Chamber
commons
Stage
2nd Reading
Introduced
Sep 22, 2025
Progress
This bill makes it harder for people charged with serious violent crimes to get bail in Canada.
Key Changes
- Replaces the 'principle of restraint' in bail decisions with 'protection and safety of the public' as the primary consideration
- Creates a new category of 'major offences' (serious violent crimes) where accused persons cannot be released by police and must appear before a judge
- Adds many violent offences (e.g., attempted murder, sexual assault, kidnapping, arson, robbery) to the reverse-onus list, where the accused must justify their release
- Requires mandatory detention pending a superior court bail hearing for repeat major offence accused who were already on bail for a major offence and have a prior major offence conviction within 10 years
- Requires non-citizens and non-permanent residents to surrender all passports as a mandatory condition of release
- Prohibits anyone convicted of an indictable offence in the last 10 years from serving as a surety
- Lowers the standard for detaining someone on public safety grounds from 'substantial likelihood' to 'reasonably foreseeable' that they will reoffend
- Requires the Minister of Justice to table an annual report in Parliament on the state of judicial interim release in Canada
Gotchas
- The shift from 'substantial likelihood' to 'reasonably foreseeable' lowers the legal threshold for keeping someone in custody, which could result in more people being detained before trial, including those who are ultimately acquitted.
- The mandatory passport surrender for non-citizens and non-permanent residents applies regardless of the nature of the offence, which could raise concerns about differential treatment based on immigration status.
- The bill's annual reporting requirement includes data on 'disparities between different groups,' which implicitly acknowledges that bail outcomes may not be equal across racial, Indigenous, or socioeconomic groups — but the bill does not include specific measures to address such disparities.
- Prohibiting anyone with an indictable conviction in the last 10 years from being a surety could make it harder for accused persons from communities with higher conviction rates to find eligible sureties, potentially increasing pre-trial detention.
- The bill is a Private Member's Bill introduced by Mr. Khanna, meaning it does not have guaranteed government support and may face a longer or uncertain path to becoming law.
Who's Affected
- People charged with serious violent criminal offences
- Repeat offenders with prior convictions for major offences
- Non-citizens and non-permanent residents charged with offences
- People who previously acted or wished to act as sureties but have indictable convictions
- Victims of violent crime
- Police officers and justices of the peace involved in bail decisions
- Superior court judges, who would handle more bail hearings under this bill
- First responders (firefighters, paramedics, EMTs), who are explicitly named in the bill as a protected class
Vibes
0 responses
Gotchas
- The shift from 'substantial likelihood' to 'reasonably foreseeable' lowers the legal threshold for keeping someone in custody, which could result in more people being detained before trial, including those who are ultimately acquitted.
- The mandatory passport surrender for non-citizens and non-permanent residents applies regardless of the nature of the offence, which could raise concerns about differential treatment based on immigration status.
- The bill's annual reporting requirement includes data on 'disparities between different groups,' which implicitly acknowledges that bail outcomes may not be equal across racial, Indigenous, or socioeconomic groups — but the bill does not include specific measures to address such disparities.
- Prohibiting anyone with an indictable conviction in the last 10 years from being a surety could make it harder for accused persons from communities with higher conviction rates to find eligible sureties, potentially increasing pre-trial detention.
- The bill is a Private Member's Bill introduced by Mr. Khanna, meaning it does not have guaranteed government support and may face a longer or uncertain path to becoming law.
Summary
Bill C-242, called the 'Jail Not Bail Act,' proposes major changes to Canada's bail system. It shifts the guiding principle from 'restraint' (releasing people unless there's a reason not to) to 'protection of the public' as the top priority. It expands the list of serious offences where the accused must prove why they should be released (called reverse-onus), rather than the Crown proving why they should be held. The bill creates a new category called 'major offences,' which includes serious violent crimes. People charged with a major offence cannot be released by a police officer after arrest — they must go before a judge. If someone is charged with a major offence while already out on bail for another major offence, and they have a prior conviction for a major offence within the last 10 years, only a superior court judge can decide whether to release them, and the default is detention. The bill also introduces new rules for non-citizens and non-permanent residents, requiring them to surrender their passports as a condition of release. It prohibits anyone convicted of an indictable offence in the last 10 years from acting as a surety (someone who vouches for an accused). It also requires the Minister of Justice to publish an annual report on bail outcomes in Canada.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
0 responses
Recorded Votes
| Date | Description | Yeas | Nays | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 25, 2026 | 2nd reading of Bill C-242, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Department of Justice Act | 136 | 193 | Negatived |
| Oct 6, 2025 | Opposition Motion (Passage of Bill C-242) | 142 | 196 | Negatived |