Domestic Assault Charges in Orillia: Firearms and Immigration Consequences

For most people charged with domestic assault, the immediate concerns are the no-contact conditions and the court date. For two groups of people, there is a second set of consequences that can be just as serious: firearms owners, who can lose their licence and their firearms long before the criminal case ends, and people who are not Canadian citizens, whose status in Canada can depend on exactly how the case resolves.

This article is about those collateral consequences, for people charged by the OPP and appearing at the Orillia courthouse. It does not repeat the basics of the criminal process, which we cover in our guide to what happens after a domestic assault charge. Instead, it explains why these two issues need attention from the first week, not the last.

The Orillia Court and the OPP

Domestic charges in the Orillia area are laid by the OPP, and cases are heard at the Ontario Court of Justice, 700 Memorial Avenue, Cottage C, Orillia. Your release paperwork will list your first appearance date. For directions, parking, and what to expect inside, see our Orillia courthouse guide.

Part One: Firearms Owners

If you hold a firearms licence, a domestic assault charge sets off several separate processes at once. They run on different timelines and are decided by different people, so it helps to understand each one.

Your release conditions

If police released you on an undertaking, section 501(3)(h) of the Criminal Code allows it to include a condition that you abstain from possessing firearms and other weapons and surrender them, along with any licence or registration certificate. In domestic cases, this condition is standard.

If you were released after a bail hearing on a release order, section 515(4.1) requires the justice to add a weapons prohibition where the charge involves violence used, threatened, or attempted against a person, unless the justice considers that the condition is not required for safety. Section 515(4.11) requires the order to specify how the firearms, licences, and registration certificates are to be surrendered or otherwise dealt with.

In practical terms, expect to be without your firearms while the case is ongoing. Arrangements for how they are surrendered or stored should be dealt with properly and documented, because firearms that are simply left in the home can create new problems.

Seizure by police

Separately from any charge, police can seize firearms under section 117.04 of the Criminal Code where they believe it is not desirable in the interests of safety for a person to possess them. After a seizure, police have 30 days to apply to a justice for a disposition order under section 117.05. If the justice finds that possession is not desirable for safety, the items are forfeited or otherwise disposed of, and the justice may also prohibit possession for up to five years. We explain these hearings on our page about firearms seizure and forfeiture hearings.

Your licence

The Chief Firearms Officer can revoke a licence where continued licensing is not desirable in the interests of safety, and a new domestic charge is one of the most common triggers. A charge alone, without a conviction, can be enough. When a licence is revoked, the notice directs you to deliver your firearms, typically within a short period. You can challenge a revocation by reference to a provincial court judge under section 74 of the Firearms Act, but bringing the reference does not let you keep the firearms in the meantime. See our page on firearms licence revocation.

How the case ends matters

The outcome of the criminal case has direct firearms consequences:

• A conviction, or a discharge, for an indictable offence involving violence against an intimate partner or family member brings a mandatory prohibition order under section 109. On a first order, non-restricted firearms are prohibited for at least 10 years after release, and prohibited and restricted firearms for life.
• Where a mandatory order does not apply, the court may still impose a discretionary prohibition under section 110, which can be for life where the violence was against an intimate partner or family member.
• A peace bond under section 810 requires the court to consider whether to include a weapons prohibition.
• A withdrawn charge or a peace bond can still be followed by a police application for a prohibition under section 111, which does not require a conviction.

Firearms belonging to someone else in the home

Firearms seized from a home are often owned by a spouse, parent, or other household member with their own licence. The Criminal Code contains several routes for a lawful owner to seek the return of their own firearms, or their value, but that owner should expect questions about storage and about whether the accused person could get access to them. If the other licensed person in the home is also the complainant, that adds another layer. Owners in this position should get advice early, because the timelines for these applications do not wait for the criminal case. The seizure and forfeiture hearings page linked above covers the options for third-party owners.

Putting it together

That is why the resolution of a domestic case has to be negotiated with firearms in mind from the beginning. For a complete overview, see our page on firearms licensing, seizures, and prohibitions.

Part Two: People Who Are Not Canadian Citizens

If you are a permanent resident, a work or study permit holder, a visitor, or a refugee claimant, a domestic assault case has a second layer of risk. What follows is general information about the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. It is not immigration advice, and anyone in this position should consult an immigration lawyer before resolving the criminal case.

Why the resolution matters so much

The Act’s criminal inadmissibility provisions are triggered by convictions. Two features of the law make the details important:

• Hybrid offences are treated as indictable. Under section 36(3)(a) of the Act, an offence that can be prosecuted either way is deemed to be indictable, even if the Crown proceeded summarily. Assault under section 266 of the Criminal Code is a hybrid offence.
• Foreign nationals and permanent residents are treated differently. A foreign national convicted in Canada of an offence punishable by indictment is inadmissible for criminality under section 36(2)(a). A permanent resident becomes inadmissible for serious criminality under section 36(1)(a) if convicted of an offence with a maximum sentence of at least 10 years, or if a term of imprisonment of more than six months is imposed.

Applied to domestic charges, that means:

• Simple assault (section 266) carries a maximum of five years on indictment. A conviction can make a foreign national inadmissible. For a permanent resident, it does not meet the 10-year threshold, but a sentence of more than six months’ imprisonment would.
• Assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm, or choking (section 267) carries a maximum of 10 years. A conviction for any of these can make a permanent resident inadmissible for serious criminality regardless of the sentence imposed.
• Appeal rights can be lost. Under section 64 of the Act, a permanent resident found inadmissible for serious criminality cannot appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division where the crime was punished in Canada by imprisonment of at least six months.

Outcomes that avoid a conviction

Because the Act turns on convictions, outcomes that do not result in one often become central for non-citizens:

• A withdrawal or an acquittal is not a conviction.
• A peace bond involves no plea and no finding of guilt; the charge is withdrawn.
• A discharge follows a finding of guilt, but section 730(3) of the Criminal Code deems the person not to have been convicted.

Even where no conviction results, the facts of the case can still come up in immigration applications and interviews. The wording of any agreed facts, and the specific charge a case resolves on, can matter. This is exactly why criminal and immigration counsel need to talk to each other before any plea or resolution is entered.

What This Means for You

• Tell your criminal lawyer at the first meeting if you hold a firearms licence or are not a Canadian citizen. Both facts change how the case should be approached.
• Comply exactly with any weapons condition. Surrender firearms and licences in the way your release paperwork requires, and keep proof.
• Watch the deadlines. Revocation notices and section 74 references have short time limits that run independently of the criminal case.
• Do not accept a resolution until the collateral consequences have been assessed. An outcome that looks minor in criminal court can have lasting effects on your licence or your status.

How Mor Fisher Can Help

We act in domestic assault cases at the Orillia courthouse, and our practice also includes firearms licensing, seizure, and prohibition matters. On files where a client holds a firearms licence, we coordinate the criminal defence with the licensing and seizure issues so that steps taken in one do not damage the other. For clients who are not citizens, we work with immigration counsel to identify which outcomes are safe before any resolution is discussed with the Crown. You can read more about our work in the area on our Orillia location page.

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If you have been charged with domestic assault in Orillia and hold a firearms licence or are not a Canadian citizen, contact Mor Fisher LLP at 705-721-6642 or through our contact page. These consequences are easiest to manage when they are addressed at the start of the case, before any decisions are made.