Justice Minister Sean Fraser says federal bail and sentencing reform that will target the “most frequent” issues seen across the country is now law.
The Bail and Sentencing Reform Act received royal assent Monday evening and creates 80 changes surrounding bail and sentencing to the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) and the National Defence Act.
Among the changes is a new reverse onus for several offences that require the accused to prove why they should be released on bail, expanding the reverse onus to cover offenders with previous convictions within the previous 10 years and consecutive sentences for repeat violent offenders in certain cases.
In addition, the new law also requires courts to impose weapons restrictions and other stricter conditions for certain offences — including auto theft and organized crime — and “consider whether the allegations involve random or unprovoked violence when making any bail decision.”
Repeat violent offenders will also face aggravating factors that can increase their sentence under the legislation.
Get breaking National news
“This is a piece of legislation that is part of the government’s public safety strategy designed to make communities across this country safer,” Fraser said to reporters on Parliament Hill Tuesday afternoon.
“It has a unique focus, of course, on both bail and sentencing, with specific measures that are designed to target some of the most frequent causes of concern we hear in our engagement with communities across Canada, whether that’s auto theft or home invasion, whether it’s extortion, whether it is trafficking or whether it is assault or sexual assault.”
- Minister says MPs must ‘choose’ victims by fast-tracking lawful access bill
- B.C. councillor says George Massey Tunnel replacement one of the biggest ‘boondoggles’
- Ford calls poll that ranked him as Canada’s least popular premier ‘fake’
- LeBlanc meets U.S. trade rep at G7, says talks not a ‘one-way conversation’
Fraser also stated that direct financial support will be provided to provincial governments “to help better collect data in a standardized way when it comes to bail systems in this country.”
In addition, Fraser said he is speaking with provincial governments to fill two dozen job vacancies for judges that are currently empty, but is allowing provinces to make their own decisions regarding the capacity needed to deal with those who will be incarcerated.
“I would be careful not to paint all provinces and territories with a single brush because they’re in unique sets of circumstances that don’t necessarily reflect the experience of one province in a neighbouring province,” he said.
The Liberals tabled the bill on Oct. 23, 2025, after Fraser said on the same day that the “sweeping reforms” came after “extensive consultations” with police, governments and community organizations.
I’ll believe it when I see the career criminal just down the street locked away permanently as he should be.
Does it tackle Judges giving more lenient convictions so the criminals can evade deportation for being criminals?
About time, we have gone too far with our concept of ‘justice for all’
Just glossing over the fact that the party of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in office for over 11 years, has allowed up to 2 dozen vacancies to go unfulfilled for how long?
How many backlogs are there? How many times have charges been dismissed over a courts failure to adjudicate their cases within prescribed time limits?
Beyond those 2 dozen, how many more do we need and how many courts are missing the appropriate number of courthouses to address these basic breeches in in our judicial syatem?
11 years of Liberals says I dunno…
The end of jail and bail… Great. I do hope it addresses those who commit crimes while out on bail. They should immediately get their bail revoked.
It’s also time to ‘revise’ the Youth Criminal Justice Act. At present those under 18 get a ‘free ride’ when they commit a crime. The amendment should make any major crime (murder, manslaughter, sexual assault, theft over $5,000, etc.) an automatic adult court charge. At present a youth guilty of a crime gets a clean record when they turn 18.