Report on resources
Memoranda of Understanding between the Attorney General and the Chief Justices
In accordance with section 77 of Ontario’s Courts of Justice Act, the Attorney General may enter into a MOU with each of the chief justices governing any matter relating to the administration of the respective court.
MOUs for the COA dated May 24, 2012, the SCJ dated May 5, 2008, and the OCJ dated August 24, 2016, are in place.
Resource-based allocation model
CSD is responsible for ensuring the allocation of funds and human resources based on evidence and data. CSD relies on a number of data sources and tools to support and manage our business.
The division is responsible for collecting, storing, managing and analyzing operational data on court activity, human resources and financial expenditures. This data is collected from many sources, such as court information databases, surveys and enterprise-wide financial and human resources systems. The information gathered from these sources is used to support the maintenance of a defined and metric-based methodology to develop individual budget allocations within CSD annually. The goal for CSD's resource allocation model is to ensure financial and human resources are allocated to best support operational needs, based on key workload metrics.
This approach to resource allocation ensures that CSD is supporting the government’s commitment to being accountable and fiscally sustainable. CSD is committed to being an open and transparent organization. To this end, financial statements are included in the Expenditure Estimates and Public Accounts, which are available to the public.
Establishing and maintaining key performance indicators
Performance indicators are an important method that contribute to the goal of public confidence and trust in the justice system.
CSD tracks KPIs to ensure it meets its own vision of being a modern and professional court service that supports accessible, fair, timely and effective justice services. As a division within MAG, CSD's performance measures also support the ministry’s vision of being an innovative, sustainable and responsive justice system that inspires public confidence and upholds the rule of law.
CSD's performance indicators include the overall cost per capita of administering justice to Ontarians, the percentage of clients who are satisfied with the service they receive, the number of clients who are engaging in the use of electronic service channels and the maintenance of service standards. These performance indicators are reflected in the ministry’s results and are also reported to Treasury Board Secretariat on an annual and ad hoc basis.
A summary of KPI findings is below.
Performance measures and achievements
| Performance Measures | 2019-2020 achievement (target) | 2020-2021 achievement (target) | 2021-2022 achievement (target) | 2022-2023 achievement (target) | 2023–2024 achievement (target) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of “attended” and “confirmed” court interpreter assignments that were performed by ministry-accredited interpreters | 90.7% (85%) | 94.5% (85%) | 97.71% (85%) | 96.33% (85%) | 94.93% (85%) |
| Percentage of cases that proceeded to family (on-site and off-site) mediation that reached full or partial settlement* | 79.3% (76%) | 76.0% (76%) | 75.2%* (76%) | 74.9% (76%) | 78.7% (76%) |
| Percentage of Family Law Information Centre (FLIC) clients satisfied with FLIC services | 81.6% (90%) | 48.2%** (90%) | 80.5%** (90%) | 79.5% (90%) | 78.8% (90%) |
| Percentage of family mediation clients satisfied with family mediation services | 92.6% (90%) | 77.8% (90%) | 73.7% (90%) | 84.3% (90%) | 81.3% (90%) |
| Percentage of family law clients satisfied with the services they received in the Mandatory Information Program (MIP) | 82.1% (70%) | 89.9% (70%) | 87.7% (70%) | 80.9% (70%) | 74.8% (70%) |
| Percentage of Small Claims Court customers whose default judgments were issued within 5 business days once the filed requisitions for default judgments were complete and judicial direction, if required, had been obtained | 74.3% | 71.4% | 79.9% | 69.8% | 76.3% |
| Percentage of civil court customers whose default judgments were issued within 5 business days once the filed requisitions for default judgments were complete and judicial direction, if required, had been obtained | 80.2% | 78.3% | 92.3% | 81.8% | 88.8% |
| Percentage of estates court clients whose certificates of Appointment of Estate Trustee were issued within 15 business days once the applications were complete and judicial direction, if required, had been obtained | 63.6% | 65.11% | 58.8% | 51.6% | 46.1% |
| Percentage of civil documents processed through online filing portals*** | 6.8% | 65.5% | 80.9% | 84.05% | 87.15% |
| Percentage of family documents processed through online filing portals*** | 0.6% | 24.4% | 52.3% | 56.52% | 60.87% |
| Percentage of Small Claims Court documents processed through online filing portals*** | 17.4% | 42.7% | 68.3% | 69.6% | 73.31% |
* Full settlement reflects agreement on all issues brought to mediation, whether on a final or temporary basis. A partial agreement reflects an agreement on one or more of the issues brought to mediation, whether on a final or temporary basis. Settlement in this KPI refers to mediation settlement and does not necessarily reflect settlement of the court case itself for those who have also initiated court action.
** In 2020, FLIC spaces were closed due to provincial restrictions, and uptake of family mediation and information services decreased. It took service providers some time to adjust to the virtual environment and to set up virtual services. Feedback received from individuals who indicated being dissatisfied included: not being able to access information, offices being closed, not having the right telephone number to speak to someone and form issues. In-person services have since resumed.
***Online Submission Documents include documents accepted through Justice Services Online (Bankruptcy Submissions Online, Civil Submissions Online, Family Submissions Online, and Small Claims Court Submissions Online portals) that have been entered into FRANK. While multiple documents may be submitted at a time through the Justice Services Online portals and may be captured as having been accepted by Justice Services Online, only those documents entered into FRANK with a corresponding FRANK code are included. The Online Submissions portals were introduced in August 2020 for Family and Civil, in January 2021 for Small Claims and in December 2022 for Bankruptcy and Divisional.
E-Filed Documents include documents filed through the Civil Claims Online, Family Claims Online (discontinued Aug 2023) or Small Claims Court Online portals; and do not include emailed documents.
Documents Processed include all documents filed with, or issued by, the court as captured in FRANK.
The data is being provided “as is” for the specified purpose with the consent of the Ontario Court of Justice and may not be reused for any other purpose or shared beyond the original intended audience without seeking further approval of the Court. The Ministry of the Attorney General collects this data on behalf of the Court, and as such, the Ontario Court of Justice cannot confirm the accuracy or the completeness of the data. The Court takes no position, nor makes any comment upon any inferences, interpretations, projections, or analysis resulting from the use of this data.
Please be advised that the court’s operational case management systems are meant to assist court staff in administering court matters. While court statistical information can sometimes be produced as a by-product of these systems, the information in these systems do not always lend themselves to answering all questions posed. The data is being provided “as is” for the specified purpose with the consent of the Superior Court of Justice and may not be reused for any other purpose or shared beyond the original intended audience without seeking further approval of the Court. The Ministry of the Attorney General collects this data on behalf of the Court and, as such, the Superior Court of Justice cannot confirm the accuracy or the completeness of the data. The Court takes no position, nor makes any comment upon, any inferences, interpretations, projections, or analysis resulting from the use of this data.
Source: FRANK
Analytics & Evidence Branch
Corporate Services Management Division
Ministry of the Attorney General
26-Jun-24
Freedom of Information (FOI) and correspondence requests
CSD regularly receives FOI and correspondence requests. The issues and Correspondence Unit is responsible for the coordinating, organizing and completion of these requests. The unit works closely with all 3 corporate branches as well as the 7 regions to ensure that both FOI requests and correspondence requests are dealt with on a timely basis.
FOI requests can include requests for records relating to CSD initiatives, policies, communications and more. The FOI process includes a thorough search of records by the relevant program area, the collection of responsive records, and the review of responsive records prior to the release of materials to the requester.
CSD receives a high number of correspondences on a regular basis including emails from members of the public, justice stakeholders and organizations.
From April 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024, CSD received 128 FOI requests, and 6,091 assigned e-correspondence.
Criminal Justice Video Strategy (CJVS), in-custody court appearance by type (audio, in-person and video)
With the growing total court appearance types, video appearances, on average, continue to compose 78% of overall appearances, as compared to 18% for in-person and 3% for audio.
| Audio | In-Person | Video | Grand total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario 2023 to 2024 (avg. 25 institutions) | ||||
| Apr | 4.60% | 19.54% | 75.87% | 100% |
| May | 5.49% | 19.57% | 74.95% | 100% |
| Jun (Q1) | 3.98% | 20.58% | 75.44% | 100% |
| Jul | 2.52% | 17.28% | 80.19% | 100% |
| Aug | 2.95% | 17.28% | 80.19% | 100% |
| Sep (Q2) | 2.94% | 17.65% | 79.40% | 100% |
| Oct | 3.27% | 18.60% | 78.13% | 100% |
| Nov | 2.98% | 18.77% | 78.24% | 100% |
| Dec (Q3) | 2.72% | 18.60% | 78.69% | 100% |
| Jan | 2.42% | 18.38% | 79.20% | 100% |
| Feb | 2.91% | 18.92% | 78.18% | 100% |
| Mar (Q4) | 2.82% | 19.37% | 77.81% | 100% |
| 2023-2024 | 3.3% | 18.7% | 78.0% | 100% |
Human resources by region / area
Human resources full-time equivalents (FTEs) as at end of each fiscal year
| Regions/Branches | March 2020 | March 2021 | March 2022 | March 2023 | March 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central East Region | 415.15 | 419.88 | 435.82 | 427.38 | 450.56 |
| Central West Region | 525.77 | 504.56 | 551.05 | 569.39 | 597.58 |
| East Region | 343.51 | 361.84 | 352.67 | 353.74 | 380.74 |
| Northeast Region | 160.14 | 158.43 | 167.68 | 185.2 | 172.72 |
| Northwest Region | 70.84 | 69.06 | 77.22 | 80.32 | 88.15 |
| Toronto Region | 723.76 | 664.03 | 695.59 | 701.67 | 792.89 |
| West Region | 420.32 | 419.72 | 451.51 | 487.46 | 489.46 |
| Corporate Branches | 108.17 | 124.55 | 130.48 | 124.92 | 143.18 |
| Judicial Support | 213.32 | 248.78 | 267.39 | 270.1 | 297.44 |
| Total: | 2,980.98 | 2,970.85 | 3,129.41 | 3,200.18 | 3,412.72 |
Notes:
- Data Source: FTE Tracker Tool – Ministry of the Attorney General Analytics Dashboard
- FTE numbers are a “point in time” count of active employees as of the last business day in March each year.
- FTE numbers convert all part-time employees to an equivalent full-time number. For example, a regular part-time employee working 21.75 hours per week is counted as 0.6 FTE, while a full-time employee is counted as 1.0 FTE.
- There are a total of 3412.72 FTEs in Court Services Division as of March 2024
- Divisional FTEs do not include members of the judiciary.
Financials
Statement of Revenue for Court Services Division
| Revenue lines | 2021-2022 amount | 2022-2023 amount | 2023-2024 amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fees | $81,720,762 | $83,778,117 | $91,826,614 |
| Fines and Penalties | $38,993,721 | $37,485,340 | $42,996,803 |
| Reimbursement of Expenditures | $11,904,774 | $16,873,770 | $19,794,450 |
| Revenue from the Government of Canada | $7,968,614 | $5,987,598 | $6,164,766 |
| Other Revenues* | $2,316,815 | $21,783,371 | $16,042,992 |
| Total: | $142,904,685 | $165,908,196 | $176,825,625 |
Source: Integrated Financial Information System (IFIS)
*Recognition of accounts receivables from Provincial Offences Act Victim Fine Surcharges and related revenue, as recommended by the Auditor General of Ontario.
Statement of Expenditures for Court Services Division
| Administration of justice | 2021-2022 Amount | 2022-2023 Amount | 2023-2024 Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salaries and Wages | $176,648,065 | $181,476,037 | $210,487,623 |
| Employee Benefits | $32,155,106 | $33,225,666 | $35,444,922 |
| Transportation and Communication | $13,481,406 | $11,452,888 | $13,646,464 |
| Services | $53,589,653 | $65,384,119 | $75,628,632 |
| Supplies and Equipment | $4,985,408 | $5,659,362 | $5,792,808 |
| Transfer Payment | $1,351,320 | $1,803,369 | $1,869,619 |
| Other Transactions* | Not available- | $37,208,721 | $44,174,236 |
| Total: | $282,210,958 | $336,210,162 | $387,044,304 |
| Judicial services | 2021–2022 Amount | 2022–2023 Amount | 2023–2024 Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salaries and Wages | $170,118,817 | $174,410,349 | $193,194,119 |
| Employee Benefits | $13,424,773 | $14,020,778 | $14,544,177 |
| Transportation and Communication | $724,524 | $2,491,840 | $2,724,363 |
| Services | $19,445,496 | $22,880,342 | $25,149,588 |
| Supplies and Equipment | $598,963 | $540,614 | $663,286 |
| Transfer Payments | $410,151 | $321,051 | $339,350 |
| Total: | $204,722,724 | $214,664,974 | $236,614,883 |
| Bad debt expense** | $6,811,504 | $29,982,340 | $22,981,471 |
| Total operating expenditures | $493,745,186 | $580,857,476 | $646,640,658 |
| Total operating allocation | $501,883,400 | $560,533,900 | $631,975,700 |
| Capital expenditures | $67,364,267 | $4,595,319 | $7,786,072 |
| Capital allocation | $67,925,600 | $5,818,600 | $9,379,800 |
Source: Public Accounts of Ontario
*Public Private Partnerships (P3) interest payments were also re-aligned to reflect as an operating expense instead of a capital expense, contributing to the increase.
*Recognition of accounts receivables from Provincial Offences Act Victim Fine Surcharges and related Bad Debt Expense, as recommended by the Auditor General of Ontario.