10 years after Jordan ruling, Quebec prosecutors forced to make 'heartbreaking' choices

10 years after Jordan ruling, Quebec prosecutors forced to make 'heartbreaking' choices

Public prosecution service says squeezed resources means certain cases prioritized

A decade after the Supreme Court put Canada’s justice system on a strict schedule, Quebec prosecutors say they’re dropping criminal files because they are running out of time — and resources.

Olivier Charbonneau, the vice-president of the labour union APPCP, which represents 750 Crown attorneys in Quebec, says prosecutors’ work has gotten more complicated over the years and, since the 2016 Jordan ruling, getting cases to trial quickly has become paramount.

“On the wider spectrum, [the Jordan framework] is a positive decision. That being said, there's a downside to it. The problem is that the resources did not follow,” he said.

The ruling set time limits for criminal trials to ensure an accused person’s Charter right to be tried within a reasonable time frame — 18 months for provincial court and 30 for Superior Court.

In trials that go on beyond those time limits, charges can be thrown out.

In recent years, the Jordan ruling has resulted in an increase of charges being tossed for going beyond those limits, as shown by data obtained by CBC News through an access-to-information request.

Prosecutors can also abandon charges if they anticipate they won’t be able to respect the Jordan framework. According to the prosecutors’ union, the Crown has stayed about 350 cases since 2023 due to these limitations.

“That doesn’t count all the cases we refused or we did not retain because of lack of time or the prioritization we had to make,” Charbonneau said.

Charbonneau says a lack of resources led Quebec’s public prosecution service, known by its French initialism DPCP, to instruct prosecutors to prioritize some types of cases over others.

He says crimes involving children and the elderly, as well as those involving sexual or domestic violence, take priority, as opposed to cases related to fraud and drug trafficking.

“We have to make heartbreaking decisions every day,” Charbonneau said.

A spokesperson for the DPCP says that crimes involving gun violence and victims of abuse are treated as a priority, but insists no crimes are at the bottom of the list, and that some specialized teams are dedicated to working on fraud and drug cases.

The DPCP added that a number of other external factors are putting pressure on its resources, including an increase in the number of active and complex cases, as well as the volume of requests to initiate proceedings.

Charbonneau said, per the union’s calculations, at least 100 more prosecutors need to be hired to meet demand.

‘Justice sometimes falls to the wayside’

A January 2026 survey conducted among members of the prosecutors’ union shows that 46 per cent of respondents said they often had to accept a plea bargain for a lighter sentence than they believed to be appropriate because of pressure in the system.

“It happened that we need[ed] to take a lesser deal to avoid a stay of proceedings,” Charbonneau said, adding it's better to have “a lenient sentence than no sentence at all.”

He says another way for prosecutors to gain some time in their favour is to wait – sometimes for several months – before laying charges, as that’s what marks the start of the Jordan clock.

Criminal defence lawyer Jeffrey Boro has seen this play out numerous times.

He says sometimes, an accused person signs a promise to appear in court, but the court date is six or eight months away. They have to respect court-ordered conditions until then.

“Their liberty is restricted, but their case is not going ahead any faster than it would have before Jordan,” Boro said. “You can’t get on with life.”

He acknowledges that overall, criminal cases are moving faster through the system but says that comes with a cost. Boro believes that respecting the Jordan framework has become the justice system’s top priority.

“By pushing everybody to go forward in a quick manner, justice sometimes falls to the wayside,” Boro said.

Quebec prosecutors grapple with prioritizing criminal files under Jordan framework

In a statement to CBC News, the Quebec justice minister’s office says the province has increased the ministry’s budget by 96 per cent since 2018, and created 27 new judge positions to respond to the challenges posed by the Jordan framework.

Julien Garon, a spokesperson for Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, says the number of prosecutors has grown by 30 per cent over the same period. He says the province also looked for ways to make the most of the system’s resources, including giving more responsibility to justices of the peace to free up provincial court judges and reduce delays.

Lucie Rondeau, who served as chief justice of Quebec court between 2016 and 2023, says the Jordan ruling forced the authorities to review their practices, leading to positive change.

She believes trial delays fail to meet the needs of the accused — but also the victims and witnesses.

“I’m not sure the people involved in those cases would be happy [if] the delays would be longer than what they are now," she said.

Rondeau adds she would like the system to become even more efficient, saying an overhaul of court proceedings — which is up to the federal government — is long overdue.

She is happy, however, with changes coming to the Criminal Code under Bill C-16, which received Royal Assent in June. Among different measures, the bill will require courts to consider alternatives to a stay of proceedings to reduce the number of cases being tossed because of court delays.

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An organization that advocates for the rights of victims also welcomes the changes expected under Bill C-16, including one that stipulates that, before ordering a stay of proceedings, the court must take into consideration the potential repercussions on the victim.

“As it was worded for 10 years, the Jordan ruling completely ignored the victim and the impact on them,” says the general director of Plaidoyers victimes, Karine Mac Donald.

Still, she believes much is still open to interpretation.

“Will the victim get a chance to speak about the impact a stay of proceedings would have? Would it be done through the prosecutor? How will the judge actually take it into account?”

Mac Donald says the system will have to define those elements and make sure victims’ rights are respected.

Paula Dayan-Perez is a journalist with CBC Montreal. She has previously worked for Le Soleil de Châteauguay and CHNE-TV, a community channel in Chéticamp, N.S.