Glossary
In Debt and Consumer Rights, Income Assistance, Other benefits
A credit score is a number given to you by a consumer reporting agency. Creditors check your score to see how likely you are to pay back your debts. They use it to decide whether to lend you money. Your credit score is based on the information in your credit report.
High credit scores are good, and low credit scores are bad. Usually, the lowest score you can have is around 300, and the highest around 850. Good credit is usually considered 700 or more. Sometimes, credit scores are turned into a letter and number combination. In this system, R9 is the worst credit rating and R1 is the best.
A creditor is a person or business you owe money to. For example, this could be:
- the bank that gave you a mortgage loan
- the credit card company that lets you pay for things on credit
- your landlord, if you owe rent
- your utility company, if you pay for hydro or gas
A creditor is a person or business who is owed money by a debtor. For example, if you have a court order against someone to pay you money, you are a creditor.
You commit a crime when you break a federal law. Federal laws apply in all Canadian provinces and territories. The main federal law is the Criminal Code. Things like theft and assault are crimes in the Criminal Code.
In Criminal Law
This is a criminal offence. It is a serious criminal offence to cause someone to fear for their safety by:
- repeatedly follow someone from place to place
- repeatedly communicating with someone, directly or indirectly
- watching the home, or place where a person lives, works, or happens to be, or
- engaging in threatening conduct directed at someone or a member of their family
If you are convicted, you can be sentenced to up to 10 years in jail.
In Criminal Law
If a temporary resident or applicant for permanent residence has been involved in criminal activity, they may be not allowed to enter Canada because they are considered criminally inadmissible. You can apply for criminal rehabilitation to overcome criminal inadmissibility. Criminal rehabilitation involves meeting certain criteria established by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
In Abuse and Family Violence, Criminal Law, Family Law
Cross-examination is when one party, or their lawyer if they have one, questions the other party’s witnesses. The purpose of cross-examination is to test how true and reliable a witness’ answers are.
In Abuse and Family Violence, Family Law
The Crown Attorney, sometimes called the prosecutor, is a government lawyer who presents the case against the person accused of a crime in criminal court. They work for the government and are not the victim’s lawyer.
Crown prosecutors, also known as prosecutors, Crown counsel, or the Crown, are lawyers employed by the Criminal Justice Branch of the Ministry of the Attorney General.
The Crown has a duty to make sure that all available legal proof of the facts is presented fairly. The Crown’s job is not about winning or losing. The Crown is an officer of the court, and a member of the Law Society of Ontario.
In Criminal Law
This form may be part of your disclosure. It is also known as a charge screening form. The form tells you how the Crown plans to deal with your charges, including:
- what kind of sentence the Crown will ask for
- whether some of your charges will be dropped if you plead guilty early
- whether you’ve been approved for diversion
This information will help you decide how you want to deal with your charges.