Months go by, then a year, and your case still has no trial date. You show up, the matter gets adjourned, and you go home to wait again. At some point, most people start to wonder whether the delay itself might matter legally, and the honest answer is that it can. A criminal attorney in Toronto tracks that clock from the day police lay the charge, because in some cases the length of the waiting decides the outcome more than the evidence does.
The rules changed in 2026, though, and much of the information online hasn’t caught up. Parliament passed a new delay law, and the Supreme Court revisited its own framework that same season. So what a criminal attorney in Toronto tells you about delay this fall may sound different from what a friend heard two years ago. Here is how things stand now.
What the Jordan Ceilings Are
In 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada decided R v Jordan and put numbers on the right to be tried within a reasonable time under section 11(b) of the Charter. Before that, courts weighed delay case by case, and results were hard to predict.
Jordan set two presumptive ceilings. Delay becomes presumptively unreasonable once the time from the charge to the actual or anticipated end of trial passes:
- 18 months for trials in provincial court
- 30 months for trials in superior court
The court subtracts any delay the defence caused before comparing the total to the ceiling.
Above the ceiling, the burden shifts to the Crown. It has to show exceptional circumstances, either discrete events outside its control or an unusually complicated case. If it cannot, the court finds a breach of section 11(b).
How a Criminal Lawyer in Toronto Counts the Months
The math sounds simple, but it rarely is. A lawyer builds a timeline of every appearance and asks who caused each waiting period.
- Time the system needed, such as disclosure, scheduling and court availability, usually counts toward the ceiling.
- Adjournments the defence asked for, or dates the defence turned down, usually come off the total.
- Time you explicitly waived is generally excluded.
- Discrete events, like an illness or an unexpected witness problem, may also come off.
Here is the uncomfortable part. Small defence choices early on, such as turning down an available trial date because it was inconvenient, can quietly eat into the months you might later rely on. Many people never think about this until an application is already on the table.
Timing matters on the defence side too. The Supreme Court has said an accused must raise unreasonable delay in a timely way, and in some cases waiting too long to complain can weaken the argument.
The Supreme Court’s 2026 Revisit of Jordan
Ten years after Jordan, the Supreme Court revisited the framework in two decisions released in May 2026. The ceilings survived largely intact, and the Court kept the same 18-month and 30-month limits.
The Court did tighten some edges. It set criteria for when delay caused by trying co-accused together counts as an exceptional circumstance. It also signalled that it may be open, in a future case, to reconsidering whether a stay should remain the automatic result of every breach.
That last point is the one to watch.
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Bill C-16 and the End of the Automatic Stay
For decades, courts used only a stay of proceedings as the remedy for unreasonable delay, which ended the prosecution. That is why Jordan applications carried so much weight.
Parliament changed that. Bill C-16, the Protecting Victims Act, received Royal Assent on June 18, 2026, and most of it came into force on July 18, 2026. It adds a new part to the Criminal Code on unreasonable delay. Under it, courts must consider set factors about how complicated a case is, exclude time spent on certain applications, and order a stay only if they are satisfied that no other remedy would be appropriate and just.
Can Delay Still End Your Case in Toronto?
It can, but it is no longer a given. A breach of the Jordan ceilings still matters, and it still gives your lawyer a Charter argument. What has changed is the remedy that follows, which now depends on a judge’s view of the whole picture.
That makes the record more important than ever. A judge weighing alternatives will want to know how long the delay ran, who caused it, and what it has cost you in stress, work and family life.
Next steps, if your case has dragged on:
- Keep a list of every court date and what happened at each one.
- Note any trial dates offered and who turned them down.
- Write down how the delay has affected your job, health and relationships.
- Ask your lawyer whether a delay application makes sense and when to raise it.
Does your current timeline tell a clear story about who has been slowing things down?
