Jail Not Bail Act

# Summary of Bill C-242, the "Jail Not Bail Act"

This bill makes significant changes to Canada's bail (judicial interim release) system, making it harder for people accused of serious crimes to be released while awaiting trial.

**Shift in guiding principle:** Currently, the law tells police and judges to favour the least restrictive release option for accused persons (the "principle of restraint"). This bill replaces that with a "principle of public safety and protection," meaning the safety of the public becomes the primary consideration instead. Whether someone is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident—and their flight risk if not—also becomes a factor judges must weigh.

**New category of "major offences" and tougher rules:** The bill creates a list of "major offences" (serious violent crimes like murder, sexual assault, robbery, arson, and offences involving violence against police or first responders, among others). People arrested for a major offence can no longer be released directly by police—they must go before a court. If someone is charged with a major offence while already out on release for another major offence, and was convicted of a major offence within the past 10 years, only a superior court judge can decide on their release, and the accused bears the burden of proving they should not be detained. The bill also expands the existing list of offences where the accused (rather than the prosecution) must prove they deserve bail.

**Other new restrictions:** People convicted of an indictable offence within the past 10 years cannot act as a surety (the person who vouches for and supervises an accused on release). Anyone released who is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident must surrender their passport as a bail condition. If an accused is found guilty of an indictable offence but is still awaiting sentencing, their bail automatically ends and they must show cause why they shouldn't be detained. The legal test for denying bail is also changed: instead of asking whether there is a "substantial likelihood" the accused will reoffend or interfere with justice if released, the question becomes whether it is "reasonably foreseeable" that they will do so—a lower threshold—and the accused's criminal history must specifically be considered.

**Reporting requirement:** Separately, the bill requires the federal Minister of Justice to prepare and table an annual report to Parliament on how the bail system is working across Canada, including data on compliance with bail conditions, reoffending rates, and any disparities in access to bail between different groups.

This bill amends the Criminal Code and the Department of Justice Act to change how bail decisions are made, expand mandatory pre-trial detention, and impose new conditions on accused persons.

• Legal standard changed — the "principle of restraint" is replaced with a "principle of public safety and protection" as the primary consideration for peace officers, justices, and judges deciding on release; the threshold for denying bail changes from "substantial likelihood" of reoffending to "reasonably foreseeable" reoffending, and a person's criminal history must now be considered.
• New category of offences — a "major offence" list is created, drawing from existing violent reverse-onus offences; those charged with a major offence cannot be released by a peace officer after arrest and, if certain repeat conditions are met (a prior major-offence conviction within ten years plus a new major offence committed while on release), a justice must order detention with no discretion stated.
• Who decides — for accused persons charged with a major offence who meet the repeat-conditions above, only a superior court judge may determine release, on a reverse-onus basis (the accused must show cause why detention is not justified).
• Conditions on non-citizens — anyone who is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident must surrender all passports as a mandatory condition of release, whether released by police or by a justice; a justice must also consider whether such a person might try to leave the country.
• Restrictions on sureties — a person convicted of any indictable offence within the last ten years cannot be named as a surety for someone else's release.
• Reporting duty, no other oversight specified — the Minister of Justice must prepare and table an annual report in Parliament on judicial interim release, covering compliance, recidivism, effectiveness of conditions, and accessibility/disparities; the bill does not specify a review process, sunset clause, or appeal mechanism tied to these new detention rules themselves.