An assault charge in Ontario does not require anybody to be hurt, and it does not always require contact. What decides how serious the case is, is which section the Crown charges and whether the Crown proceeds by indictment.
About this work
No. Section 265(1)(a) requires the intentional application of force without consent, and force in this context means any physical contact rather than violence in the ordinary sense. A push, a grab, a shove in an argument, or a drink thrown across a room are all assaults on the definition.
Section 265(1)(b) goes further and requires no contact at all. An attempt or threat to apply force, by an act or a gesture, where the person has or appears to have the present ability to carry it out, is an assault. Raising a fist can be enough.
That breadth is why so many charges arise from incidents the people involved would not have described as violent. It is also why the defence is frequently not about whether contact happened but about consent, self defence, or whether the Crown can prove intention.
The 2019 addition of choking, suffocating or strangling to section 267 is worth knowing separately. Conduct that would previously have been charged as simple assault now attracts the ten year section, and it does not require any lasting injury.
What the offence is
Section 265(1) of the Criminal Code defines assault broadly. A great many people charged with it are surprised that what happened qualifies at all.
Directly or indirectly. There is no requirement of injury, of pain, or of any mark. A push is an assault, and so is throwing something that lands on somebody.
By an act or a gesture, where the person has, or causes the other to believe on reasonable grounds that they have, the present ability to carry it out. No contact is required at all for this limb.
The third limb, which also covers begging while openly wearing or carrying a weapon or an imitation of one.
Section 265(3) provides that no consent is obtained where the complainant submits or does not resist by reason of the application of force, threats or fear of force, fraud, or the exercise of authority. Apparent agreement obtained in those ways is not consent.
Side by side
6 points of difference
The difference between these is the whole of the exposure, and it is worth knowing which one is on the information before anything else is discussed.
The route
5 stages, each with its own clock
Each provision below is from the Criminal Code. Which of them is charged, and whether the Crown elects to proceed by indictment or summarily, decides almost everything that follows.
A person commits an assault by intentionally applying force without consent, by attempting or threatening to apply force with apparent present ability, or by accosting or impeding another while openly carrying a weapon or an imitation.
No consent is obtained where the complainant submits or does not resist by reason of force, threats or fear of force, fraud, or the exercise of authority.
Where an accused says they believed the complainant consented, the presence or absence of reasonable grounds for that belief is considered in deciding whether the belief was honest.
An indictable offence with a maximum of five years, or an offence punishable on summary conviction. The Crown elects which.
A maximum of ten years on indictment, or summary conviction. The choking, suffocating or strangling limb was added in 2019 and it does not require any lasting injury.
Before the meeting
6 things to bring
Bring what you have and say what is missing. A meeting with the papers in front of it settles in one sitting what two telephone calls will not.
Our approach
The same four steps on every matter, whether it is a refusal at the Federal Court or a ticket at the Provincial Offences court.
Book a consultationWe take the full history and read the documents before offering an opinion. Most bad advice comes from acting on half the facts.
You get a candid read on strength, timeline and cost, including when the honest answer is that you do not need to hire anyone.
We prepare the application, the defence or the appeal properly the first time, because fixing a weak record later is harder and dearer.
You hear from us at each stage, and you hear what a wait actually means rather than a date chosen to sound better.
Reported decisions
7 allowed of 22 reported since 2023
Public judgments of the Federal Court with Kapil Rathod as counsel of record, each checkable by citation on the court's own site. The rest were dismissed and are listed with these ones.
Super visa, parents and grandparents
2026 FC 99Docket IMM-23381-24
Application allowedWork permit, Temporary Foreign Worker Program
2026 FC 105Docket IMM-18690-24
Application allowedTemporary resident visa
2026 FC 805Docket IMM-20802-24
Application allowedPermanent residence, Express Entry
2025 FC 275Docket IMM-1797-24
Application allowedWork permit, job offer
2024 FC 1928Docket IMM-6445-23
Application allowedStudy permit
2024 FC 1487Docket IMM-3700-23
Application allowedTemporary resident visa
2024 FC 1453Docket IMM-10337-23
Application allowedAssault charges in Ontario turn on a definition broad enough to cover a push or a raised fist, and on which section the Crown has laid.
The complainant cannot withdraw them, and for anybody who is not a citizen the immigration consequence should be part of the analysis from the first day.
Common questions
8 answered here
Written to be read once and acted on rather than to be rung about. Each answer is complete where the law allows a complete answer.
No, and this is the single most common misunderstanding about assault charges. Once the police lay a charge, the prosecution belongs to the Crown. A complainant who wants the matter dropped cannot withdraw it.
What a complainant can do is tell the Crown what they want, and that view is taken into account. But the Crown decides whether there is a reasonable prospect of conviction and whether prosecuting is in the public interest, and it frequently proceeds where a complainant would rather it did not.
Where the parties are in a domestic relationship, that is even more firmly the case, and the release conditions imposed at the outset usually prohibit contact regardless of what either of them wants. Breaching those conditions is a separate offence that is often easier for the Crown to prove than the original charge.
The practical consequence is that a complainant's change of heart is not the end of the case, and treating it as though it were is how people end up with a second charge on top of the first.
Frequently something short of a trial and short of a criminal record, depending on the allegation and the record. Options that exist in appropriate cases include a withdrawal on conditions after a diversion or counselling programme, a peace bond under which the charge is withdrawn, and a resolution to a lesser charge.
Which of those is realistic turns on the seriousness of the allegation, whether there was injury, whether a weapon was involved, the relationship between the parties, and whether the accused has a record. A first allegation of a push between strangers outside a bar and a choking allegation in a relationship are not in the same category.
Disclosure decides the assessment. Statements, any medical evidence, photographs, police notes, and video are what the case actually is, and a charge that reads badly on the information often looks different once the file is read.
The Crown's election matters too. Summary proceedings carry lower maximums and a different process, and persuading the Crown to proceed summarily is itself a useful outcome in a case where the finding is not really in doubt.
It depends on the section and on the sentence, and it is worth having looked at from the first day rather than after a plea. A criminal conviction can create inadmissibility, and the analysis turns on the maximum sentence available for the offence and on the sentence actually imposed.
That is why the difference between section 266 and section 267 matters beyond the criminal court. Five years and ten years are different maximums, and a resolution that moves a charge from one to the other can change the immigration consequence entirely even where the criminal outcome looks similar.
It is also why a discharge, a peace bond, or a withdrawal is worth a great deal more to a permanent resident or a foreign national than the equivalent outcome is to a citizen. The same criminal result carries a different weight.
We look at both together rather than sequentially, because a plea that is sensible in the criminal court and disastrous for status is a real risk, and it is avoidable if the two are considered at the same time.
Yes. Section 265(1)(a) requires the intentional application of force without consent and does not require injury, and section 265(1)(b) requires no contact at all where there is an attempt or threat to apply force with apparent present ability. A raised fist can qualify.
No. Once a charge is laid the prosecution belongs to the Crown, not to the complainant. Their views are considered but the Crown decides whether to proceed. Release conditions prohibiting contact usually remain in force regardless, and breaching them is a separate offence.
Section 266 is assault without more, carrying a maximum of five years on indictment. Section 267 covers assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm, and choking, suffocating or strangling, and carries a maximum of ten years. Both can also be prosecuted summarily.
Not necessarily. Depending on the allegation and your record, outcomes that avoid a conviction include a withdrawal after a diversion or counselling programme, a peace bond, or a discharge. Which of those is realistic depends on the seriousness of the allegation and what the disclosure shows.
It changes the priorities. Inadmissibility turns on the maximum sentence for the offence and on the sentence imposed, so the section charged and the outcome matter beyond the criminal court. A resolution that looks similar in the criminal court can have a very different immigration consequence.
Bring the information and your release conditions exactly as written. Assault charges in Ontario are assessed from the disclosure and from which section was laid.
