i.
What the charge means
Driving a motor vehicle while a licence is suspended under any provincial or federal authority. Knowledge of the suspension is presumed but rebuttable.
Highway Traffic Act s.53
Drive Suspended charges in Toronto, Ontario.
Driving while your licence is suspended — significant minimum fines, vehicle impoundment, and possible imprisonment. Knowledge of the suspension is the key issue.
- Courthouses
- Toronto South Provincial Offences CourtToronto East Provincial Offences CourtToronto West Provincial Offences Court
- Court Phone
- (416) 338-7320
- Consultation
- Free & Confidential
ii.
Penalties
Minimum fine $1,000 (first offence); up to $5,000; 6 months imprisonment; additional suspension; vehicle impoundment.
iii.
Available defences
- Knowledge of suspension (notice issues)
- Identification
- Charter — unlawful stop
- Defective notice from MTO
iv.
The process
Disclosure, MTO record review, and resolution. Often resolved by demonstrating lack of effective notice of suspension.
v.
Notes for Toronto
Toronto runs three Provincial Offences courts, not one — Toronto South on Front Street East, Toronto East on Markham Road, and Toronto West on Eglinton Avenue West. Which one hears your ticket is set by where it was issued. Summary criminal charges go to the Toronto Courthouse at 10 Armoury Street. We appear at all four.
Traffic / POA Court
Toronto South Provincial Offences Court
92 Front Street East, Toronto, ON M5E 0G2
(416) 338-7320
Downtown and central Toronto.
Offence numbers beginning 4860
Traffic / POA Court
Toronto East Provincial Offences Court
1530 Markham Road, Scarborough, ON M1B 3M4
(416) 338-7320
Scarborough and the east end.
Offence numbers beginning 4863
Traffic / POA Court
Toronto West Provincial Offences Court
2700 Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto, ON M6M 1V1
(416) 338-7320
Etobicoke, York and North York.
Offence numbers beginning 4862
Charged with drive suspended?
Defence starts with a conversation.
Twenty minutes, confidential, no obligation. We’ll discuss your charge, the realistic outcomes, and the cost of defence before you commit to anything.