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Although the primary purpose of the Preliminary Inquiry is to determine if there is sufficient evidence to meet the threshold test for committal, the 2004 amendments to the ''Criminal Code'' substantially streamlined the Preliminary Inquiry process. The historical secondary purpose of defence counsel using the Preliminary Inquiry process to discover and test the case remains an important secondary purpose. See ''R v. Rao'' [2012] BCCA 275 (CanLII) at paras 96-98.
On September 19, 2019, Section 240 of Bill C-75 will come into effect. After this date, preliminary inquiries will only be available to those accused who elect to be tried in the Supreme Court (by judge only or by judge and jury) and when at least one of the charges on the indictment is punishable by imprisonment for life. Therefore, a preliminary inquiry will be available only to those individuals who face the possibility of a life sentence.
== C. Pre-Trial Conference (PTC) ==