Diversion programs in Canada: ending a charge without a conviction

What diversion is

Diversion, called “alternative measures” in the Criminal Code (s. 717), deals with a charge outside the courtroom. Instead of a trial, you complete tasks set by a program. When you finish, the Crown withdraws or stays the charge, so there is no conviction and no sentence.

For youth aged 12 to 17, the Youth Criminal Justice Act goes further: police must consider warnings, cautions and referrals first, and Crown can use extrajudicial sanctions. For simple drug possession, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act also asks police and prosecutors to consider warnings and referrals to treatment before charges.

Who usually qualifies

• People with no criminal record, or an old and unrelated one.
• Less serious, mostly non-violent charges: shoplifting and theft under $5,000, mischief, causing a disturbance, some drug possession and minor frauds.
• Some programs accept people whose offence is linked to a mental health condition or an addiction.
• Charges involving serious violence, firearms, impaired driving or intimate partner violence are usually excluded, though rules differ by province.

The legal conditions

• The program is authorized by the province or the federal government.
• The Crown believes there is enough evidence to prosecute, and that diversion fits the person, the offence and the protection of the public.
• You accept responsibility for what happened (this is not a guilty plea) and consent after being told of your right to a lawyer.
• You can always refuse and have the case go to court instead.

What you may be asked to do

• Write a letter of apology or meet the person harmed (restorative justice).
• Do community service hours or make a donation to a charity.
• Pay back the value of what was taken or damaged.
• Attend counselling, an education session or treatment.
• Sign a peace bond, in some cases.

Programs you may hear about

In Ontario, the Crown can refer adults to the Direct Accountability Program, run by community agencies such as the John Howard Society, and to mental health diversion. Other provinces run adult alternative measures programs through their justice ministries, Indigenous justice programs and restorative justice groups. Drug treatment courts are a different path: they usually require a guilty plea and supervise treatment over many months.

Your record after diversion

Diversion does not create a conviction, so there is nothing to pardon. What you admit in the program cannot be used against you in a later civil or criminal case (s. 717(3)). Police can still keep records of the charge for a time, and these may appear on a high-level check such as a vulnerable sector check. Once the charge is withdrawn, ask the police to destroy your fingerprints and photographs: see charges withdrawn, stayed or dismissed.