Ontario proposes upfront cash bail system to boost compliance with court orders

The cost of granted bail will likely have a price tag in Ontario.

The Ford government announced Monday that it will table legislation for those granted a court order release to provide a cash security deposit upfront rather than paying later if they break their bail conditions.

In an effort to play a role in bail reform, Ontario’s attorney and solicitor generals announced their intended measures, believing it ensures money is collected and compliance will improve.

“With cash upfront, we’ll be able to collect that right away,” Associate Solicitor General Zee Hamid said at a press conference alongside ministers and Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw.

“It creates a disincentive for them to re-offend and creates an incentive for the surety to keep an eye on them and make sure they comply with bail conditions.”

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Under the proposed new system, a full cash payment would be made when the accused person is released from custody and it would be returned at the conclusion of their case. If bail conditions are not met, the money would be forfeited.

Later Monday afternoon at Queen’s Park, Attorney General Doug Downey said the current system isn’t changing that much when it comes to those accused and guaranteeing a surety. He also faced questions on whether this will overcrowd prisons if they see a slew of breached bail conditions.

“The solicitor general can speak more to that,” Downey said.

“He has a plan in place that’s already being acted on to create capacity. We saw the federal government take their individuals from our jail systems that should be in the federal penitentiaries because they were convicted for more than two years and less a day. We are creating capacity as we speak and we’ll stay on that track.”

The province also announced a number of other non-legislative measures aimed at strengthening the bail system. They say there will be better digital tools to track repeat offenders and bail prosecution teams will be expanded as well.

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