The provincial and territorial courts in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

are local

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribun ...

"inferior" or "

lower Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́� ...

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and carry out the administration of justice in Civil law (common law), civil, C ...

s of

limited jurisdiction Limited jurisdiction, or special jurisdiction, is the court's jurisdiction only on certain types of cases such as bankruptcy, and family matters. Courts of limited jurisdiction, as opposed to general jurisdiction, derive power from an issuing aut ...

established in each of the

provinces and territories of Canada Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British No ...

. These courts typically hear

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

(or “

small claims Small-claims courts have limited jurisdiction to hear civil cases between private litigants. Courts authorized to try small claims may also have other judicial functions, and go by different names in different jurisdictions. For example, it may ...

”),

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffi ...

, and bylaw cases. Unlike the superior courts of Canada, the jurisdiction of the provincial courts is limited to those matters which are permitted by statute. They have no

inherent jurisdiction Inherent jurisdiction is a doctrine of the English common law that a superior court has the jurisdiction to hear any matter that comes before it, unless a statute or rule limits that authority or grants exclusive jurisdiction to some other court ...

. Appeals of provincial court decisions are usually heard by the superior court of the province. These courts typically evolved from older

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

, or local courts. Many of these former courts were as likely to have lay magistrates or

justices of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission (letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

presiding as they were to have a judge who had formal

legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

training. In the province of Ontario, most municipal and provincial offences are dealt with in the Provincial Offences Court, established under the ''Ontario Provincial Offences Act'' and the ''Courts of Justice Act''.

Provincial and territorial courts in Canada

Provincial Court of Alberta The Provincial Court of Alberta is the Provincial Court for the Canadian province of Alberta. The Court oversees matters relating to criminal law, family law, youth law, civil law and traffic law. The current Provincial Court is the first point ...

Provincial Court of British Columbia The Provincial Court of British Columbia (BC Provincial Court) is a trial level court in British Columbia that hears cases in criminal, civil and family matters. The Provincial Court is a creation of statute, and as such its jurisdiction is lim ...

Provincial Court of Manitoba The Provincial Court of Manitoba (french: Cour provinciale du Manitoba) is the lower trial court of the Province of Manitoba. It has mainly a criminal jurisdiction, as well as limited concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of King's Bench in ...

Provincial Court of New Brunswick The Provincial Court of New Brunswick (french: Cour provinciale du Nouveau-Brunswick) is the Provincial and territorial courts in Canada, lower trial court of the province of New Brunswick. It hears cases relating to criminal law and other statute ...

Provincial Court of Newfoundland and Labrador The Provincial Court of Newfoundland and Labrador is the lower trial court of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It hears cases relating to criminal law and family law. Judges of the Provincial Court are appointed by the provinc ...

Provincial Court of Nova Scotia The Provincial Court of Nova Scotia is the court of criminal jurisdiction for the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia. There are twenty-three Judge, Justices and one Chief justice, Chief Justice on the bench, who si ...

* Territorial Court of the Northwest Territories *

Nunavut Court of Justice The Nunavut Court of Justice (NUCJ; , ''Nunavuumi Iqkaqtuijikkut''; Inuinnaqtun: ''Nunavunmi Maligaliuqtiit'', french: Cour de justice du Nunavut) is the superior court and territorial court of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It is administered ...

Ontario Court of Justice The Ontario Court of Justice is the provincial court of record for the Canadian province of Ontario. The court sits at more than 200 locations across the province and oversees matters relating to family law, criminal law, and provincial offences ...

* Provincial Court of Prince Edward Island *

Court of Quebec The Court of Quebec (french: Cour du Québec) is a court of first instance in the Province of Quebec, Canada. The court has jurisdiction over civil matters, criminal and penal matters as well as over youth matters The court sits in administrat ...

* Provincial Court of Saskatchewan * Territorial Court of Yukon

References

Courts in Canada {{Canada-law-stub