Eight months into waiting for trial, a man out on bail with a 10 p.m. curfew takes a late shift to cover for a coworker. He gets home at 10:40, and as it happens, that’s the night police do a compliance check at his door. By the end of the week he’s facing a new charge that has nothing to do with the original allegation and everything to do with forty minutes.
That’s how a lot of breach of bail charges look. They’re rarely dramatic. A missed curfew, a text to someone on the no-contact list, a beer at a barbecue when the release says no alcohol, or bumping into the complainant at a grocery store in the same neighbourhood. The breach can seem small, but the consequences often aren’t.
If you’ve been charged with breach of bail in Toronto, the new charge and its effect on your existing release are two separate problems, and both need attention quickly.
What the charge actually is
Failing to comply with a release order falls under section 145 of the Criminal Code. It’s a hybrid offence, which means the Crown chooses whether to proceed summarily or by indictment. On indictment the maximum is two years in jail. On summary conviction it’s up to two years less a day and a fine. Either way, a conviction leaves a criminal record of its own, separate from whatever happens with the original charge.
The Crown has to prove you knew about the condition and didn’t comply with it. It also has to deal with whether you had a reasonable excuse. Illness, a genuine emergency, a transit breakdown or an accidental encounter you walked away from can all matter, as can conditions that were vague or that you honestly misunderstood.
The bigger problem: your existing bail
This is the part people tend not to see coming. A breach charge usually puts your release on the original matter back in play. Police can arrest you, and you may be brought before the court for a new bail hearing on everything.
At that hearing the usual starting point can flip. Normally the Crown has to justify keeping someone in custody. Where a person is charged with breaching a release while already out on bail, the law often puts the onus on the accused instead, so you have to show why you should be released again. That’s a harder argument to win, and it’s one reason a breach that looks minor can end with someone sitting in custody for weeks while their original case grinds on.
Even when release is granted again, the conditions tend to get tighter. A bigger surety, a stricter curfew or house arrest conditions are all common outcomes, and each future bail hearing gets harder with a breach conviction on the record.
What happens to your surety
If someone signed as your surety, usually a parent, partner or friend who pledged an amount of money and promised to supervise you, a breach puts them in an awkward spot too. Sureties can be called to explain what they knew and what they did about it, and in some cases the court can order them to pay some or all of the amount they pledged. Plenty of sureties also decide they can’t keep doing it, which leaves you needing someone new before you can be released again.
Common breaches in Toronto cases
Breach allegations come up especially often in domestic assault and criminal harassment cases, where the conditions tend to be strict and the people involved often share friends, family or a neighbourhood.
- Getting home after curfew.
- Contact with someone on the no-contact list.
- Going into a no-go area.
- Drinking with a no-alcohol condition.
- Moving without permission.
- Missing a reporting date.
The no-contact cases are the trickiest. A message sent through a friend, a reply to a text the other person started, or a social media like can all be treated as contact, even when it felt harmless at the time.
How these charges get resolved
Not every breach ends in a conviction. Depending on the facts, the evidence and your record, outcomes range from a withdrawal or a peace bond through to a discharge, a suspended sentence or, at the serious end, jail. The original charge matters too, since the two cases are often negotiated together, and a breach that gets withdrawn as part of resolving the main matter is a fairly common result.
Courts also have a process called a judicial referral hearing, which lets a judge deal with some breaches without a new criminal charge, often by adjusting the bail conditions. Whether that’s available depends on the circumstances, including whether anyone was harmed or put at risk.
What to do right now
Don’t contact anyone named in your conditions to explain, even if you think it would help. Write down exactly what happened, with times, and keep any proof, such as a work schedule, a receipt or a phone record, that backs up a reasonable excuse. If your conditions are unworkable, for example a curfew that clashes with your job, the answer is to ask to vary them, with the Crown’s consent or through the court, before something goes wrong.
Then get advice before you go back to court. Legal Solutions Law Firm handles bail hearings and breach charges across Toronto and the GTA, including emergency bail hearings, with phone lines open 24 hours a day. The first consultation is free and confidential, and the firm charges flat fees rather than hourly rates.
Forty minutes past a curfew shouldn’t cost someone months in custody, and with the right preparation it often doesn’t.
This article is general information and isn’t legal advice for any particular case.