The Partner Assault Response (PAR) program is a 12-week counselling program for people facing a domestic assault charge in Ontario, funded through the Ministry of the Attorney General and delivered by community agencies such as the John Howard Society and Family Service Toronto. A court can order someone to attend PAR, and completing it is often part of how a domestic assault case gets resolved. This guide explains how PAR actually works, what it costs, how long it takes, and where it fits into a domestic assault case.
The Partner Assault Response program is a group education and counselling program for people who have a criminal charge involving domestic violence. Ontario's own program page describes it plainly: the court orders the offender to attend the program in response to their charges, and people ordered to complete it must attend all 12 sessions. It isn't a form of therapy chosen voluntarily in the way private counselling is; it's a structured, court-connected program with a fixed session count.
PAR runs as 12 weekly group sessions, delivered by community agencies under funding from the Ministry of the Attorney General. Providers vary by region, and in the Toronto area, the John Howard Society and Family Service Toronto are among the organizations that run it. Because it's delivered by community agencies rather than a single central office, exact scheduling, group size, and format can differ somewhat from one provider to another, though the core structure, weekly sessions over 12 weeks, stays consistent.
Ontario's program page confirms there's a fee to attend, and that service providers set the fee based on a person's specific needs and income, with room to negotiate. The government page doesn't publish a fixed dollar figure, and different agencies appear to price the program differently; competitor-published estimates for the full 12-week program are generally in the range of a few hundred dollars, though the exact number for a specific provider is worth confirming directly with that agency rather than assuming a fixed cost.
PAR is not a criminal charge, and it isn't a standalone legal outcome either. It's a condition that gets attached to how a case is resolved. Depending on the file, that can look like a peace bond under section 810 of the Criminal Code, a discharge with a probation order that includes PAR as a condition, or a suspended sentence following a guilty plea. Because domestic assault allegations in Ontario are typically prosecuted under a policy that leans toward proceeding once a charge is laid, PAR often comes up specifically as part of negotiating what that resolution looks like, rather than as something offered before a charge exists.
Not by itself. What happens to the underlying charge depends on the specific resolution reached in that case. In some resolutions, completing PAR is one of the conditions that lets a charge end in a peace bond or a discharge; in others, it's a probation condition attached after a guilty plea, which still results in a record of the conviction unless the discharge itself is what avoids that. The details vary enough between cases that it's worth reviewing the specific offer or order with a lawyer rather than assuming PAR alone closes the file.
Not necessarily, though it depends on what the Crown is prepared to accept in a given case. Some resolutions leave room for private counselling, substance-use programs, or anger-management counselling to be proposed instead of, or alongside, PAR, particularly where a person has already engaged in that kind of program independently. Whether an alternative will be accepted is a Crown-by-Crown, case-by-case question, and it's a point worth raising early with a domestic assault lawyer rather than assuming PAR is the only path.
Where PAR is a condition of probation or a peace bond, not completing it as ordered is a breach of that condition, which can lead to a separate charge or renewed proceedings on the original file, depending on how the order was structured. If attendance becomes difficult because of scheduling, cost, or another real barrier, raising that with the provider or with counsel promptly is generally a better path than simply not attending.
The Partner Assault Response program is a 12-week, government-funded counselling program that often comes up as part of resolving a domestic assault charge in Ontario, not as a charge or an outcome on its own. Whether it applies to your case, what it costs, and what completing it actually does for the underlying charge depend on the specific resolution in your file, which is why it's worth reviewing with a lawyer before agreeing to anything.
Because PAR sits inside a larger resolution, and because what a specific order requires can vary case by case, reviewing your file with a lawyer before agreeing to a resolution that includes it is worth doing. Contact us for a free, confidential review of a domestic assault charge in Ontario.
A 12-week group counselling program in Ontario for people facing a domestic violence charge, funded by the Ministry of the Attorney General and delivered by community agencies.
There's a fee, set on a sliding scale by the service provider based on income and needs, and it's negotiable. The government program page doesn't publish one fixed cost, and it can vary by provider.
Not automatically. PAR is usually a condition attached to a specific resolution, such as a peace bond or a discharge with probation, and what happens to the charge depends on that resolution, not on PAR completion alone.
Twelve weekly sessions, so about three months for the program itself, though the surrounding court process can take longer depending on the case.
Community agencies deliver it under funding from the Ministry of the Attorney General; providers vary by region, and in Toronto include organizations such as the John Howard Society and Family Service Toronto.
Sometimes, depending on what the Crown will accept in your specific case. Private counselling or other programs can occasionally be proposed as an alternative; this is worth raising with your lawyer early.
If PAR is a condition of probation or a peace bond, not completing it as ordered is a breach of that condition, which can lead to further legal consequences depending on how the order was structured.
Reviewing the resolution that includes PAR with a lawyer before agreeing to it is worth doing, since the specific terms and what they mean for your record can vary significantly between cases.
Legal Content Disclaimer:
Legally Reviewed by
Jeff Mass
| Updated: September 24, 2026
