Bill C-220, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (immigration status in sentencing), proposes to amend the Criminal Code. It would require a sentencing court not to consider the potential effect of a sentence on a non-Canadian citizen’s immigration status in Canada, or on the immigration status of a member of that person’s family.
The rule would apply when a court sentences an offender who is not a Canadian citizen.
The court would be barred from considering the potential immigration-status impact of the sentence on the offender or a family member.
The text adds a rule to the Criminal Code; it does not create a new program, benefit, fee or enforcement body.
People sentenced who are not Canadian citizens: If the bill becomes law, the sentencing court must not consider the potential effect of the sentence on your immigration status in Canada.
Their family members: The court must also not consider the potential effect of the sentence on a family member’s immigration status.
Other sentencing matters: The supplied text does not say that other sentencing factors or available sentences would change.
Immigration status itself: The bill does not directly change anyone’s immigration status. It addresses what a court may consider when imposing a sentence.
The supplied material does not include the current Criminal Code, so the existing sentencing rules and how this proposal would change them cannot be verified here.
The bill does not define “potential impact” or “a member of their family.”
It does not explain how courts should handle cases where immigration consequences are raised alongside other sentencing information.
The supplied material does not state the bill’s status, whether it has passed, or when it would come into force.
A possible argument for the bill is that it would prevent a person’s immigration status, or the immigration consequences for their family, from affecting the sentence imposed.
The rule is direct: if enacted, courts must not consider those potential impacts when sentencing a non-citizen.
It could be seen as setting a clear limit on which considerations may influence sentencing.
One concern is that courts would be barred from considering potential immigration-status effects even where those effects may be significant for the offender or a family member.
The bill does not define “potential impact” or explain how the rule interacts with other sentencing considerations.
The supplied text does not explain why the rule applies to family members’ immigration status, or how courts should determine who counts as a family member.