As Ontario deals with a growing number of complex cases and an extensive backlog of criminal cases, the province says it will invest more than 29-million-dollars towards increasing court capacity.
Attorney General Doug Downey says the provincial government will appoint at least 25 new judges to the Ontario court of justice, and 190 additional Crown prosecutors, victim support workers and court staff.
The funding is in addition to the 72-million-dollars provided from 2021 through 2023 to address the backlog of criminal cases that accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada established an 18-month time limit for criminal proceedings in the OCJ.
Written by: The Canadian Press