How to Apply for a Record Suspension (Pardon) in Canada
The Parole Board of Canada record suspension route: completing sentences, the 3, 5, or 10 year waiting periods, the $50 fee, and the ten-step application file.
How to Serve on a Jury in Canada
How to serve on a jury in Canada: Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta summons routes, who is eligible, exemptions, and the juror fees on official pages.
Applies in: CA
Jury service in Canada runs through the provinces and territories. Each one keeps its own jury list, mails its own summons, and pays its own juror fees. There is no separate federal jury list or federal summons route described on any official page : criminal and civil jury trials sit in provincial superior courts, and the province summons the jury. This guide gives the process mechanics for Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta, from their own official pages, and states plainly where a figure was not verified. It gives no legal advice about any individual case.
Ontario: questionnaire first, summons the following year
Ontario's process has five main steps, set out on the Ontario jury duty page. A jury is a group of people randomly selected to make decisions at a trial, guided by a judge who explains the law and legal terms. You do not need to know anything about the law to serve.
First, the Mandatory Jury Eligibility Form. Each year, Ontario mails the questionnaire to over 800,000 people living in Ontario to determine eligibility for the following year's jury trials. The source list comes from the Minister of Health, drawn from OHIP records of people who are registered as insured persons, reside in Ontario, are Canadian citizens, and are at least 18, or will turn 18 by December 31 of the list year. The Jury Sheriff randomly selects the recipients. Receiving the questionnaire is not a summons and does not mean you must go to court.
Complete the questionnaire online, or request a paper version by email to jury@ontario.ca, by phone at 1-800-498-8016, or by letter to the Provincial Jury Centre, P.O. Box 666, Station A, Oshawa, ON L1H 9Z9. You have 30 days to complete and return it from the date you receive the paper version. Do not request a paper form if you already submitted it online, do not drop it off at a courthouse or the Provincial Jury Centre, and do not include anything else with it: medical documentation is not required. If you need an accessible version, contact the Provincial Jury Centre within 10 days of receiving the letter. Failure to respond to the questionnaire can result in penalties under the Juries Act of up to a $5,000 fine or up to 6 months in prison.
Second, a summons may arrive the following year. People who submit the questionnaire and qualify may receive a letter in the mail, a summons, asking them to go to an Ontario courthouse for jury selection. A summons is an official notice requiring attendance at a specific date, time, and location. Being summoned does not mean you will be selected to be part of a jury. A separate notice, a Coroner's Inquest notice, comes from the Office of the Chief Coroner for jury selection related to an inquest, and follows its own document route.
Third, stay up to date. After you are summoned, sign up for digital notifications for updates. If you do not sign up, court staff will call or send a letter. Fourth, random selection takes place at the location on the summons. Some people who are not selected may be asked to come back the next day, or may be dismissed. Fifth, if you are selected, a judge will provide information about what to do next. Contact the courthouse listed on your summons with questions, including your juror number and panel number. The Provincial Jury Centre can be reached at jury@ontario.ca, 1-800-498-8016, TTY 416-935-3639, or toll-free TTY 1-844-558-9283.
Do not submit an excusal or deferral request when you receive the questionnaire. Hardship concerns, such as employment, business, school, religion, finance, caregiving, and travel, are raised with the courthouse and the presiding judge after you receive a summons. Only judges of the Superior Court of Justice can grant excusals. If you contact the Provincial Jury Centre about a hardship before a summons, you will be directed to complete the questionnaire.
Ontario: who is eligible, who is ineligible, and who is excused
Under section 2 of the Juries Act, a person is eligible and liable to serve as a juror in the Superior Court of Justice if the person resides in Ontario, is a Canadian citizen, is at least 18 years of age at the beginning of the year in which the jury is selected, and can speak, read, and understand English or French.
Section 3 lists the occupations ineligible to serve: every member of the Privy Council of Canada or the Executive Council of Ontario; every member of the Senate, the House of Commons, or the Assembly; every judge and justice of the peace; every barrister and solicitor and every student-at-law; every legally qualified medical practitioner and veterinary surgeon actively engaged in practice, and every coroner; and every person engaged in the enforcement of law, including sheriffs, wardens, superintendents, jailers or keepers of prisons, correctional institutions or lock-ups, sheriff's officers, police officers, regularly employed firefighters, and officers of a court of justice. A person summoned as a witness, likely to be called as a witness, or with an interest in an action is ineligible at any sitting where that proceeding or action might be tried. A person who attended court for jury service, or a coroner's inquest, within the 3 years preceding the roll year is ineligible for that year.
Section 4 adds personal ineligibility: a person physically or mentally unable to discharge the duties of a juror who cannot be reasonably accommodated to perform them, or a person convicted of an offence that may be prosecuted by indictment, unless subsequently granted a record suspension under the Criminal Records Act (Canada) or a pardon. Section 23 of the Act deals with excusing a juror, and the Mandatory Jury Eligibility Form page confirms that only Superior Court judges grant excusals.
Employment protection is in section 41 of the Juries Act. Every employer must grant an employee summoned for jury service a leave of absence, with or without pay, sufficient to discharge the duties, and on return must reinstate the employee to the same position, or provide alternative work of a comparable nature at no less than the wages at the start of the leave, without loss of seniority or benefits accrued to the start of the leave. Ontario law does not require the employer to pay wages during jury service, so the $120 fee below matters most to people whose employer does not top up pay.
Ontario: the current juror fee, and the revoked old scale
Juror fees in Ontario are set by Regulation 4, Fees and Expenses of Jurors and Crown Witnesses, under the Administration of Justice Act, in its consolidation from October 1, 2026. Section 1.1 states that a person selected to be a member of a jury in the Superior Court of Justice shall be paid a fee of $120 for each day they are required to attend as a member of a jury, that a juror shall not receive the fee on days when they receive income from their employer, and that a court shall not change the amount. The former section 1 scale, $40 for each day after the tenth day up to the forty-ninth day and $100 after the forty-ninth day, was revoked by Ontario Regulation 223/25 effective October 1, 2026. Do not rely on older guides, including any that quote $40 and $100 as current: they describe the revoked scale.
Travel and overnight rules sit in the same regulation. A summoned panel member or selected juror is paid a travel allowance only if the usual place of residence is more than 40 kilometres from the court or the trial place. For private automobile travel, the allowance follows Regulation 11 of the Revised Regulations of Ontario, 1990; for other travel, the actual necessary and reasonable amount paid. A juror required to remain overnight is paid an allowance equal to the reasonable living expenses paid. A juror is not entitled to fees or expenses for days they do not attend or are not required to attend, under section 36 of the Juries Act.
British Columbia: voters list, eResponse, and selection in court
In British Columbia, prospective jurors are randomly selected from the provincial voters list and mailed a summons, an order to attend court on a specific date and time for jury selection. Receiving a summons does not mean you have been selected to serve: only people selected at the jury selection hearing stand as jurors. Before responding, read all the documents in the summons package. Respond online through the Court Services eResponse website, with the summons in hand, or by mail by completing the jury certification form attached to the summons and mailing it in the envelope provided. Questions go to the BC Sheriff Service by email or by phone at 1-855-660-0605, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Pacific time, noting there is no voicemail. The British Columbia respond-to-a-summons page also warns of a jury duty phishing scam: BC Government staff would not threaten legal action or ask for a Social Insurance Number.
At the selection hearing, in a courtroom with the judge, parties, counsel, sheriffs, and panelists, summons numbers are randomly drawn and prospective jurors step forward. Counsel accepts or challenges each panelist until the jury is selected. During selection, panelists can ask the judge for an exemption, if one was not previously granted by sheriffs. Once selected, trial may begin immediately, or after a delay of several days. In the first couple of days, the jury selects a foreperson to speak for the jury. After evidence and the judge's directions, the jury is sequestered to deliberate, returns a verdict through the foreperson, and is dismissed once the verdict is read. Those steps are set out on the British Columbia overview of a jury trial.
Alberta: Registries database, a 5-day return, and $50 a day
In Alberta, potential jurors are selected randomly from the Alberta Registries database to attend for jury selection, and a person might be summoned more than once. If selected to attend, a Juror Summons is delivered, giving the date and time for jury selection. You are required by law to complete and submit it, even if you might be excluded from service. Submit online through the Jury Management Digital Service, or fill out the Juror Certification section and mail or drop off the Office Copy to the Jury Management Office listed on the summons within 5 days of receiving it, keeping the Prospective Juror copy. If the summons is for someone else, mail it back marked return to sender if they do not live at your address, or fill it out as their agent if they do live there.
The summons allows you to apply to be excused even if you are not excluded, but filling out the Application to be Excused section does not mean you are automatically excused. If you are not notified about the application before the court date, call the Jury Management Office listed on the summons. If you have not been excused, call the Jury Management Office the day before jury selection, after 2 p.m., when a recorded message will advise whether you need to attend. On the day, arrive 30 minutes before the listed time, bring the summons and government-issued photo ID, and dress as for a job interview. You will be told the date and length of the trial, may be asked questions by defence and Crown lawyers, may be asked to stand aside, meaning you are not needed for that particular jury, and will have a chance to tell the judge why you want to be excused.
Alberta's jury duty page states that a person selected to serve on a jury will be paid $50 for each day attending the trial, and that expenses are paid under the Jury Act Regulation and Jury Management policy, with reimbursement forms provided by the Jury Officer during service and a cheque mailed to the address given. Attendance at jury selection may bring reimbursement limited to expenses allowed under the Jury Act Regulation, aligned with the Travel, Meals, and Hospitality Expenses Policy, covering meal allowances, mileage, parking, transit fare, and accommodations. The daily fee does not apply to people who attend selection but are not selected for the jury, and people who appear for previously cancelled selections are not eligible for reimbursement.
What this guide could not verify
No juror fee or expense figure is stated in this guide for British Columbia, because no fee figure appears on the British Columbia pages. No fee, exemption list, or summons procedure is stated for Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Atlantic provinces, or the territories, because no jury page for those jurisdictions could be verified. Coroner's inquest juror fees, which sit under a different Ontario regulation, are not stated, and neither are dress codes, trial lengths, or childcare and meal arrangements beyond the expense categories Alberta names. The Ontario $120 fee applies to a person selected as a jury member in the Superior Court of Justice; panel attendance before selection is governed by the travel allowance rule, not by the daily fee. Confirm the fee, expense, and exemption position on your own summons and with the courthouse or sheriff service named on it before relying on any figure here.
Related guides:
- How to Become a Court Reporter in Canada — the courtroom role that records proceedings, separate from serving as a juror.
- How to Become a Lawyer in Canada — the profession whose members are ineligible to serve as jurors in Ontario.
- How to Become a Paralegal in Ontario — the Ontario paralegal route, for readers interested in court work rather than jury service.
Serving on a jury in Canada, in five steps
- Wait for the province to contact youOntario mails a questionnaire from OHIP records, British Columbia draws from the provincial voters list, and Alberta draws randomly from the Alberta Registries database
- Complete and return what you receivedOntario questionnaire within 30 days, British Columbia summons response online or by mail, Alberta Juror Summons within 5 days of receiving it
- Attend jury selection if summonedA summons is an order to attend selection, not a guarantee of sitting on a jury, and selection is random at the courthouse
- Raise hardship or exemption with the right officeOntario excusals are granted only by Superior Court judges, British Columbia panelists may ask the judge at selection, and Alberta applicants apply to be excused through the summons
- Serve if selected, and claim the fee the province paysOntario pays 120 dollars a day to Superior Court jury members, and Alberta pays 50 dollars for each day attending a trial, with travel and expense rules set separately
Questions people ask
Is there a federal jury summons in Canada?
No separate federal jury route is described on any official page. Jury administration is provincial and territorial: Ontario runs its jury roll from OHIP records under the Juries Act, British Columbia summons from the provincial voters list through the BC Sheriff Service, and Alberta draws from the Alberta Registries database. A summons always comes from the province or territory where the trial sits.
How are jurors chosen in Ontario?
Each year the Minister of Health prepares a jury source list from OHIP records of Ontario residents who are Canadian citizens and at least 18, and the Jury Sheriff randomly selects people from it to receive a Mandatory Jury Eligibility Form. Ontario mails the questionnaire to over 800,000 people each year. Those who qualify may receive a summons the following year. The questionnaire is not a summons and does not require court attendance.
What happens if I ignore the Ontario questionnaire or a summons?
The questionnaire must be completed accurately and truthfully within 30 days of receiving it. Failure to respond can result in penalties under the Juries Act of up to a 5,000 dollar fine or up to 6 months in prison. A summons is an official notice requiring attendance at jury selection on a specific date, time, and location. If you are summoned, contact the courthouse listed on the summons, and include your juror number and panel number.
Who cannot serve as a juror in Ontario, and who can be excused?
A person is eligible if they reside in Ontario, are a Canadian citizen, are at least 18 at the beginning of the selection year, and can speak, read, and understand English or French. Ineligible occupations include members of the Privy Council and Executive Council, legislators, judges and justices of the peace, barristers, solicitors, and students-at-law, practising medical practitioners, veterinary surgeons, and coroners, and law-enforcement and court officers. A person is also ineligible if unable to discharge the duties even with reasonable accommodation, if convicted of an indictable offence without a record suspension or pardon, or if they attended for jury service within the preceding 3 years. Hardship concerns are raised with the courthouse and the presiding judge after a summons, and only judges of the Superior Court of Justice can grant excusals.
How much are Ontario jurors paid?
Under the current Regulation 4, a person selected to be a member of a jury in the Superior Court of Justice is paid a fee of 120 dollars for each day they are required to attend, except on days when they receive income from their employer. The court cannot change the amount. The former section 1 fee scale of 40 dollars after the tenth day and 100 dollars after the forty-ninth day was revoked effective October 1, 2026, so older guides quoting it are out of date. A travel allowance is paid only if the usual residence is more than 40 kilometres from the court or trial place, and overnight attendance brings an allowance equal to reasonable living expenses paid.
Does my employer have to give me time off for jury duty?
In Ontario, every employer must grant an employee summoned for jury service a leave of absence, with or without pay, sufficient to discharge the duties, and on return must reinstate the employee to the same position or comparable work at no less than the starting wages, without loss of seniority or benefits. The Act does not require the employer to pay wages during the leave. Check your contract or collective agreement, since some employers top up pay voluntarily.
Sources
- Government of Ontario, Jury duty in Ontario — the five selection steps, eligibility in outline, the summons and Coroner's Inquest notices, digital notifications, and Provincial Jury Centre contacts.
- Government of Ontario, Mandatory Jury Eligibility Form — the OHIP source list, the 30-day return rule, paper and accessible formats, hardship handling, Superior Court judges as the only excusal authority, and the $5,000 and 6-month penalty for non-response.
- Government of Ontario, Juries Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. J.3 — eligible jurors, ineligible occupations and personal ineligibility, the jury source list, questionnaires, excusal, attendance and fees, and the employment leave of absence.
- Government of Ontario, R.R.O. 1990, Regulation 4: Fees and Expenses of Jurors and Crown Witnesses — the current $120 daily fee, the no-fee-on-employer-income rule, the revoked former fee scale, and the 40-kilometre travel allowance and overnight expense rules.
- Government of British Columbia, Respond to a jury summons — random selection from the voters list, online and mail responses, BC Sheriff Service contact, and the phishing warning.
- Government of British Columbia, Overview of process for a jury trial — the selection hearing, exemptions at selection, foreperson selection, deliberation, verdict, and dismissal.
- Government of Alberta, Jury duty — random selection from the Alberta Registries database, the 5-day summons return, the day-before call, selection-day instructions, the $50 daily fee for selected jurors, and selection-attendance expense reimbursement.