Calgary & Southern Alberta
Criminal Defence in Alberta
Facing criminal charges is unsettling, and the early decisions matter. KJR Law represents people across the full spectrum of criminal matters in Alberta — administrative driving sanctions and impaired driving, theft and fraud, assault and domestic violence, sexual offences, and homicide. We work through the Crown's case carefully, explain what the law actually requires, and walk through the resolution paths available so you can make informed decisions about your file.
Animal Cruelty
Animal cruelty offences are governed primarily by sections 444 to 447.1 of the Criminal Code and by the Alberta Animal Protection Act. Files in this area typically involve allegations of wilful neglect, failure to provide adequate care, or active mistreatment, and they routinely engage both the criminal track and a parallel regulatory track. Convictions can produce prohibition orders banning the keeping of animals — sometimes for life.
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Arson
Arson offences are governed by sections 433 to 436.1 of the Criminal Code. The provisions distinguish among arson causing danger to life, arson causing damage to property, arson for fraudulent purposes, arson by negligence, and the lesser offence of possession of incendiary materials. Investigation work in these files is fire-science-driven and reviewable on its technical merits.
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Assault
Assault under section 265 of the Criminal Code covers the application of force, the attempt or threat of force, and the act of accosting another person while openly wearing or carrying a weapon. The provision is broad; visible injury is not required, and contact is not required where a threat is alleged. Charges range from common assault to assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm, and aggravated assault.
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Break and Enter
Break and enter offences are governed by section 348 of the Criminal Code. The offence requires unlawful entry into a place with intent to commit an indictable offence inside — most commonly theft, but the principle extends to any indictable offence. Where the place is a dwelling, the maximum sentence is life imprisonment.
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Child Luring
Child luring under section 172.1 of the Criminal Code covers the use of telecommunications to communicate with a person believed to be under 18 (or under 16, or under 14, depending on the underlying offence) for the purpose of facilitating a sexual offence. These files frequently arise from undercover police operations in which the “child” is in fact an officer. The investigation, the entrapment analysis, and the digital-evidence framework are the contested terrain.
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Child Pornography
Child pornography offences are governed by section 163.1 of the Criminal Code. The provision creates five principal offences — making, distributing, possessing, accessing, and the aggravated offence for profit — and the sentencing landscape has been fundamentally reshaped by the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2025 decision in Attorney General of Quebec v. Senneville. Forensic-evidence challenges and Charter litigation are at the heart of modern files.
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Criminal Harassment
Criminal harassment under section 264 of the Criminal Code — often called stalking — requires repeated or persistent conduct that causes another person to reasonably fear for their safety or the safety of someone known to them. Modern files frequently rest on digital communications: text messages, social-media activity, GPS data. The conduct alleged, the relationship history, and the question of what was reasonably foreseeable are the litigated ground.
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Dangerous Driving
Dangerous driving offences are governed by section 320.13 of the Criminal Code (and parallel provisions in Alberta’s Traffic Safety Act). The offence requires operation of a motor vehicle in a manner dangerous to the public, having regard to all the circumstances. Sentencing escalates substantially where bodily harm or death is alleged, and parallel provincial sanctions stack onto the federal charge.
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Domestic Violence
Domestic violence files involve criminal charges — typically assault, uttering threats, mischief, or breach of order — in a current or former intimate-partner context. Once police are called, the file is rarely subject to withdrawal at the complainant’s request alone, and the prosecution is conducted by Alberta’s specialized Domestic Violence Court track. The first 24 hours, the bail conditions, and the no-contact order frequently set the shape of the file for months.
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Drug Offences
Drug offences are governed primarily by the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and cover possession, possession for the purpose of trafficking, trafficking, importation, and production. Schedule classification determines the sentencing exposure; trafficking and production charges carry the most serious consequences. Charter-driven challenges to searches, vehicle stops, and warrants do substantial work in these files.
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Firearms Offences
Firearms offences cover a wide range of conduct: unauthorized possession, possession contrary to a prohibition order, unsafe storage, use in commission of an offence, trafficking, and the import or export of weapons. The penalty structure escalates by firearm classification — restricted and prohibited firearms attract substantially higher exposure than non-restricted variants. Parallel licensing consequences under the federal firearms regime follow conviction.
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Flight from Police
Flight from a peace officer under section 320.17 of the Criminal Code — failure to stop a motor vehicle for police — is a stand-alone Criminal Code offence with serious sentencing exposure. Where bodily harm or death is alleged, the offence is treated as a serious personal injury offence under section 752. Parallel disqualification provisions under Alberta’s Traffic Safety Act operate independently of any federal sentence.
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Fraud & White-Collar Crime
Fraud under section 380 of the Criminal Code covers the use of deceit, falsehood, or other fraudulent means to deprive another of money, property, or any valuable security. Where the amount exceeds $5,000 (or where the offence affects the public market or involves a position of trust), the offence is indictable with substantial penalty exposure. White-collar files typically involve voluminous disclosure, parallel regulatory proceedings, and complex restitution questions.
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Identity Theft
Identity-theft and cyber-fraud offences are governed primarily by sections 402.1 through 403 of the Criminal Code, along with related provisions covering credit-card data (sections 342 and 342.01), unauthorized use of computers (section 342.1), and identity-document offences (section 56.1). The framework was significantly expanded by Bill S-4 (2009) and continues to evolve with each technology cycle. Investigations frequently span multiple jurisdictions and involve banking, telecommunications, and internet-service-provider records.
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Immediate Roadside Sanctions
The Immediate Roadside Sanctions (IRS) program operates under Alberta’s Provincial Administrative Penalties Act and applies to alcohol- and drug-impaired driving allegations through immediate administrative penalties — licence suspension, vehicle seizure, and monetary penalties — imposed at the roadside. Disputes proceed through SafeRoads Alberta on a 7-day timeline. IRS sanctions can apply alongside, or instead of, criminal charges.
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Impaired Driving
Impaired driving offences are governed by section 320.14 of the Criminal Code and cover impairment by alcohol, by drug, or by the combined effect of both, as well as driving over the prescribed blood-alcohol or blood-drug concentration. Mandatory minimums apply on conviction, with penalties graduated by blood-alcohol concentration under section 320.19. Federal driving prohibitions and Alberta licence-suspension consequences run in parallel.
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Mischief
Mischief under section 430 of the Criminal Code covers destruction or damage to property, rendering property dangerous, useless, inoperative, or ineffective, or wrongful interference with the lawful use, enjoyment, or operation of property. The conduct caught is wide. Penalty exposure escalates substantially where the property is computer data (section 430(1.1)) or where mischief endangers life.
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Obstruction
Obstruction of a peace officer under section 129 of the Criminal Code covers wilful interference with a peace officer in the lawful execution of their duties — resisting arrest, refusing to identify, providing false information, or otherwise impeding investigation. The “lawful execution” element is the most-litigated piece: where the officer’s conduct itself was unlawful, the obstruction charge cannot stand.
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Possession of Stolen Property
Possession of property obtained by crime under section 354 of the Criminal Code applies whether or not the accused was the original thief. The Crown’s case is supplemented by the common-law doctrine of recent possession from R v Kowlyk, [1988] 2 SCR 59 and, in motor-vehicle files, by the statutory VIN presumption under section 354(2). Trafficking offences under sections 355.2 and 355.4 carry materially higher exposure.
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Robbery
Robbery under section 343 of the Criminal Code is theft accompanied by violence, threats of violence, or the use or display of a weapon, including imitation weapons. Every variant carries a life maximum. The mandatory minimum framework was substantially restructured by Bill C-5 in 2022 and was clarified by the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Hilbach, 2023 SCC 3 — the 4-year minimum for robbery with an ordinary firearm was repealed; the 5- and 7-year minimums for restricted or prohibited firearms remain in force.
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Sexual Assault
Sexual assault is governed by sections 271 through 273 of the Criminal Code, covering the simple offence, sexual assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm, and aggravated sexual assault. The consent and mistaken-belief framework has been substantially reshaped by Parliament’s 2018 amendments and by Supreme Court of Canada decisions in Barton, J.J., and Kinamore — with judgment reserved in May 2026 in R v Bilinski, which is expected to refine the mens rea analysis in every sexual assault prosecution. Pre-trial applications under sections 276 and 278.92, along with the records regime in section 278, frequently shape what evidence is available at trial.
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Sexual Offences
Sexual offences are governed primarily by sections 271 through 273 of the Criminal Code (sexual assault and its aggravated forms), along with the offences in sections 151 through 153 (sexual offences against children and youth) and a range of related provisions including voyeurism, sharing of intimate images without consent, and child luring. These files engage specialized procedural rules under sections 276 and 278 of the Criminal Code. Sentencing exposure is substantial across the framework.
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Theft
Theft under section 322 of the Criminal Code covers the fraudulent taking or conversion of property without colour of right. Penalties are graduated by value under section 334 — theft over $5,000 attracts a 10-year maximum on indictment; theft under $5,000 is a hybrid offence. Specialized provisions cover motor vehicle theft (section 333.1), theft by a person required to account (section 332), and criminal breach of trust (section 336).
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Uttering Threats
Uttering threats under section 264.1 of the Criminal Code covers threats to cause death or bodily harm to a person, to burn, destroy, or damage property, or to kill, poison, or injure an animal. The offence can arise from heated arguments, text messages, social-media posts, or any communicated statement. The Crown must prove the words were uttered, that they amounted to a threat, and that they were made knowingly — the absence of any of those elements is open ground.
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