Ontario Centre of Forensic Sciences - Locations and Jurisdictions

Locations and Jurisdictions

The current main location for the CFS is 25 Grosvenor St. in Toronto. The laboratory and associated working areas occupy the 2nd through the 7th and the 15th floors. There is a firing range in the upper basement. In addition, there is glassware washing facilities in the lower basement and a secure auto examination area underground. The main laboratory serves Southern Ontario and the parts of Northern Ontario, east of North Bay to Moosonee. Some exceptions are Ottawa, whom customarily send cases to the RCMP Forensic Laboratory in Ottawa, and certain specialized cases from the NRL jurisdiction have to be performed in the Toronto laboratory.

The NRL location is in Roberta Bondar Place at 500-70 Foster Drive in Sault Ste. Marie. It also has an auto examination area. The NRL serves areas north and west of Sudbury. Some exceptions are in far western Ontario, such as west of Dryden, which occasionally send cases to the RCMP Forensic Laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Both laboratory locations have multi-layered security and do not accept unscheduled public visitors. During the school year CFS has a tour program that allows grade 12 or university students to visit the Toronto laboratory and learn about its forensic work. These tours are by arrangement only.

CFS occasionally performs work for other governments or agencies such as the Department of National Defence (Canada), the Government of Bermuda, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the U.S. state of Virginia (notably the post-execution DNA testing in a U.S. capital murder case State of Virginia vs. Roger Coleman).

The CFS and RCMP Forensic Laboratory Services have also worked cooperatively to utilize each others' expertise and instrumentation on training events and during occasional cases.