Two fights can start the same way and finish in different courtrooms. One ends with a bruise and a $266 charge. The other ends with a broken jaw, and the Crown lays a much heavier count. What moved the second file up the ladder was not anger or planning; it was the injury that the aggravated assault punch happened to cause.
The three rungs of the ladder, side by side
Canada has no felonies and no first or second-degree versions of this offense. Crown counsel prosecutes here, not an elected local prosecutor. The Criminal Code sets out three main rungs, and the rung of a file is mostly based on the harm that resulted.
| Offence | Section | What the Crown must prove | Maximum on indictment | Plain example |
| Assault | s.266 | Force applied intentionally without consent, or a threat by act or gesture, with the ability to carry it out | 5 years | A shove in a parking lot that leaves no mark |
| Assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm | s.267 | All of the above, plus a weapon, choking, or hurt that is more than transient or trifling | 10 years | A punch that splits a lip and needs stitches |
| Aggravated assault | s.268 | All of the above, plus wounding, maiming, disfigurement, or danger to life, with objective foresight of bodily harm | 14 years | A stabbing, or a beating that fractures an eye socket |
On the first two rungs, the Crown can elect to proceed summarily. Its ceiling then drops to two years less a day, plus a fine of up to 5,000 CAD. That election disappears on the top rung. Section 268, published by the Department of Justice Canada, fixes the maximum at 14 years and sets no minimum at all. For a wider background on how charges are laid and tried here, browse our criminal law section.
Key takeaways
- The dividing line between the rungs is the injury, not how angry anyone was.
- Section 268 carries 14 years and no floor, yet real sentences usually land well below it.
- House arrest and a discharge are both off the table on this count.
- A civil claim for damages can run alongside the criminal file on an easier standard of proof.
- Police-reported rates fell in 2024, according to Statistics Canada.
What tips a charge up to aggravated assault?
Four words in s. 268 do all the work: wounds, maims, disfigures, and endangers. Courts have given each one a fairly settled meaning.
- Wounds” means a break in the skin or tissue that bleeds, and it usually implies lasting damage.
- Maims means an injury that leaves someone less able to function or defend themselves. Broken bones qualify.
- Disfigurement means more than a temporary marring of appearance.
- Endangers life: looks at the result of the injuries, not simply at how reckless the conduct was.
Reported cases give those words shape. Permanent blindness in one eye, a fractured jaw, and a broken nose with heavy bruising have all been held to be enough. A broken nose that healed on its own with no medical treatment was found not to meet the bar. That narrow gap is where most trials on this charge are actually fought.
What the Crown must prove about your state of mind
This part surprises almost everyone. You do not need to intend to wound, maim, or disfigure anybody. In R. v. Godin, the Supreme Court of Canada held in 1994 that the mental element for s. 268 is objective foresight of bodily harm.
That test asks whether a reasonable person in your position would have realized the act risked at least some harm. So one unlucky punch can support the top count. The Crown still has to prove the underlying contact was intentional and that your act caused the injury. It simply never has to prove you wanted the result you got.
What Canadian courts impose
Fourteen years is a ceiling, not a forecast. Reported ranges vary by province, and judges start from the circumstances rather than from the maximum.
- Ontario: roughly 18 months to two years, less a day, for a first offender in a fight that got out of hand. Four to six years is the higher band, reserved for premeditated or unprovoked violence by someone with a record.
- British Columbia: appeal decisions describe a band of roughly 16 months to six years.
- The territories: courts there have worked with a wide range of six months to six years.
Two options that exist lower down the ladder are closed off here. A conditional sentence, served in the community, is barred by s.742.1 because the maximum is 14 years. An absolute or conditional discharge is barred by s.730 for the same reason. Custody is the normal starting point, and general deterrence drives the analysis.
One rule pushes hard the other way. Where the violence involves an intimate partner and the person already has a conviction for intimate partner violence, s.718.3(8) lifts the maximum to life.
Volume is easing, at least for now. Statistics Canada reported on July 22, 2025, that the police-reported rate of level 3 or aggravated assault fell 8% in 2024 compared with 2023. Those violations accounted for 80% of the drop in the Violent Crime Severity Index.
Defenses that get run on this count
None of these is a guarantee, and the right argument depends on what disclosure shows. These are the ones defense lawyers reach for most often.
- Self-defense. Section 34 asks what you believed was happening, whether you acted to protect yourself or another person, and whether your response was reasonable.
- The injury did not reach the bar. Arguing that the hurt was real but short of wounding or disfigurement can move the file down to $267.
- Identity and causation. Group fights produce shaky identifications and competing accounts of who threw the blow that mattered.
- Charter breaches. An unlawful search, a denied right to counsel, or an unreasonable delay can lead to excluded evidence or a stay of proceedings.
Consent is weaker than people expect. Adults cannot consent to serious hurt in a fistfight, so agreeing to step outside settles nothing. Duress is not available at all because s.17 excludes this offense from that defense.
The civil claim that runs alongside
Prosecutions punish. They do not compensate. The person who was hurt can also sue in civil court for the tort of battery, and the two files run on separate tracks under different rules.
Proof standards are the biggest difference. Criminal courts need proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Civil courts decide on the balance of probabilities, so a claim can still succeed after an acquittal. Damages can cover treatment costs, lost income, and pain and suffering, and a judge can add punitive damages for deliberate violence.
Deadlines matter, and they differ by province. Ontario’s general limit is two years from the day the claim was discovered. Exceptions strip that deadline away in some cases, including where the parties were in an intimate relationship. Anyone weighing that route should read our personal injury coverage and get advice early, because a missed deadline ends the claim.
What a conviction leaves behind
Jail time is only part of the cost. A conviction under s.268 brings a mandatory DNA order and a weapons prohibition of at least 10 years. That ban runs for life for restricted and prohibited firearms. You cannot even apply for a record suspension until 10 years after the sentence ends.
For anyone who is not a citizen, the stakes climb again. An offense carrying a maximum of 10 years or more counts as serious criminality under federal immigration law. That can mean removal from Canada and the loss of appeal rights.
Conclusion
Aggravated assault in Canada carries a serious 14-year maximum, but the actual sentence depends on the injury, circumstances, criminal history, and other factors surrounding the offense.
Understanding the difference between the Criminal Code’s assault levels, available defenses, sentencing consequences, and potential civil claims can help put the charge in context. Because every case is different, anyone facing an aggravated assault charge should obtain advice from a qualified Canadian criminal lawyer before making decisions about their case.
Your next step
If police have charged you, identify yourself and say nothing else until you have spoken to a lawyer. Duty counsel is free, available at every courthouse, and reachable through provincial legal aid lines. If you were the one injured, keep your medical records and photographs, because they can be used in both prosecution and any civil claim. We break this down further in Licensed Insolvency Trustee.
FAQ
No. Section 268 sets a 14-year ceiling and no floor. Some firearm offenses elsewhere in the Criminal Code do carry minimums. Parliament repealed 13 of those in 2022, and the Supreme Court struck another one down in 2023. Check the exact section charged.
Yes. Common assault and assault causing bodily harm are included offenses, so a court can convict on a lower rung if the injury element is not made out. Crowns resolve files that way, too.
No. Charges belong to the Crown, not to the person who was hurt. Their wishes are one factor among many, and nothing more.
Usually, courts treat this as the most serious violent offense short of homicide, so custody is the normal outcome. Exceptional mitigation occasionally produces a suspended sentence instead.
Months rather than weeks. Because the count is indictable, you can elect trial in superior court, with or without a preliminary inquiry, and that lengthens the timeline.
