Summary Conviction Offence
A summary conviction offence is the least serious category of criminal offence in Canada. Under section 787 of the Criminal Code, the default maximum penalty is two years less a day in jail and/or a $5,000 fine. Some summary offences carry their own specific maximums set by statute.
Summary conviction offences are tried only in the Ontario Court of Justice (Provincial Court), before a judge sitting alone. There is no preliminary inquiry, no jury, and no election of trial mode. The procedure is faster and less formal than for indictable offences — though the consequences of a conviction (a permanent criminal record, immigration implications, travel restrictions) can still be serious.
Examples of summary offences
Pure summary offences include causing a disturbance (section 175), trespassing at night (section 177), and being unlawfully in a dwelling-house (section 349). However, far more often a summary offence arises from a Crown election on a hybrid offence — assault, theft under $5,000, mischief, fraud under $5,000, breach of probation, and many others. The Crown's election to proceed summarily caps the available sentence and shapes the entire procedural posture of the case.
The 12-month limitation period
Most summary conviction offences must be prosecuted within 12 months of the date of the alleged offence. After that, the Crown is statute-barred — though it may still proceed by indictment if the offence is hybrid and the limitation period would otherwise expire. The limitation rule does not apply to indictable offences, which can be prosecuted at any time.
Record-suspension wait times
Wait time to apply for a record suspension on a summary conviction is five years from completion of all sentences (versus 10 years on an indictable conviction). For non-citizens, summary convictions typically attract less severe immigration consequences than indictable convictions, but they can still trigger inadmissibility in some cases.
Defending a summary matter
Even though the procedural ceiling is lower, summary matters require the same care as indictable ones — the conviction lasts the same. The criminal lawyers at Mass Tsang LLP handle summary and indictable matters across the Greater Toronto Area, with the goal of avoiding a conviction wherever possible. For an overview of how Canadian criminal charges work, see our blog post on what counts as a criminal charge.
Related glossary terms
