Life imprisonment in Canada

Life imprisonment in Canada is a criminal sentence for certain offences.

Mandatory life sentence

High treason and first degree murder carry a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with a full parole ineligibility period of 25 years. Previously, in the case of high treason or first-degree murder (where the offender has been convicted of a single murder) offenders could have their parole ineligibility period reduced to no less than 15 years under the Faint hope clause. However, this option under the Criminal Code was ended by Act of Parliament, effective as of December 2011.

Second degree murder

Second degree murder also carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with a parole ineligibility period of between 10 years and 25 years. Courts will determine the parole ineligibility period based on the gravity of the offence. Contrary to common belief, public safety plays a lesser role given the fact that the offender will be subject to a life sentence and the Parole Board of Canada will presumably assess the present danger posed by the offender at the time of a parole application.

The above penalties for murder apply when an offender is:

convicted of a single murder
convicted of multiple murders, but not sentenced to a parole ineligibility period greater than 25 years

An offender who falls into (2) above, and who committed at least 2 (first or second-degree) murders after the Protecting Canadians by Ending Sentence Discounts for Multiple Murders Act^[1] came into effect, may, after a jury recommendation, be ordered by the trial judge to serve greater than 25 years of a life sentence before being eligible to apply for full parole. This provision has already been applied in the cases of Travis Baumgartner^[2] Justin Bourque,^[3] Christopher Husbands^[4] and John Paul Ostamas,^[5] sentenced to parole ineligibility terms of 40, 75, 30 and 75 years, respectively.

There is no guarantee that parole will be granted to an offender. If the Parole Board of Canada determines that an offender still poses a risk to society, that person may be detained in prison past the parole eligibility period.^[6]

Dangerous offender

The courts may apply a dangerous offender designation in non-murder cases, which is in fact an indeterminate sentence: no minimum and no maximum, but a parole review occurs after 7 years and every 2 years after that. The dangerous offender provision is reserved for the most serious offences and, in violent non-murder cases, is more likely to be used than a sentence of life imprisonment.

See: Dangerous offender designation in Canada.

Other offences

Offences under the Criminal Code of Canada that carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment in Canada (with a parole ineligibility period of between 7 years and 25 years) include treason, piracy, mutiny, hijacking, endangering the safety of an aircraft or an airport, endangering the safety of a ship or fixed platform, robbery, kidnapping, attempted murder, accessory after the fact to murder, conspiracy to commit murder, manslaughter, causing death by street racing, impaired driving causing death, causing death by criminal negligence, killing an unborn child in the act of birth, and aggravated sexual assault.

Under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, trafficking, exporting or production of schedule I or II substances also carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment with a parole ineligibility period of between 7 years and 25 years.

Current sentencing practices ensure that, except in the case of murder, a life sentence is rarely imposed, even when the offender is found guilty for particularly grievous offences. One common exception are cases which involve terrorism-related conspiracies. ^[7]^[8] ^[9]

As of 2013, 4,800 offenders were serving life sentences in Canada, though only 2,880 (around 60%) were incarcerated (the remainder being on parole). The vast majority of these offenders (about 96%) were serving their sentences for murder. "Lifers" constituted 23% of the federal offender population.^[10]

References

External links

Life Sentences and Section 745.6 of the Criminal Code Department of Justice (Canada)

Life imprisonment in North America

Sovereign states	Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States

Dependencies and other territories	Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Turks and Caicos Islands United States Virgin Islands

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