Keeping Violent Offenders Off the Streets

Our govt is investing $112 million dollars to keep violent repeat offenders off the street. This will strengthen bail compliance, and ensure that high-risk and repeated offenders comply with their bail conditions.

This $112 million investment will help keep our communities safe by:

  • The creation of a new Bail Compliance and Warrant Apprehension Grant
    • $24 million will be made available over three years to help the OPP and municipal and First Nations police services establish dedicated bail compliance teams. Teams will also assist prosecutors with gathering evidence and assessing public safety risks during the bail hearing stage.
  • Support New Technology
    • Grant funding may also be used to acquire bail compliance technology or support a network that police services could use to share bail offender information.
  • Expansion of the OPP Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (ROPE) Squad
    • $48 million to create a dedicated Bail Compliance Unit within the OPP’s Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement Squad. This new dedicated, provincewide, Bail Compliance Unit will apprehend high-risk provincial offenders who have broken their bail conditions or are unlawfully at large.
  • Establishment of Intensive Serious Violent Crime Bail Teams
    • $26 million to create Intensive Serious Violent Crime Bail Teams within the court system to ensure that there are dedicated prosecutors and subject matter experts to prepare for and properly conduct the often lengthy and complex bail hearings.
  • Rollout of the Bail Compliance Dashboard
    • A new provincewide bail monitoring system to allow police services to monitor high-risk offenders with the most accurate data possible

Quick Facts

  • On March 10, 2023, federal, provincial, and territorial Attorneys General Ministers of Justice, and Ministers of Public Safety met to discuss Canada’s bail system. The federal government agreed to take action through amendments to the Criminal Code that would target repeat violent offenders and serious offences committed with firearms and other dangerous weapons.
  • Ontario experienced a 57 percent increase in serious violence and weapons cases before the courts between 2018 and 2021. (Ontario Court of Justice)
  • Toronto Police Service reports that over the last two years in the city of Toronto, 17 percent of accused charged with shooting-related homicides were already out on firearms bail at the time of the alleged fatal shooting.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS