Roles and oversight

The Assistant Deputy Attorney General (ADAG) of CSD oversees the administration of Ontario’s courts and is responsible for legislative, regulatory, and operational policy and program development related to improving the court system.

The division is organized into 7 administrative regions:

  • Central West
  • West
  • Toronto
  • Central East
  • East
  • Northeast
  • Northwest

The ADAG is supported by 3 corporate branch directors, 7 regional directors of court operations and 3 executive legal officers (ELOs) working in the office of the Chief Justice of each court:

  • Corporate branches provide critical business support, legal, program, operational, policy and oversight functions.
  • Regions are comprised of frontline staff and managers who are responsible for delivering critical court services to the public, court participants and supporting the judiciary.
  • ELOs have a dual reporting relationship to the ADAG and to their respective Chief Justice – they act as the liaison between the judicial and executive branches of government.

Justice in partnership: working with the judiciary

The Attorney General (AG) is responsible for the administration of Ontario’s courts.

The Courts of Justice Act (CJA) establishes the framework for Ontario's court structure, and it articulates statutory responsibilities relating to the administration of the province’s 3 courts:

  • the Court of Appeal (COA)
  • the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (SCJ)
  • the Ontario Court of Justice (OCJ)

The AG has a Memorandum of Understanding in place with each court to define the administrative, fiscal, and operational responsibilities between the government and the judiciary.

Given its central role in the administration of justice, the judiciary’s support is critical to CSD’s ability to effectively administer the court system and to implement court transformation and modernization initiatives.

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court of Appeal for Ontario is the province’s highest court and hears appeals from the SCJ and the OCJ.

Website: Court of Appeal for Ontario

  • Chief Justice: Michael Tulloch
  • Associate Chief Justice: Michal Fairburn
  • Jurisdiction: The COA has jurisdiction over civil, family, and criminal appeals from the SCJ and OCJ
  • Location(s): The COA primarily sits in Toronto (Osgoode Hall)

Ontario Superior Court of Justice

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice is one of the busiest trial courts in the world and the largest superior trial court in Canada.

Website: Superior Court of Justice

  • Chief Justice: Geoffrey Morawetz
  • Associate Chief Justice: Faye McWatt
  • Senior Family Judge: Suzanne Stevenson
  • Jurisdiction: The SCJ has jurisdiction over all civil proceedings in Ontario, including matters in the Divisional Court and the Small Claims Court. For family law-related matters, the Superior Court has sole jurisdiction in all cases involving divorce and the division of property. The SCJ can also hear family matters involving child custody and access issues, financial support for spouses and children, and urgent safety issues. The Unified Family Court is a branch of the SCJ. For criminal law related matters, the SCJ has the jurisdiction to try any indictable offence under the Criminal Code of Canada (Criminal Code) or other federal statutes
  • Location(s): 8 judicial regions, sitting in over 52 locations across Ontario

Ontario Court of Justice

The Ontario Court of Justice is the largest provincial court in Canada and is the frontline court for most criminal, all Provincial Offences Act (POA) and some family matters in Ontario.

Website: Ontario Court of Justice

  • Chief Justice: Sharon Nicklas
  • Associate Chief Justices: Aston Hall and Jeanine LeRoy
  • Senior Advisory Family Justice: Sheilagh O’Connell
  • Jurisdiction: In the OCJ, Justices of the Peace have jurisdiction with respect to provincial offences matters, including trials, most bail hearings, search warrants, criminal case-management court and hearing applications for peace bonds (section 810 of the Criminal Code). Judges of the court also hear bail hearings, and have jurisdiction over youth and adult criminal preliminary hearings, trials and sentencings, some provincial offences trials and a broad range of family law and child protection applications and hearings
  • Location(s): 7 judicial regions, scheduling matters into 680 courtrooms in more than 200 provincial, municipal, fly-in and satellite court locations across the province

Court Services Division: by the numbers

In Court Services Division, we oversee a connected justice network of 146 courthouses across 7 regions in Ontario, with 827 courtrooms. From managing daily courtroom operations to processing court documents to overseeing family mediation services, CSD plays an essential role in ensuring access to justice.

Here’s a snapshot of the services we deliver for Ontarians:

  • Provide support for over 3 million court events each year.
  • Intake more than 200,000 criminal, 110,000 civil (including small claims), and 46,000 family matters each year.
  • Process over 2.8 million court documents annually.
  • Issued 223,089 jury summonses in 2024–2025.
  • Coordinated over 60,000 interpreter requests in 2024–2025.
  • Process 30,000 estate probate applications annually.
  • Collected about $100 million in court fees in 2024–2025.
  • Facilitate about 40,000 orders for court transcripts and 8,000 requests for court audio recordings each year.
  • Provide oversight to 68 municipal partners, who administer POA courts across Ontario.
  • Manage library collections at over 80 judicial libraries across Ontario.

Our vision and priorities

Court Services Division has been on a long-term journey for many years now, with a vision to build a reimagined court service for the future that is more modern, reliable, and efficient.

We intend to achieve our vision through significant transformation and modernization efforts (with a focus on efficiency), improving and expanding access to justice services for court users across Ontario, and enhancing the workplace experience for our staff.

Our 2024–2025 annual report highlights some of the essential work we do, and features projects and progress updates related to our key priorities:

  • modernization and transformation
  • ensuring and enhancing access to justice
  • our people
  • accountability