Concurrent and Consecutive Youth Sentences

This page was last substantively updated or reviewed July 2021. (Rev. # 95265)

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General Principles

718.3
[omitted (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5)]

Cumulative punishments — youth

(6) For the purposes of subsection (4), a sentence of imprisonment includes

(a) a disposition made under paragraph 20(1)(k) or (k.1) of the Young Offenders Act, chapter Y-1 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985;

(b) a youth sentence imposed under paragraph 42(2)(n), (o), (q) or (r) of the Youth Criminal Justice Act; and

(c) a sentence that results from the operation of subsection 743.5(1) or (2).

[omitted (7) and (8)]
1995, c. 22, s. 6; 1997, c. 18, s. 141; 2002, c. 1, s. 182; 2015, c. 23, s. 17.

– CCC (CanLII), (DOJ)

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42
[omitted (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11) and (12)]

Consecutive youth sentences

(13) Subject to subsections (15) and (16), a youth justice court that sentences a young person may direct that a sentence imposed on the young person under paragraph (2)(n) [youth sentences – custody and supervision order (general)], (o) [youth sentences – custody and supervision order (serious offence)], (q) [youth sentences – custody and supervision order] or (r) [youth sentences – intensive rehabilitative custody and supervision order] be served consecutively if the young person

(a) is sentenced while under sentence for an offence under any of those paragraphs; or

(b) is found guilty of more than one offence under any of those paragraphs.

[omitted (14), (15), (16) and (17)]
2002, c. 1, s. 42; 2012, c. 1, s. 174.
[annotation(s) added]

– YCJA (CanLII), (DOJ)

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A youth court judge may not order a sentence for open custody followed by a consecutive sentence of deferred custody.

Additional Sentences

Additional youth sentences

43 Subject to subsection 42(15) (duration of youth sentences), if a young person who is subject to a custodial sentence imposed under paragraph 42(2)(n), (o), (q) or (r) that has not expired receives an additional youth sentence under one of those paragraphs, the young person is, for the purposes of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, the Criminal Code, the Prisons and Reformatories Act and this Act, deemed to have been sentenced to one youth sentence commencing at the beginning of the first of those youth sentences to be served and ending on the expiry of the last of them to be served.

– YCJA (CanLII), (DOJ)

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Custodial portion if additional youth sentence

44 Subject to subsection 42(15) (duration of youth sentences) and section 46 (exception when youth sentence in respect of earlier offence), if an additional youth sentence under paragraph 42(2)(n), (o), (q) or (r) is imposed on a young person on whom a youth sentence had already been imposed under one of those paragraphs that has not expired and the expiry date of the youth sentence that includes the additional youth sentence, as determined in accordance with section 43, is later than the expiry date of the youth sentence that the young person was serving before the additional youth sentence was imposed, the custodial portion of the young person’s youth sentence is, from the date the additional sentence is imposed, the total of

(a) the unexpired portion of the custodial portion of the youth sentence before the additional youth sentence was imposed, and

(b) the relevant period set out in subparagraph (i), (ii) or (iii):

(i) if the additional youth sentence is imposed under paragraph 42(2)(n), the period that is two thirds of the period that constitutes the difference between the expiry of the youth sentence as determined in accordance with section 43 and the expiry of the youth sentence that the young person was serving before the additional youth sentence was imposed,

(ii) if the additional youth sentence is a concurrent youth sentence imposed under paragraph 42(2)(o), (q) or (r), the custodial portion of the youth sentence imposed under that paragraph that extends beyond the expiry date of the custodial portion of the sentence being served before the imposition of the additional sentence, or

(iii) if the additional youth sentence is a consecutive youth sentence imposed under paragraph 42(2)(o), (q) or (r), the custodial portion of the additional youth sentence imposed under that paragraph.

– YCJA (CanLII), (DOJ)

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Supervision when additional youth sentence extends the period in custody

45 (1) If a young person has begun to serve a portion of a youth sentence in the community subject to conditions under paragraph 42(2)(n) or under conditional supervision under paragraph 42(2)(o), (q) or (r) at the time an additional youth sentence is imposed under one of those paragraphs, and, as a result of the application of section 44, the custodial portion of the young person’s youth sentence ends on a day that is later than the day on which the young person received the additional youth sentence, the serving of a portion of the youth sentence under supervision in the community subject to conditions or under conditional supervision shall become inoperative and the young person shall be committed to custody under paragraph 102(1)(b) or 106(b) until the end of the extended portion of the youth sentence to be served in custody.

Supervision when additional youth sentence does not extend the period in custody

(2) If a youth sentence has been imposed under paragraph 42(2)(n), (o), (q) or (r) on a young person who is under supervision in the community subject to conditions under paragraph 42(2)(n) or under conditional supervision under paragraph 42(2)(o), (q) or (r), and the additional youth sentence would not modify the expiry date of the youth sentence that the young person was serving at the time the additional youth sentence was imposed, the young person may be remanded to the youth custody facility that the provincial director considers appropriate. The provincial director shall review the case and, no later than forty-eight hours after the remand of the young person, shall either refer the case to the youth justice court for a review under section 103 or 109 or release the young person to continue the supervision in the community or the conditional supervision.

Supervision when youth sentence additional to supervision

(3) If a youth sentence has been imposed under paragraph 42(2)(n), (o), (q) or (r) on a young person who is under conditional supervision under paragraph 94(19)(b) or subsection 96(5), the young person shall be remanded to the youth custody facility that the provincial director considers appropriate. The provincial director shall review the case and, no later than forty-eight hours after the remand of the young person, shall either refer the case to the youth justice court for a review under section 103 or 109 or release the young person to continue the conditional supervision.

– YCJA (CanLII), (DOJ)

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Exception when youth sentence in respect of earlier offence

46 The total of the custodial portions of a young person’s youth sentences shall not exceed six years calculated from the beginning of the youth sentence that is determined in accordance with section 43 if

(a) a youth sentence is imposed under paragraph 42(2)(n), (o), (q) or (r) on the young person already serving a youth sentence under one of those paragraphs; and

(b) the later youth sentence imposed is in respect of an offence committed before the commencement of the earlier youth sentence.

– YCJA (CanLII), (DOJ)

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