Sentencing Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act: Part 5

PUBLISHED ON April 9, 2025

The Youth Criminal Justice Act contains special provisions dealing with protecting the identity of young persons charged with criminal offences. It addresses publication bans at sentencing hearings, too, as well as retention periods of youth records. This article addresses these issues, found in Part 6 of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.  As always, this article provides general information only and is not intended as legal advice. If you require legal advice, you should contact a professional criminal lawyer to receive advice regarding your specific issue.

Publication Bans

The identity of all youths charged with criminal offences is subject to a publication ban. Section 110(1) of the YCJA states that no person shall publish the name of a young person or any other information related to a young person if it would identify the young person as a young person dealt with under this Act.

There are exceptions. Where a youth is sentenced as an adult, for example, the record will be dealt with as an adult record, so the publication ban will not apply (s. 110(2)(a)). For most youth sentencing cases, however, the publication ban will remain in effect throughout the completion of the sentencing hearing.

Destruction of a Youth Record after the Retention Period

All youth records are subject to retention periods, which begin to run after the sentence is completed (s. 119(2)(g)). For indictable matters, the retention period lasts five years.  If, within those five years, the individual commits an offence as an adult and is convicted, there will be indefinite retention of the YCJA matter. It will also deem the youth’s “finding of guilt” under the YCJA a conviction. Specifically, s. 119(9) states:

(9) If, during the period of access to a record under any of paragraphs (2)(g) to (j), the young person is convicted of an offence committed when he or she is an adult,

• (a) section 82 (effect of absolute discharge or termination of youth sentence) does not apply to the young person in respect of the offence for which the record is kept under sections 114 to 116;
• (b) This Part no longer applies to the record, and the record shall be dealt with as a record of an adult; and
• (c) for the purposes of the Criminal Records Act, the finding of guilt in respect of the offence for which the record is kept is deemed to be a conviction.

Once a youth record is closed, it is either destroyed or sent to the National Archives of Canada, or the Provincial Archives, to be stored. Records that are stored can be used for certain purposes like research and statistics but cannot identify the youth.

Conclusion

In the overwhelming majority of youth sentencing cases, the publication ban will remain in effect throughout the sentencing process. As always, this article is for information purposes only and not legal advice. If you need legal advice, contact a criminal defence lawyer like Brian Ross in Toronto at (416) 658-5855.