Theft (Youth)

Theft is covered under Part IX of the Criminal Code. Under s. 322, a person commits theft if they fraudulently and without colour of rightThe honest belief that an act is justifiable take or convert something, whether animate or inanimate, with intent to deprive the owner of it, either temporarily or permanently. In plain language, the Crown must prove more than a mistake or accident. If the accused honestly believed they had a legal right to the property, that may raise a colour-of-right defence. Theft can still be charged even if the person meant to keep the property only temporarily.

Motor Vehicle Theft

Section 333.1 of the Code states it is a crime to steal a motor vehicle. If handled as an indictable offenceA more serious type of Canadian criminal offence., you can be jailed for up to 10 years if sentenced as an adult.

Theft, forgery, etc., of credit card

Section 342 of the Code makes it illegal to steal, forge or falsify a credit card. You can also be charged under this section if you use a forged or falsified card knowing it was illegally made or altered or if you knew a regular card had been revoked or cancelled, but you still used it. If prosecuted as an indictable offence and sentenced as an adult, you face a maximum prison term of 10 years.

Robbery

Section 343 of the Code states it is illegal to commit theft while using or threatening to use physical force. If a firearm was used or if the offence can be tied to a criminal organization, courts can impose harsh sentences, including life in prison.

To win a conviction, the Crown prosecutorA lawyer who conducts a criminal prosecution on behalf of the public. must prove beyond a reasonable doubtThe standard that must be exceeded to find someone guilty that you intended to steal the item in question. If you are charged after a shoplifting incident, for example, the Crown must show you purposely took the item without paying. The Crown must also prove that you acted fraudulently and without colour of right, meaning you had no honest belief that you were legally entitled to take the property. The item must also belong to someone else.

One example of a defence is colour of right: if you genuinely believed you had a legal right to the property at the time you took it, even if that belief turned out to be mistaken in law or in fact, you may not be guilty of theft. The Crown must disprove that honest belief beyond a reasonable doubt.

Your lawyer may also be able to show that your rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms were breached during the investigation.

When prosecuting a theft charge, the Crown can proceed as an indictable offenceA more serious type of Canadian criminal offence. or summary convictionUsed for lesser offences, and will consider such factors as the seriousness of the allegations and your prior criminal record. A conviction for an indictable offence carries more serious penalties.

Theft is divided into two categories. Theft over $5,000 is usually treated as an indictable offence with a maximum 10-year sentence. Theft of property worth $5,000 or less is hybrid. The indictable maximum is 2 years. If the Crown proceeds summarily, the general summary-conviction penalties apply.

The judge has several options if you are facing sentencing under the YCJA. The Act states that the purpose of sentencing under s.42 is to hold a young personA person dealt with under the youth criminal justice system. accountable ”through the imposition of just sanctions that have meaningful consequences for the young person and that promote their rehabilitation and reintegration into society, thereby contributing to the long-term protection of the public.”

Extrajudicial measuresYouth justice responses outside formal court proceedings. could be used if your offence was relatively minor, such as shoplifting. This involves handling the case outside the formal court process in an attempt to rehabilitate an offender. However, if your case is not resolved through extrajudicial measures, it will be dealt with in Youth Court. 

The YCJA mandates that “proportionality is a basic principle of fairness that means less serious offences should result in less severe consequences,” and any sentence must:

• not be more severe than what an adult would receive for the same offence;
• be similar to youth sentences in similar cases;
• be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the young person;
• within the limits of proportionate response, (a) be the least restrictive alternative, (b) be the sentencing option that is most likely to rehabilitate and reintegrate the young person, and (c) promote in the young person a sense of responsibility and an acknowledgement of the harm done by the offence.

If the judge elects to sentence you as an adult, you will face the same sentence under the Criminal Code that an adult offender would. If you are jailed you will remain incarcerated in a youth facility until you are 18 and then transferred to an adult prison.

This page is about a young person — someone aged 12 to 17 at the time of the offence — under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA).

A young person can be charged with this Criminal Code offence, but youth sentencing is different from adult sentencing. If the young person is found guilty, the youth justice court applies the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Many less serious first-time youth matters may be handled through warnings, cautions, referrals, or extrajudicial measures instead of a formal court sentence. If the court does impose a youth sentence, the YCJA provides a range of options, including reprimands, discharges, probation, community service, restitution, and, in more serious cases, custody and supervision.

Custody is not the starting point for every youth case. The result depends on the charge, the facts, the young person’s history, the harm caused, the available programs, and the YCJA sentencing principles.

In rare cases, the Crown can ask for an adult sentence. That is not automatic. The court must apply the YCJA test before an adult sentence can be imposed.

For most offences, a custody-and-supervision order cannot exceed two years, or three years if the offence carries adult life imprisonment.

Theft can be charged in different ways depending partly on value. Some more serious theft charges have an adult maximum above two years, which means the Crown could technically ask for an adult sentence if the YCJA requirements are met. For youth theft, that is not the ordinary starting point.

For a fuller explanation of how young people are sentenced, see How Youth Sentencing Works in Canada.