All Toronto Licensing Tribunal in-person hearings take place in the Council Chamber at the East York Civic Centre, 850 Coxwell Avenue, 2nd Floor, Toronto, ON, M4C 5R1.
Upon receipt of your Request for a Hearing, a one-on-one discussion with a representative from Municipal Licensing and Standards may occur.
Not all matters qualify for a Procedural Conference and may be scheduled for a Hearing.
Procedural Conferences are scheduled by appointment.
Procedural Conferences are not open to the public.
Hearings are held every Thursday and commence at 9:30 a.m. Agendas are posted seven calendar days in advance of the meeting date.
Hearings are open to the public.
A private two-way conversation occurs between Municipal Licensing & Standards (MLS) and the applicant/licensee to discuss concerns raised by MLS and to mediate any outstanding issues in dispute. The parties may arrive at a resolution resulting in a signed Proposed Resolution Agreement, which will be presented at the scheduled hearing date to be approved by the Toronto Licensing Tribunal (TLT).
Note: The City can provide interpretation services at the Procedural conference – private discussion meeting and for your hearing, if one is requested. You are also welcome to have a friend or relative who can interpret or translate on your behalf in your preferred language for support.
In the event an agreement is not reached at the Procedural conference, your matter will be scheduled for a full hearing at a future date.
Who will attend?
You need to have available a copy of the hearing report along with the notice of hearing that has been provided to you and any documentation that you intend to rely on at the hearings.
As it is a public hearing, members of the public and /or the media may attend.
The City’s lawyer begins the hearing and explains why MLS has referred a Licence to the Tribunal, refused to approve your Licence application or renewal, or recommends your Licence be revoked. The City may also call upon witnesses to testify.
Every witness will be affirmed, to tell the truth.
After each witness has finished his or her testimony, then you or your representative (if you have one) may ask questions about that testimony. This is called cross-examination.
When the City’s witnesses are finished testifying, it is your turn to provide your statement. This is when you and your witnesses if any, tell the Tribunal your side of the story and present any supporting documents that you have brought. Once you and your witnesses have finished testifying, you and your witnesses may be cross-examined by the City’s lawyer.
After all the witnesses have testified and been cross-examined, the City’s lawyer will make a submission to the Tribunal. This submission will specify what the City wants the Tribunal to do (for example, to issue or renew your licence with or without conditions, to refuse to issue or renew your licence, or to suspend or revoke your licence) and why.
You or your representative may then make a submission on what you are asking the Tribunal to do and why.
The City’s lawyer may make a final statement to the Tribunal. The Tribunal will then consider the evidence and the law, and make a decision about your licence.