is free, available on the day, and can request an adjournment so you can obtain disclosure and retain counsel. Nobody is expected to resolve a case at a first appearance.
The Crown's office at the courthouse provides the disclosure package. Do not read it as a verdict; read it with counsel, who will know what is missing.
The matter is adjourned to allow disclosure to be reviewed and a Crown pre-trial to be arranged. This is normal and is not a delay working against you.
A designation under section 650.01 allows your lawyer to appear on your behalf for later administrative dates so you can stay at work.
Two things to know about that first date. You will not be sentenced, and you will not be asked to explain what happened. It is an administrative appearance, usually lasting a couple of minutes, in a busy courtroom. The anxiety people carry into it is almost always disproportionate to what actually occurs.
If you are financially eligible, Legal Aid Ontario may issue a certificate covering counsel, generally where the charge carries a likelihood of imprisonment. If you are not eligible, ask about a limited scope retainer covering a defined step, such as obtaining disclosure and attending the Crown pre-trial. Going through a first criminal charge with no advice at all is the outcome worth avoiding.
A peace bond is one of the most useful outcomes available on a first charge, and it is frequently misunderstood. Section 810 of the Criminal Code allows a person who fears on reasonable grounds that another will cause personal injury to them, their intimate partner or their child, or will damage their property, to lay an information. Where the defendant agrees to enter into a recognizance, the underlying criminal charge is withdrawn.
Entering a peace bond is not an admission of guilt, produces no finding of guilt and creates no criminal record. The term is up to twelve months. Standard conditions include keeping the peace and being of good behaviour, no communication with a named person, and staying away from specified addresses. Additional terms such as counselling, a weapons condition or a charitable donation are sometimes included. A sum is entered on the recognizance and may be forfeited if the bond is breached, and breaching it is a separate offence under section 811.
Two practical points. First, a peace bond is a record that exists while it is in force and may appear on a broader judicial matters check during that period, so the term and the conditions are worth negotiating rather than accepting as offered. Second, agreeing to a peace bond is a choice, not an obligation. Where the Crown's case is weak, a trial may be the better course, and the decision belongs to you after receiving advice on the strength of the disclosure.
We obtain the disclosure, tell you honestly whether the case is defensible or better resolved, and pursue the least damaging outcome available. We attend the administrative dates so you do not have to. We prepare a package for the Crown that puts your circumstances properly on the record rather than leaving the Crown to assess a name on a docket. And we explain the difference between the routes above in plain terms, so that the decision you make is an informed one.
First-offence matters may be handled by Lexaltico LLP or referred to experienced criminal defence counsel within our LexKonnect consortium where the charge or the court makes that the better course. Any referral arrangement is disclosed to you in writing before it takes effect and complies with Rule 3.6-6.1 of the Law Society of Ontario's Rules of Professional Conduct. Your interests decide who carries the file.
Our lawyers offer a 15-minute initial assessment for most matters. Call, email, or book online. Do not sign anything before speaking with us.
55 University Ave, Suite 1100
Toronto, ON M5J 2H7
2 Sheppard Ave East, Suite 303, Toronto, ON M2N 5Y7
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