Criminal Negligence Causing Death Lawyer Toronto | Defence

Composed by Chris Sewrattan, Certified Specialist in Criminal Law. Updated July 2026.

This is legal information, not legal advice. It does not create a lawyer-client relationship. For advice about your situation, contact us for a consultation.

Criminal negligence causing death, an offence under section 220 of the Criminal Code, criminalizes deaths caused by conduct showing wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of others. It is the charge laid after workplace fatalities, fatal firearms mishandling, deaths in care, and the most serious driving cases. The defence battleground is the fault standard: ordinary negligence, even negligence that would lose a civil lawsuit, is not a crime. The Crown must prove a marked and substantial departure from what a reasonable person would have done.

What is criminal negligence under Canadian law?

Section 219 defines criminal negligence as doing anything, or omitting to do anything it is one's legal duty to do, in a way that shows wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons. When that conduct causes death, section 220 applies. The Crown must prove beyond a reasonable doubt:

Conduct or omission: an act, or the failure to perform a duty imposed by law. Legal duties include the duty of parents and caregivers to provide necessaries, and, under section 217.1, the duty of everyone who directs how another person does work to take reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm, the provision enacted after the Westray mine disaster that grounds workplace prosecutions of supervisors and companies.
The fault standard: a marked and substantial departure from the conduct of a reasonable person in the circumstances, the elevated test the Supreme Court confirmed in R v Javanmardi. This is a higher bar than the marked departure required for dangerous driving.
Causation: the conduct was a significant contributing cause of the death, assessed under the framework from R v Nette, with intervening events analyzed as in R v Maybin.

In fatality cases the Crown often charges criminal negligence causing death and manslaughter or dangerous driving causing death in the alternative, and the trial sorts out which fault standard, if any, is met.

Penalties for criminal negligence causing death in Ontario

Criminal negligence causing death is a straight indictable offence with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Where a firearm is used in the commission of the offence, the Criminal Code imposes a mandatory minimum of 4 years in prison; otherwise there is no minimum. Sentences vary with moral blameworthiness: momentary but grave lapses are treated differently from sustained indifference to obvious danger, and penitentiary sentences are common where the disregard for safety was prolonged. Organizations can also be prosecuted for criminal negligence, and workplace deaths often proceed on parallel tracks, with Occupational Health and Safety Act charges against the company alongside any criminal counts. From July 15, 2026, sentencing courts also regain the power, removed in 2018, to impose a driving prohibition for criminal negligence causing death or bodily harm.

Possible defences to a criminal negligence charge

Depending on the evidence, defences may include:

The fault standard: establishing that the conduct, however tragic in result, was at most carelessness or a civil wrong, not a marked and substantial departure showing wanton or reckless disregard.
No legal duty, or a duty resting elsewhere: in workplace and institutional cases, identifying who actually directed the work and held the duty is often decisive.
Causation: intervening events, the deceased's own choices, equipment failures, and medical developments that break the chain.
Reasonable conduct in context: compliance with industry practice, training, and safety systems as evidence the departure was not marked and substantial.
Expert evidence: engineering, medical, and reconstruction experts frequently determine these cases.
Charter issues, including compelled regulatory statements and their limits in a criminal prosecution, search issues, and delay under section 11(b).

Frequently asked questions

What does the Crown have to prove for criminal negligence?

Conduct or a breach of legal duty showing wanton or reckless disregard for life or safety, amounting to a marked and substantial departure from what a reasonable person would have done, and that it caused the death. Ordinary negligence is not enough.

How is this different from manslaughter?

Criminal negligence manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death overlap substantially, and Crowns often charge in the alternative. The practical work in both is the same: testing the fault standard and causation.

How is this different from dangerous driving causing death?

The fault standard. Dangerous driving requires a marked departure from the standard of a reasonable driver; criminal negligence requires a marked and substantial departure showing wanton or reckless disregard. Criminal negligence is the more serious allegation.

Can a supervisor or company be charged after a workplace death?

Yes. Section 217.1 imposes a duty on anyone who directs work to take reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm, and both individuals and organizations can be prosecuted, usually alongside provincial safety charges.

What is the sentence for criminal negligence causing death?

Up to life imprisonment, with a 4-year minimum where a firearm was used. Actual sentences depend on the degree and duration of the disregard for safety and the offender's role and background.

The death was a terrible accident. Is that a defence?

Accidents without criminal fault are not crimes. The question is whether the conduct crossed from carelessness into wanton or reckless disregard; that line is where these cases are fought.

Charged with criminal negligence causing death? Contact us