Sexual Assault Lawyer in Toronto

How a sexual assault charge works in Canada

The basic charge is sexual assault under section 271 of the Criminal Code. It is a hybrid offence, so the Crown decides whether to proceed summarily or by indictment, and that choice affects your sentencing range and whether you get to choose a jury.

• Summary conviction. No jury. For an offence committed on or after July 18, 2026, the maximum is two years less a day, up from 18 months, under the Protecting Victims Act. For older allegations, section 11(i) of the Charter gives you the lesser punishment.
• Indictment. Up to 10 years, and you choose a provincial court judge, a Superior Court judge alone, or a judge and jury (section 536).
• Complainant under 16. Up to 14 years with a one-year minimum on indictment, or two years less a day with a six-month minimum if the Crown proceeds summarily.
• Weapon, threats to a third party, bodily harm or choking (section 272): indictable only, up to 14 years, with minimums if a firearm is used. Aggravated sexual assault (section 273), meaning wounding, maiming, disfiguring or endangering life: up to life. With a complainant under 16, both carry up to life with a five-year minimum.

A preliminary inquiry exists only for offences punishable by 14 years or more (section 535), so an adult-complainant section 271 charge goes straight to trial. Since July 18, 2026, a judge must go below a mandatory minimum jail term where it would amount to cruel and unusual punishment for that offender (new section 718.4). For offences committed on or after July 15, 2026, a conditional sentence served in the community is no longer available for sexual assault prosecuted by indictment or for sections 272 and 273 (Bail and Sentencing Reform Act).

What consent means in a Canadian courtroom

Section 273.1 defines consent as the complainant’s voluntary agreement to the sexual activity in question, and it must be present at the time the activity takes place. There is also no consent where:

• someone other than the complainant expressed the agreement;
• the complainant was unconscious, or incapable of consenting for any other reason;
• the accused induced the complainant to take part by abusing a position of trust, power or authority;
• the complainant said or showed no, or agreed and then said or showed they did not want to continue.

You cannot treat silence, passivity or ambiguity as a yes, and implied consent “has no place in Canadian law” (R. v. Barton, 2019, following R. v. Ewanchuk, 1999). Consent must be ongoing and conscious while the activity happens (R. v. J.A., 2011, as described in the Justice Department’s Charter Statement on Bill C-51), and a belief in broad advance consent is no defence. Agreeing to sex only with a condom is not agreeing to sex without one (R. v. Kirkpatrick, 2022).

The mistaken belief defence is narrower than most people expect. Under section 273.2 it fails if your belief came from your own intoxication, recklessness or wilful blindness, if you did not take reasonable steps in the circumstances you knew of to check that the person was consenting, or if there is no evidence their agreement was affirmatively expressed by words or actively expressed by conduct.

The evidence rules that shape these trials, and what changed in July 2026

For any charge laid on or after July 18, 2026, the Protecting Victims Act rewrote the sexual history and private records rules. Older charges stay under the previous rules, including the sections 278.92 to 278.94 screening process upheld in R. v. J.J. (2022). Under the new rules (sections 276 to 278.38):

• Sexual history. The complainant’s other sexual activity, with you or anyone else, can never be used to suggest they were more likely to consent or less worthy of belief. Any other defence use needs a written application and affidavit filed at least 60 days before the hearing, unless the judge allows less. Sexual texts, emails and videos count.
• Private records you already have. Personal records about the complainant that carry a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as journals or private messages, need a judge’s ruling before they can be used, on a written application filed 60 days ahead. Therapy and counselling records come in only if they are likely to raise a reasonable doubt and no other evidence can.
• Records held by others. Counselling, medical or school files need a production application to the trial judge, served at least 60 days before the hearing. Saying the record exists, may hold an inconsistent statement or bears on credibility is not enough on its own.
• Delay. For offences committed on or after July 18, 2026, the time spent hearing a late-filed application does not count toward unreasonable delay.

Some things have not changed: no corroboration is required (section 274), the old “recent complaint” rules are gone (section 275), and on application the judge must ban publication of anything that could identify the complainant (section 486.4). Since July 18, 2026, even in cases already underway, a complainant who asks to testify with a support person or animal nearby, behind a screen or from outside the courtroom will generally get it, and a self-represented accused can be barred from cross-examining the complainant personally; a court-appointed lawyer does it instead (sections 486.1 to 486.3).

After an arrest in Toronto: police, bail and the courthouse

The detective who calls you may be from your local division or from the Toronto Police Sex Crimes unit, set up in 1989 for serious and serial cases. If you are asked to come in and give your side, speak to a lawyer first. On arrest or detention, police must tell you about your right to counsel, legal aid and duty counsel; if you ask for a lawyer, they must give you a reasonable chance to call and hold off questioning until you have (section 10(b) of the Charter).

If you are held for bail, the hearing is not downtown. Adult bail in Toronto, including weekends and holidays, runs out of the Toronto Regional Bail Centre at 2201 Finch Avenue West. Expect conditions such as no contact with the complainant, directly or indirectly, and staying away from places like their home or work; breaching one can cost you your release and bring a new charge (Justice Canada). Since July 15, 2026, if the Crown alleges you choked, suffocated or strangled the complainant, the onus reverses: you must show cause, by clearly demonstrating that your release plan addresses the risks (section 515(6), as amended).

After bail, the case moves to the Ontario Court of Justice at 10 Armoury Street, or to the Superior Court at 361 University Avenue if you elect trial there. Our Toronto criminal defence page explains which courtroom and day apply to you.

Delay has limits. R. v. Jordan set presumptive ceilings of 18 months in provincial court and 30 months in superior court. For offences committed on or after July 18, 2026, Part XV.1 of the Criminal Code adds complexity factors and allows a stay for delay only if no other remedy would be appropriate and just.

If you are found guilty: the registry and no-contact orders

After R. v. Ndhlovu (2022) struck down automatic registration, Parliament rewrote section 490.012 in 2023. Registration is mandatory where the Crown proceeded by indictment, the sentence is two years or more and the victim was under 18, or where you have a prior conviction for a primary sexual offence. Otherwise the judge must order it unless you show it would have no connection to helping police prevent or investigate sexual crimes, or that its impact on you would be grossly disproportionate to the public interest.

An order lasts 10 years if the Crown proceeded summarily, 20 years if the maximum is 10 or 14 years, and life if the maximum is life (section 490.013). The Sex Offender Information Registration Act then requires you to report within seven days of the order if you are not jailed, within seven days of moving, every year in the 30 days before the anniversary, and at least 14 days before any absence from home of seven or more days. The national registry is not a public list: the Act requires that access to the information, and its use and disclosure, be restricted. For offences committed on or after July 18, 2026, a judge can also order no contact with the complainant for any period up to life (section 729.2).

Straight answers to the questions people ask first

What are the odds of winning a sexual assault case?

Nobody can honestly give you odds before reading the disclosure. The Crown must prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt, which the Ontario Court of Justice describes as much closer to absolute certainty than a balance of probabilities. But no corroboration is required, so a case can rest on one witness the judge believes. Detail usually decides it: the messages, the timeline, what each witness told police and when, and whether disclosure is complete.

Which defences apply to a sexual assault charge?

No single defence fits every file. The main ones are that it did not happen or was not you, that the complainant agreed, or that you honestly believed agreement was communicated, within the limits of section 273.2. Charter applications for delay, a breach of your right to counsel or missing disclosure can also matter. Which of these is realistic depends on the evidence.

How much does a sexual assault lawyer cost in Toronto?

It depends on the work the file needs. Cost moves with how the Crown proceeds, whether bail is contested, how many sexual history or records applications are needed, the volume of digital disclosure, any outside reports such as a toxicologist’s, and the number of trial days. If cost is the barrier, Legal Aid Ontario may pay for a lawyer if you face a charge that could send you to jail and you qualify financially; until spring 2028 its income threshold is $45,440 for a family of up to four and $50,803 for five or more, with a $15,000 asset limit. Duty counsel at the courthouse can also help eligible people on the day, including at bail. Your first consultation with us is free: call 647-588-3234 or use our contact page.