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Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46)

Full Document:  

Act current to 2024-02-20 and last amended on 2024-01-14. Previous Versions

PART IIOffences Against Public Order (continued)

Sedition (continued)

Marginal note:Punishment of seditious offences

 Every one who

  • (a) speaks seditious words,

  • (b) publishes a seditious libel, or

  • (c) is a party to a seditious conspiracy,

is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.

  • R.S., c. C-34, s. 62

Marginal note:Offences in relation to military forces

  •  (1) Every person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years or is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction who intentionally

    • (a) interferes with, impairs or influences the loyalty or discipline of a member of a force,

    • (b) publishes, edits, issues, circulates or distributes a writing that advises, counsels or urges insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny or refusal of duty by a member of a force, or

    • (c) advises, counsels, urges or in any manner causes insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny or refusal of duty by a member of a force.

  • Definition of member of a force

    (2) In this section, member of a force means a member of

    • (a) the Canadian Forces; or

    • (b) the naval, army or air forces of a state other than Canada that are lawfully present in Canada.

Unlawful Assemblies and Riots

Marginal note:Unlawful assembly

  •  (1) An unlawful assembly is an assembly of three or more persons who, with intent to carry out any common purpose, assemble in such a manner or so conduct themselves when they are assembled as to cause persons in the neighbourhood of the assembly to fear, on reasonable grounds, that they

    • (a) will disturb the peace tumultuously; or

    • (b) will by that assembly needlessly and without reasonable cause provoke other persons to disturb the peace tumultuously.

  • Marginal note:Lawful assembly becoming unlawful

    (2) Persons who are lawfully assembled may become an unlawful assembly if they conduct themselves with a common purpose in a manner that would have made the assembly unlawful if they had assembled in that manner for that purpose.

  • Marginal note:Exception

    (3) Persons are not unlawfully assembled by reason only that they are assembled to protect the dwelling-house of any one of them against persons who are threatening to break and enter it for the purpose of committing an indictable offence therein.

  • R.S., c. C-34, s. 64

Marginal note:Riot

 A riot is an unlawful assembly that has begun to disturb the peace tumultuously.

  • R.S., c. C-34, s. 65

Marginal note:Punishment of rioter

  •  (1) Every person who takes part in a riot is guilty of

    • (a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years; or

    • (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

  • Marginal note:Concealment of identity

    (2) Every person who commits an offence under subsection (1) while wearing a mask or other disguise to conceal their identity without lawful excuse is guilty of

    • (a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years; or

    • (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

Marginal note:Punishment for unlawful assembly

  •  (1) Every one who is a member of an unlawful assembly is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

  • Marginal note:Concealment of identity

    (2) Every person who commits an offence under subsection (1) while wearing a mask or other disguise to conceal their identity without lawful excuse is guilty of

    • (a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years; or

    • (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

  • R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 66
  • 2013, c. 15, s. 3

Marginal note:Reading proclamation

 A person who is

  • (a) a justice, mayor or sheriff, or the lawful deputy of a mayor or sheriff,

  • (b) a warden or deputy warden of a prison, or

  • (c) the institutional head of a penitentiary, as those expressions are defined in subsection 2(1) of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, or that person’s deputy,

who receives notice that, at any place within the jurisdiction of the person, twelve or more persons are unlawfully and riotously assembled together shall go to that place and, after approaching as near as is safe, if the person is satisfied that a riot is in progress, shall command silence and thereupon make or cause to be made in a loud voice a proclamation in the following words or to the like effect:

Her Majesty the Queen charges and commands all persons being assembled immediately to disperse and peaceably to depart to their habitations or to their lawful business on the pain of being guilty of an offence for which, on conviction, they may be sentenced to imprisonment for life. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.

  • R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 67
  • 1994, c. 44, s. 5

Marginal note:Offences related to proclamation

 Every one is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life who

  • (a) opposes, hinders or assaults, wilfully and with force, a person who begins to make or is about to begin to make or is making the proclamation referred to in section 67 so that it is not made;

  • (b) does not peaceably disperse and depart from a place where the proclamation referred to in section 67 is made within thirty minutes after it is made; or

  • (c) does not depart from a place within thirty minutes when he has reasonable grounds to believe that the proclamation referred to in section 67 would have been made in that place if some person had not opposed, hindered or assaulted, wilfully and with force, a person who would have made it.

  • R.S., c. C-34, s. 69

Marginal note:Neglect by peace officer

 A peace officer who receives notice that there is a riot within their jurisdiction and, without reasonable excuse, fails to take all reasonable steps to suppress the riot is guilty of

  • (a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years; or

  • (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

Unlawful Drilling

Marginal note:Orders by Governor in Council

  •  (1) The Governor in Council may, by proclamation, make orders

    • (a) to prohibit assemblies, without lawful authority, of persons for the purpose

      • (i) of training or drilling themselves,

      • (ii) of being trained or drilled to the use of arms, or

      • (iii) of practising military exercises; or

    • (b) to prohibit persons when assembled for any purpose from training or drilling themselves or from being trained or drilled.

  • Marginal note:General or special order

    (2) An order that is made under subsection (1) may be general or may be made applicable to particular places, districts or assemblies to be specified in the order.

  • Marginal note:Punishment

    (3) Every person who contravenes an order made under this section is guilty of

    • (a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years; or

    • (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

Duels

 [Repealed, 2018, c. 29, s. 4]

Forcible Entry and Detainer

Marginal note:Forcible entry

  •  (1) A person commits forcible entry when that person enters real property that is in the actual and peaceable possession of another in a manner that is likely to cause a breach of the peace or reasonable apprehension of a breach of the peace.

  • Marginal note:Matters not material

    (1.1) For the purposes of subsection (1), it is immaterial whether or not a person is entitled to enter the real property or whether or not that person has any intention of taking possession of the real property.

  • Marginal note:Forcible detainer

    (2) A person commits forcible detainer when, being in actual possession of real property without colour of right, he detains it in a manner that is likely to cause a breach of the peace or reasonable apprehension of a breach of the peace, against a person who is entitled by law to possession of it.

  • Marginal note:Questions of law

    (3) The questions whether a person is in actual and peaceable possession or is in actual possession without colour of right are questions of law.

  • R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 72
  • R.S., 1985, c. 27 (1st Supp.), s. 10
  • 1992, c. 1, s. 60(F)

Marginal note:Punishment

 Every person who commits forcible entry or forcible detainer is guilty of

  • (a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years; or

  • (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

  • R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 73
  • R.S., 1985, c. 27 (1st Supp.), s. 11
  • 1992, c. 1, s. 58
  • 2019, c. 25, s. 13

Piracy

Marginal note:Piracy by law of nations

  •  (1) Every one commits piracy who does any act that, by the law of nations, is piracy.

  • Marginal note:Punishment

    (2) Every one who commits piracy while in or out of Canada is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life.

  • R.S., c. C-34, s. 75
  • 1974-75-76, c. 105, s. 3

Marginal note:Piratical acts

 Every one who, while in or out of Canada,

  • (a) steals a Canadian ship,

  • (b) steals or without lawful authority throws overboard, damages or destroys anything that is part of the cargo, supplies or fittings in a Canadian ship,

  • (c) does or attempts to do a mutinous act on a Canadian ship, or

  • (d) counsels a person to do anything mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c),

is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.

  • R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 75
  • R.S., 1985, c. 27 (1st Supp.), s. 7

Offences against Air or Maritime Safety

Marginal note:Hijacking

 Every one who, unlawfully, by force or threat thereof, or by any other form of intimidation, seizes or exercises control of an aircraft with intent

  • (a) to cause any person on board the aircraft to be confined or imprisoned against his will,

  • (b) to cause any person on board the aircraft to be transported against his will to any place other than the next scheduled place of landing of the aircraft,

  • (c) to hold any person on board the aircraft for ransom or to service against his will, or

  • (d) to cause the aircraft to deviate in a material respect from its flight plan,

is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life.

  • 1972, c. 13, s. 6

Marginal note:Endangering safety of aircraft or airport

 Every one who

  • (a) on board an aircraft in flight, commits an act of violence against a person that is likely to endanger the safety of the aircraft,

  • (b) using a weapon, commits an act of violence against a person at an airport serving international civil aviation that causes or is likely to cause serious injury or death and that endangers or is likely to endanger safety at the airport,

  • (c) causes damage to an aircraft in service that renders the aircraft incapable of flight or that is likely to endanger the safety of the aircraft in flight,

  • (d) places or causes to be placed on board an aircraft in service anything that is likely to cause damage to the aircraft, that will render it incapable of flight or that is likely to endanger the safety of the aircraft in flight,

  • (e) causes damage to or interferes with the operation of any air navigation facility where the damage or interference is likely to endanger the safety of an aircraft in flight,

  • (f) using a weapon, substance or device, destroys or causes serious damage to the facilities of an airport serving international civil aviation or to any aircraft not in service located there, or causes disruption of services of the airport, that endangers or is likely to endanger safety at the airport, or

  • (g) endangers the safety of an aircraft in flight by communicating to any other person any information that the person knows to be false,

is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life.

  • R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 77
  • 1993, c. 7, s. 3

Marginal note:Offensive weapons and explosive substances

  •  (1) Every one, other than a peace officer engaged in the execution of his duty, who takes on board a civil aircraft an offensive weapon or any explosive substance

    • (a) without the consent of the owner or operator of the aircraft or of a person duly authorized by either of them to consent thereto, or

    • (b) with the consent referred to in paragraph (a) but without complying with all terms and conditions on which the consent was given,

    is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.

  • Definition of civil aircraft

    (2) For the purposes of this section, civil aircraft means all aircraft other than aircraft operated by the Canadian Forces, a police force in Canada or persons engaged in the administration or enforcement of the Customs Act, the Excise Act or the Excise Act, 2001.

  • R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 78
  • R.S., 1985, c. 1 (2nd Supp.), s. 213
  • 2002, c. 22, s. 325
 

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