“Wrong Municipality?”

Got clocked and fully booked 23km/h over by a TPS officer on the north side (westbound) of Steeles Ave E (the border of Markham and Toronto)... I have been living in the area for 15+ years and it's the first time seeing (and unfortunately fell victim to ) a speed trap set up there.

Does a TPS officer have a juridical power to operate a speed trap in York Region? Technically everything happened in Markham: the location of the speed trap (off an office building's driveway north of the street), my travel path and the subsequent pull-over (north side of the street).

Secondly is the ticket itself. The officer cited the location as the building he operated the speed trap, which bears a Markham address (I've checked Canada Post to verify). Being a ticket issued by the City of Toronto the word Toronto is preprinted as Municipality. The printed word "Toronto" was again pen-circled by the officer. (To be technically correct I guess he could have crossed it and wrote Markham instead).

What is the prospect of having the case dismissed? I know that a mere location error does not make it fatal but it's more about it being handled by an officer and court "out of juridiction" (at least practically, the provincial offence courts (and $) are offloaded to municipals now).

Police in Ontario can enforce the law anywhere within the Province. So while your situation isn't normal, the officer does have authority to conduct speed enforcement outside the municipal boundaries of Toronto. Was the location right near the Toronto/York border?

I was reading through the Provincial Offences Act for clarification on your second question. While normally trials must be held in the jurisdiction in which the offence occurred, there is the following exception:

A proceeding in respect of an offence may be heard and determined in a county or district that adjoins that in which the offence occurred if,

(a) the court holds sittings in a place reasonably proximate to the place where the offence occurred; and

(b) the place of sitting referred to in clause (a) is named in the summons or offence notice.

So in short, Toronto Courts likely can deal with an offence that occurred in Markham.

Thanks for your response Shanton. Yes it's right near Toronto/York border where TTC runs instead of YRT

So should I not even bother to raise the address error in court? Or is it possible to motion for an adjournment at the Crown's fault while this error is corrected during the trial? (which is advantageous for being in Toronto court )

Also about disclosures... should I request disclosure right after I file my intention to appear in court, or after I received my trial notice? What are the advantages/disadvantages of both?

I don't mind paying the full fine but I want take these procedures as a life learning experience, and who knows when will my next traffic ticket be (it seems any reasonable people could commit minor traffic infractions as easy as committing gramatical mistakes). Haven't had a ticket for the past 6 years - last one was a disobey sign which I took to a paralegal, not sure what he did but I got my conviction notice after 20 months - this time decided to fight for myself...