The Canadian Parliament adopted reform legislation on Tuesday to impose more stringent bail conditions and harsher sentencing guidelines on violent crimes. While supporters welcome the enactment, critics question the law’s effectiveness and warn of worsening pre-trial jail conditions.

The Bail and Sentencing Reform Act made over 80 changes to the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and the National Defence Act. The core modification introduces a reverse onus for violent offenses, placing the burden of proof on the accused to secure bail. In other words, alleged violent offenders must persuade the court that granting bail will not be detrimental to public safety and confidence in the administration of justice. The act clarifies the Supreme Court of Canada’s principle of restraint–which favors releasing an accused person at the earliest opportunity with minimal bail conditions–does not mandate release if public safety justifies their detention.

The act also contains tougher sentencing guidelines, including the imposition of consecutive sentences for violent crimes, extortion, and arson. Under the amended Section 742.1 of the Criminal Code, sentencing justices cannot knock down a jail sentence of less than two years into a house arrest if the case concerns sexual assault or child sexual offenses. In addition, it restores driving prohibition as an available sentence upon the conviction of negligent driving causing death. In 2024, the high court removed the sentence because it was inconsistent with the simplified driving offense scheme the legislature sought to implement.

Passing the act, the House of Commons rejected a Senate committee recommendation to soften the bill by allowing judicial discretion on bail sureties.

Law enforcement welcomed the enactment. Tom Stamatakis, the president of the Canadian Police Association, said:

Bill C-14 is a meaningful and necessary step toward addressing the impact that serious, repeat violent offenders are having on community safety, on victims, and on the police personnel who respond when these individuals reoffend… Canadians need to see a justice system that prioritizes public safety, supports victims, and responds effectively when a small number of individuals repeatedly commit serious violent offenses.

In Tuesday’s press conference, the federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser said that ending violent crimes in the long term requires affordable housing, mental health and addictions programs, and programs helping at-risk youths, amongst other supportive measures. Upon its enactment, he also urged provincial governments to strengthen national bail data collection, reporting and analysis to identify gaps.

The call for enhanced national data collection directly addresses the efficacy concerns raised by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association during parliamentary deliberations on Bill C-14. The group warned that there was no statistical proof on the effectiveness of the stringent bail conditions in reducing re-offending. The group also raised concerns about terrible pre-trial conditions across the country, which constituted unjustified treatment and raised the risk of wrongful convictions.

The act responds to an appeal from frontline law enforcement officers in Ontario. It followed a high-profile November 2024 shootout in the province, in which officers were caught in the crossfire.