An Act to amend the Criminal Code (violent home invasion)

This bill creates a new, specific criminal offence in the Criminal Code called "violent home invasion." Currently, breaking into a home is covered under general offences like breaking and entering, and violence during a home invasion is treated as an aggravating factor when sentencing for those existing crimes. This bill goes further by making violent home invasion its own standalone crime.

Under the new offence, a person commits "violent home invasion" if they enter or are present in a home without legal excuse, knowing (or not caring) that someone is inside, and while doing so they intimidate someone, use or threaten violence against a person or property, cause bodily harm or property damage, forcibly confine or seize a person, or carry, use, or threaten to use a weapon (real or fake). Anyone convicted of this new offence faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, with a maximum of life imprisonment.

The bill also updates related parts of the Criminal Code to fit this new offence into the existing legal system. It keeps violent home invasion as an aggravating factor for sentencing on related break-in offences, adds the new offence to the list of "primary designated offences" (which affects things like DNA sample collection), and adds it to the list of offences that affect bail decisions, meaning it could make it harder for someone charged with this crime to be released on bail before trial.

This bill creates a new Criminal Code offence of "violent home invasion," sets a mandatory prison term for it, and attaches it to existing DNA-collection and bail provisions.

• New offence — Section 349.1 makes it an indictable offence to enter or be in a dwelling-house without lawful excuse, knowing or reckless as to whether it is occupied, while also intimidating or threatening someone, causing bodily harm or property damage, confining or seizing a person, or carrying/using/threatening a weapon.
• Penalty — Conviction carries a maximum of life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum of five years, removing judicial discretion to impose a lesser sentence.
• Sentencing for related offences — For convictions under certain existing offences (sections 98, 98.1, 279(2), 343, 346, 348) involving a dwelling-house, courts must treat a finding of "violent home invasion" as an aggravating factor when setting the sentence.
• DNA data bank inclusion — The new offence is added to the list of "primary designated offences" under section 487.04, meaning a conviction can trigger mandatory collection of the offender's DNA for the national data bank.
• Bail provisions — The offence is added to the list in section 515(6)(a), which reverses the usual bail presumption: an accused charged under section 349.1 must show cause why they should be released rather than the Crown having to justify detention.
• Oversight — The bill contains no review clause, reporting requirement, or sunset provision; the offence and penalties would stand as permanent Criminal Code law unless amended again by Parliament.