Charges · Breach of conditions · Ontario
What happens after a breach of release conditions charge in Ontario?
What it means, what usually happens next, and what to bring to the first call.
Or chat by textAfter a breach of release conditions charge in Ontario, the person faces a second charge — failure to comply — alongside the original one, and often a new bail hearing. A breach is a missed curfew, contact the order forbade, or a place the person was told not to be.
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In short
- Breaking a condition — contacting someone you were told not to, missing a curfew, being somewhere you were told not to be — is a new criminal charge on its own, even if the original charge is later dropped.
- A breach becomes part of the record a court has in front of it at any later bail hearing.
- Police can arrest for a breach, and a new bail hearing may follow.
What usually happens next
- Step 1
The allegation Police believe you broke a release condition (for example a curfew, no-contact or stay-away condition). That is a separate criminal charge: failing to comply.
- Step 2
Arrest or release Police may arrest you, or release you with a court date.
- Step 3
Your first release can be cancelled The Crown can ask the court to cancel the release you were already on.
- Step 4
Bail is harder When you’re accused of breaching while on release, the bail hearing is usually “reverse onus”: you must show why you should be released again, often with a stronger plan.
- Step 5
Two cases, one set of conditions The breach charge and your original charge both continue in court. Every condition still applies until a court changes it.
What should you bring to the first call?
What do we see with breach of conditions charges?
Most breaches are small on paper — a text, a curfew missed by twenty minutes, a visit to an address that was off-limits — and large in effect, because the court now has a second file. When you call, the first question is what the original condition said, word for word. Someone answers at any hour; the file opens while you talk.
What do people ask about breach of conditions charges?
What does “fail to comply” mean?
“Fail to comply” means the police say you broke a rule on your release paper.
What usually happens after a breach charge?
At that hearing the earlier breach is part of the record the court considers. Some breaches are handled by a judicial referral hearing instead of a new charge. A lawyer’s first job is the bail, the second is the reason for the breach.
What happens if someone misses a court date while on bail?
If a person misses a scheduled court date, the court can issue a warrant for their arrest, and this is treated as a breach of their release conditions.
What should I bring?
Bring every paper the police gave you (release order, undertaking, appearance notice); photo ID; the names of anyone who saw what happened; records that explain how the condition came to be missed — a work schedule, messages, evidence the other person made contact first.
Who prosecutes this charge in Ontario?
In Ontario, a Crown attorney from Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General prosecutes this charge, and the case starts in the Ontario Court of Justice. Jury trials in Ontario are held in the Superior Court of Justice.
Is there a diversion program in Ontario?
Ontario’s Crown Prosecution Manual names the Direct Accountability Program, in place in most Ontario jurisdictions, as one community justice program. In Ontario the prosecutor decides whether a case is referred, and only where there is a reasonable prospect of conviction. A person in it must accept responsibility for what led to the charge and be prepared to make meaningful amends.
Who speaks for the prosecution at a bail hearing in Ontario?
Most bail hearings in Ontario are held in the Ontario Court of Justice, with a Crown attorney speaking for the prosecution.
Sources
- Criminal Code (Canada), ss. 145, 523.1, accessed September 22, 2026
- Ontario Court of Justice, breach and judicial referral hearings, accessed September 22, 2026
- Steps to Justice (CLEO), accessed September 22, 2026
- Ontario Crown Prosecution Manual — D. 4 Community Justice Programs for Adults, accessed September 22, 2026
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