As a part of its ongoing work to protect Ontario communities, the Ontario government will soon introduce legislation that would require an accused person or their surety to provide a cash security deposit in the full amount ordered by the court. This initiative would improve bail compliance, keep violent, repeat offenders behind bars and make it easier for the province to collect forfeited bail payments when bail conditions are violated.
"For too long, the broken bail system has allowed violent and repeat offenders back on our streets, putting innocent people at risk," said Attorney General Doug Downey. "That's why our government is taking action and delivering on our promise to fix the bail system by making bail more real and consequential for people accused of serious crimes. It's the latest step in our work to keep our streets and communities safe."
Currently, if the court orders release on a promise to pay, no cash deposit is required. In this event, a surety (a person who has agreed to ensure that an accused person follows their bail conditions) and/or accused person does not have to pay the amount pledged unless the accused person does not follow the terms of their release and the court orders payment. This creates potential challenges related to the collection of forfeited bail payments, including time and resources that must be expended in order to collect payments.
Under the proposed new system, a cash security deposit in the full amount ordered by the court would be required once the accused person is released from custody. If the accused person follows the terms of their release, the deposit would be returned when the case concludes or the surety's obligations end. If bail conditions are not met, the money would be automatically recovered upon being ordered forfeited by the court.
To help make bail real and consequential, the government is also proposing to follow up on previous amendments to the Bail Act to improve the collection and administration of bail debts by requiring sureties to provide up-to-date information so the province can collect forfeited bail money more easily. Other proposed measures would enhance collection tools for garnishing wages, seizure and sale of property and property liens for accused and surety bail debts. These collection tools would be needed if cash bail security is not complied with.
"By strengthening Ontario's bail system, we're taking decisive action to protect our communities from violent, repeat offenders," said Solicitor General Michael Kerzner. "Our government is backing that commitment with record investments to build new correctional facilities, expand capacity and ensure there is always space to keep dangerous criminal behind bars."
As part of a comprehensive bail reform strategy, these new measures would enhance digital tools to track repeat offenders and those not in compliance with bail conditions. This would include the creation of a surety database to help streamline and enhance surety checks. There have been cases where sureties have failed to report when the accused person they are supervising has breached their bail conditions, or where the same surety has proposed themselves for multiple accused persons simultaneously. The creation of a surety database would help hold sureties accountable, improve efficiency, increase public safety and strengthen information sharing between police services by allowing police to access data collected by other jurisdictions. It would also provide a centralized repository for information supplied to police by prosecutors, ensuring that critical details are consistently available for bail hearings and subsequent proceedings.
The strategy would also expand bail prosecution teams. These teams are made up of dedicated prosecutors who partner with provincial and local police services to prepare the strongest possible cases in bail hearings involving serious and violent crimes, with the intent of keeping violent, repeat offenders behind bars. Since 2023, they have effectively managed over 4,100 serious violent cases at the bail stage.
"Violent, repeat offenders continue to put our communities at risk, and that's why we're taking decisive action to stop it," said Zee Hamid, Associate Solicitor General. "These new tools will give law enforcement and courts the resources they need to get tough on crime and Protect Ontario. Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government will continue to push the federal government to do the right thing and enact meaningful bail and sentencing reform."
The Ontario government is also continuing to make historic investments to ensure no violent, repeat offender is ever released due to a lack of space in adult correctional institutions. These investments include adding permanent beds and retrofitting, repairing and reopening former correctional institutions.
Quick Facts
- In 2024, Ontario announced an investment of $24 million over three years to help prevent repeat and violent offenders from committing serious crimes while out on bail through the Bail Compliance and Warrant Apprehension (BCWA) Grant. The BCWA Grant program is part of a $112 million investment to strengthen the province's bail system and ensure high-risk and repeat violent offenders comply with their bail conditions.
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