When Do You Get Bail Money Back in Canada?

The simple answer to the question in the title is that bail money is returned in Canada as soon as your case is resolved—one way or another—provided that you have not breached any of the terms of your release (bail). 

But bail in Canada is a bit more complicated than that. In the United States, bail is very common for all kinds of criminal cases, and that’s what we commonly see in movies and on television. Bail is less common in Canada because Canadian laws by default lean toward letting the person charged with a crime not wait in prison until his or her case goes to court. US law leans the other way, with the default being that the charged individual should wait in prison.

Only the most serious crimes in Canada would merit actually requiring putting up money as a guarantee that the individual charged would show up for the court case. There are usually less restrictive forms of release that are relied upon.

What we are talking about, here, is called judicial interim release in Canada, and there are several types of less or more restrictive forms of release. In criminal matters, if the police and Crown believe you should be detained while awaiting trial, they have to pursue the matter in front of a judge and argue why you should be detained. Your defence lawyer will argue why you should not be detained.

The topic of judicial interim release is just one of several reasons why it’s important to retain counsel as soon as possible if you are arrested. In the event of the Crown wants you to be detained—and believes they have compelling reasons to do so--your best chance of not being detained until the resolution of your case lies with you having an experienced criminal lawyer arguing your side. If you need an experienced criminal lawyer in Vancouver, to argue for your judicial interim release, call Michael Bloom at (604) 603-5513.

Michael Bloom is a very experienced criminal defence lawyer, who started his career as a Crown Prosecutor.

If you have any questions about this article or would like to schedule a free consultation with Mr. Bloom, please call his office at (604) 603-5513 or Toll-Free at (877) 603-5513.