Told to attend for fingerprints and photos after a charge in Ontario: do you have to go, and can they be destroyed later?

Yes. If your appearance notice, undertaking or summons sets a time and place for fingerprints and photographs under the Identification of Criminals Act, you must attend for an indictable or hybrid charge, and missing it is an offence that can also lead to an arrest warrant. If the case ends without a conviction, you can ask the police service that took them to destroy them, subject to waiting periods and exceptions that differ between Toronto, York and Peel.

The fingerprint appointment is one of the first obligations in a criminal case in Ontario, and it is easy to overlook because it is often a different date and place from court. This page explains when the law requires you to go, what happens if you do not, and how to ask Toronto Police, York Regional Police or Peel Regional Police to destroy the prints and photographs later. What a police record check shows is a separate question, covered in our guide on whether a withdrawn charge appears on a police record check.

Do you have to go?

The Identification of Criminals Act lets police fingerprint and photograph two main groups. The first is anyone in lawful custody who is charged with or convicted of an indictable offence, or a hybrid offence that could have been prosecuted by indictment (s. 2(1)(a)). The second is anyone required to appear for that purpose by an appearance notice, undertaking, summons or order because they are alleged to have committed such an offence (s. 2(1)(c)). Offences designated as contraventions, where the Attorney General has elected to proceed under the Contraventions Act, are excluded from both groups, and Cannabis Act ticket proceedings are excluded from the second (s. 2(1)(a) and (c)).

The Criminal Code ties the appointment to the release paper. An appearance notice, an undertaking and a summons may each require you to appear at a set time and place for the Act, but only if the alleged offence is one referred to in section 2(1)(c) (s. 500(3); s. 501(4); s. 509(5)). In practice, that means a purely summary conviction offence cannot be the basis for the appointment. Theft of property worth $5,000 or less, for example, is a hybrid offence (s. 334(b)), so the appointment can apply to it. Our page on what an undertaking or appearance notice requires explains the rest of that paper.

Two other rules in the Act matter at the appointment itself. Police may use the force necessary to take the fingerprints and photographs (s. 2(2)). And the results may be published to officers and others engaged in enforcing the law (s. 2(3)).

What happens if you miss the appointment?

• A new charge. Failing without lawful excuse to appear for the Act under an appearance notice or summons is an offence (s. 145(3)), as is failing to appear for it under an undertaking (s. 145(4)(b)). Both are hybrid offences with a maximum of two years in prison on indictment. These apply once a justice has confirmed the appearance notice or undertaking under section 508.
• An arrest warrant. A justice may issue a warrant for your arrest for the original charge if you miss the appointment and the paper has been confirmed (s. 512.2).
• A judicial referral hearing. Police can instead issue an appearance notice for a judicial referral hearing, without a new charge, when the failure caused no harm, damage or loss (s. 496).

If you have already missed it, read what happens after a missed court date or appointment and call a lawyer that day.

How does the appointment and destruction process work, step by step?

1. Read the date on your paper. The appointment is usually listed separately from the court date, with its own time and police location.
2. Attend on time. Your prints and photographs are taken under the Act and added to police records.
3. Go to court as required. The fingerprint date does not replace your first appearance, explained on our page about the first court appearance in Toronto.
4. Wait for the final result. Destruction is available only after a non-conviction outcome, and each service has its own waiting period.
5. Apply in writing to the police service that took them. Toronto says that if the charge was not laid by Toronto Police, you must contact the service or agency that collected the prints.
6. Ask for a review if refused. Toronto and Peel both allow a written request for review within 60 days of a refusal.

How do Toronto, York and Peel handle destruction requests?

Toronto lists the outcomes it treats as non-conviction dispositions: charges withdrawn, dismissed, quashed or discharged, an acquittal or a finding of not guilty, a stay of proceedings, a finding of not criminally responsible, and a peace bond. Toronto also lists mitigating factors it considers on an appeal, including the seriousness of the alleged offence, the circumstances, and the applicant's age, intelligence and physical or mental health. If your York case started in Richmond Hill, Markham or Vaughan, our page on criminal cases in York Region explains the local courthouse and police districts.

What does destruction remove, and what stays?

Less than people hope. Toronto's process destroys the fingerprints, photographs and records of disposition held by Toronto Police; reports kept on its databases follow the City of Toronto's record retention schedule, and the record of arrest report is retained. If Toronto approves destruction, it recommends that the RCMP destroy the records it holds, and Toronto says the RCMP may refuse. York says destruction does not remove the occurrence from its records, and Peel's form says other records about the arrest may exist and will not be destroyed. None of the three promises anything about the United States: Toronto and Peel both say destruction does not guarantee entry, which is up to U.S. authorities.

What a local police record check can disclose is governed by Ontario's Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015. A record check provider may disclose only what the Act's Schedule allows for that type of check (s. 9), and non-conviction information can be disclosed only exceptionally, on a vulnerable sector check that meets strict criteria (s. 10). That is a different system from destruction of prints and photographs, and the two should be dealt with separately.

What changes the answer?

• The kind of offence. The appointment can be required only for indictable or hybrid offences (Identification of Criminals Act, s. 2(1)(c); Criminal Code s. 501(4)).
• Whether the paper was confirmed. The failure-to-appear offences and the warrant apply once a justice has confirmed the appearance notice or undertaking (s. 145(3) and (4)(b); s. 512.2).
• How the case ended. A withdrawal, stay, discharge or peace bond each carries its own waiting period with Toronto and York. After a conviction, destruction is not available, and the path is a record suspension, explained in our guide to record suspension waiting periods.
• The alleged offence. Toronto refuses destruction where the record contains a primary or secondary designated offence under section 487.04 of the Criminal Code.
• Your age at the time. Toronto and Peel accept only applicants who were adults at the incident or arrest; youth records follow the Youth Criminal Justice Act instead.
• Which service laid the charge. Each service decides only for the prints it took.

A worked example

For example, imagine Neda, who lives in North York and is charged by Toronto Police with theft under $5,000 after a misunderstanding at a store. Her undertaking sets a fingerprint appointment for the following Tuesday morning and a first court date at 10 Armoury Street six weeks later. She worries that going to the appointment means admitting the charge, so she thinks about skipping it.

Her lawyer explains, in Farsi, that the appointment is a separate legal obligation for a hybrid charge, that missing it could add a charge under section 145(4)(b) and bring a warrant under section 512.2, and that it says nothing about guilt. Neda attends. Months later the Crown offers diversion, which our page on diversion in Toronto describes, and after she completes it the charge is withdrawn. Five months after her last court appearance, she sends Toronto Police the destruction application by email with her charge, final court date and outcome. If it is approved, Toronto will recommend that the RCMP destroy its copy as well. This is a hypothetical walk-through, not a prediction of any result.

What mistakes do people make?

1. Skipping the appointment because the charge seems minor. For a hybrid offence it is a legal requirement, and missing it is an offence of its own (s. 145).
2. Applying too early. York says applications sent before its 30-day waiting period are not held and you must reapply; Toronto's waiting period is five months from the last court appearance.
3. Applying to the wrong police service. Each service decides only for the prints it took.
4. Assuming destruction erases everything. Occurrence reports and arrest records can remain, and the RCMP decides about its own copy.
5. Forgetting the peace bond. Toronto requires any peace bond to have expired, and York will not accept an applicant who is subject to one.
6. Treating destruction as a travel solution. Toronto and Peel both say it does not guarantee entry to the United States.

What to do this week

1. Find the appointment on your paper. Note the date, time and police location, separately from your court date.
2. Check the charge. Ask your lawyer whether the charge is indictable, hybrid or purely summary.
3. Attend, or call a lawyer before the time if you truly cannot. A lawful excuse is a narrow defence; do not rely on guessing.
4. Keep your court documents. The application forms ask for each charge, the outcome and the final court date.
5. Diarize the waiting period. When the case ends, note the date and the waiting period for the service that took your prints.
6. Get help in your language. If you are more at ease in Persian, our guide for Persian-speaking people charged in the GTA explains each step.

Frequently asked questions

Does going to the appointment mean I am admitting the charge?

No. The Act applies to people "alleged to have committed" an offence (s. 2(1)(c)). Attending is a requirement of your release paper, not an admission.

Can police take my prints for a purely summary offence?

Not under section 2(1)(c) of the Act, which covers indictable offences and hybrid offences that could have been prosecuted by indictment. The release paper can set an appointment only for an offence referred to in that paragraph (s. 501(4)).

Are my prints destroyed automatically if the charge is withdrawn?

No. Toronto's policy applies "upon written request", and York and Peel also require an application. You must apply after the waiting period.

Is there a fee?

York Regional Police says there is no fee to apply. Check the current Toronto and Peel forms before you send them.

How long does it take?

York says requests may take six to 12 months to process. Toronto says it decides an appeal within 60 days of receiving all required documents, although delays may occur.

What if immigration officials took my fingerprints?

Toronto says prints taken by immigration authorities through the federal system are outside its process and must be raised with the immigration office. For how a charge itself can affect status, see our page on criminal charges and permanent resident status.

Getting help

Gambriani Law PC helps people charged in Toronto, York Region and Peel meet every release obligation and, once a case ends without a conviction, prepares destruction requests, in English and Farsi. Call +1 647 970 3370 or reach us through the contact page.

This page is general information about Ontario criminal procedure and police records, not legal advice about your case.