Ontario.When a person is charged with a criminal offence, the single most important document they will receive is not the charge sheet. It is the disclosure: the file the Crown is required by law to hand over, setting out the evidence it intends to rely on and a great deal that it does not. Many people who go through the system never learn how to read it, or even that they are entitled to all of it. This is the plain version. It is general information about Ontario and Canadian law, not legal advice about your case.

Keep it on hand: we made a free, printable pocket card of your disclosure rights. Print it, fold it, keep it with your file.

What is disclosure?

Disclosure is the body of material the Crown must provide to a person charged with an offence so that they can answer the case against them. It is not a courtesy and it is not negotiable. Since the Supreme Court of Canada decided R v Stinchcombe in 1991, the Crown has had a legal obligation to disclose all relevant, non-privileged information in its possession or control, whether that information helps the prosecution or hurts it. The obligation is tied to a constitutional right: section 7 of the Charter protects the right to make full answer and defence, and you cannot answer a case you have not been allowed to see.

What is actually in the package?

It varies by case, but a typical package includes the police occurrence reports and the officers' notebook entries, the synopsis the Crown uses to screen the file, witness statements, any 911 call recordings, and any video the police hold: cruiser camera, body-worn camera, booking-area and cell footage. It will usually include photographs, any technical or expert reports such as a breath-test certificate or a lab analysis, and your own criminal record if you have one. If the police seized property or took measurements, those records belong in it too. The rule is breadth: if it is relevant and the Crown has it, it is supposed to be in your hands.

The Crown does not disclose as a favour. Since 1991 it has been a constitutional duty, and what is missing from the package is sometimes the most important thing in it.

How and when do you get it?

Disclosure is provided through the Crown's office, not the court clerk and not the arresting officer. An initial package is usually available at or shortly after the first court appearance, and a self-represented person receives it directly. You are entitled to enough disclosure, early enough, to make a real decision about how to plead and how to run the case. If you have a lawyer, it goes to them. If you do not, ask the Crown's office how to receive your copy, and keep every page.

What if something is missing?

Outstanding disclosure is common, and the way to deal with it is in writing. Send the Crown a disclosure request that lists each specific item you are still waiting for, by name: the body-worn camera footage, the second officer's notes, the calibration records for the breath instrument, the 911 audio. Be specific, date your request, and keep a copy. Vague complaints get vague answers. A precise list creates a record. If the Crown still does not produce material that is plainly relevant and in its possession, the matter can be put before the court, and a judge can order it.

Records the Crown does not hold

There is an important distinction. Stinchcombe governs first-party records, the things in the Crown's and police's own hands, and the threshold for getting those is low. Records held by a third party, such as a complainant's private therapy or counselling records, are governed by a different and more demanding process and a higher test. If your case involves records that the police never had, that is a separate application with its own rules, and it is one area where advice from counsel matters a great deal.

Why reading it carefully matters

Disclosure is where cases are won and lost long before trial. A gap in the footage, a note that contradicts the synopsis, a missing certificate, a statement that was never taken: these are the threads a defence is built from. Late disclosure can affect the timelines the Crown is held to, and missing disclosure can ground a Charter argument. You cannot spot any of it if you have not read the package slowly, more than once, with the charges open beside it. The work is not glamorous. It is the work.

This guide explains general principles of Ontario and Canadian law as of 2026. It is journalism, not legal advice, and it cannot account for the facts of any particular case. If you are facing a charge, speak to a lawyer, duty counsel, or a community legal clinic.