Safer Municipalities Act, 2025
Sponsored by Flack, Hon. Rob · Royal Assent received. Statutes of Ontario 2025, chapter 5
- Creates a new law banning consumption of illegal substances in public places and giving police new enforcement powers, and adds sentencing factors for trespassing offences.
- Prohibits consuming an illegal substance in a public place, subject to specified exemptions.
- Defines 'public place' to include structures like tents used as unlawful dwellings there.
- Lets police or provincial offences officers order a person to stop, leave, or give their name and address.
- Officers may seize, remove and destroy suspected illegal substances and arrest without warrant; fines up to $10,000 or six months jail, or both.
- Adds two aggravating factors courts must consider when sentencing for the trespass offence.
- One factor: defendant stayed on premises after being told to leave, even if they left temporarily.
- Other factor: court finds the defendant likely to trespass again in the future.