Updates to the Code

The Criminal Code was first enacted in 1892, making it more than 130 years old, and it has been updated frequently since then to reflect societal changes. When the federal government wants to make changes to the Code, it will create an amending act. The amending act will add new sections or make changes to existing sections of the Code. Any such act must be passed by both the House of Commons and the Senate, and then receive Royal Assent from the Governor General on behalf of the Crown.

New criminal law bills are considered by Parliament as the government responds to legal issues facing Canadians.

Visit (Proposed Legislation - Canada's System of Justice) to monitor what amendments are currently being considered by Parliament. This page also shows what amendments have been added to the Code. For example, in late 2021, Bill C-3 received Royal Assent. It is intended to "enhance protections for health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic by making it a crime to intimidate or obstruct anyone entering a health-care facility.

In June 2022, s.33.1 of the Criminal Code was amended. According to information from the government (Changes to section 33.1 of the Criminal Code on self-induced extreme intoxication,) this amendment came after two rulings from the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) found "that the section of the Criminal Code that prevented the use of the extreme intoxication defence for most crimes of violence was unconstitutional." It adds that the Code was amended to "ensure that individuals who voluntarily consume intoxicants in a criminally negligent manner, become extremely intoxicated, lose control and harm others are held criminally responsible."

The Criminal Code is updated to keep up with technological, social and economic changes in the country. For example, in January 2022, new provisions banning conversion therapy came into force (Proposed changes to Canada's Criminal Code relating to conversion therapy), adding a definition and three criminal offences (ss. 320.101 to 320.104) under the Criminal Code.

The Code is also amended to make the judicial process function better. In December 2022, Bill S-4 received Royal Assent and became law (An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Identification of Criminals Act and to make related amendments to other Acts (COVID-19 response and other measures), S.C. 2022, c. 17). The Act gives courts greater flexibility in how they hold criminal proceedings. For example, it expanded the use of virtual testimony and remote appearances in hearings, trials, and sentencing (s. 715.23), and it allows technology to be used when randomly selecting jurors (s. 631.1).

Information from the Department of Justice (Justice Laws Website) notes that the websites dealing with acts and regulations are "generally updated every two weeks." But amendments to the Code can be much slower.

For example, federal abortion law was declared unconstitutional in 1988 after the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in R. v. Morgentaler. In R. v. Morgentaler, [1988] 1 SCR 30, the court found that federal abortion law was unconstitutional, thereby decriminalizing the procedure. But 30 years later, laws against "procuring miscarriage" could still be found in the Code along with the maximum penalty of life imprisonment for offenders, though they were not enforced. In 2019, s.287 was finally removed from the Act.

The same response can be seen with laws around anal intercourse. Laws dealing with this activity remained in the Code long after courts ruled they violated equality rights because they treated consensual anal intercourse differently from other consensual sexual activities. Those convicted of engaging in the act faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison unless it was "between husband and wife, or any two persons, each of whom is 18 years of age or more." The age of consentVoluntary agreement to engage in an sexual act for all other sex acts is 16. In 2019, provisions against anal intercourse in s.159 were removed.