In Ottawa and surrounding jurisdictions it is common for the defence and Crown counsel to hold a pretrial to discuss each case before a trial date is set. Sometimes these are face to face meetings, other times they are telephone calls. Plea bargaining typically takes place at these meetings.

Where a trial will likely last a few days, a pretrial with a judge is often required. Practical issues such as the length of time for trial and the number of issues and witnesses are discussed.

The pretrial judge will also often given an opinion of what he or she believes would be the likely outcome at trial. The pretrial judge's opinion on the merits is not communicated to the trial judge and is not binding.

Clients do not attend criminal pretrials.