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 Alberta's Animal Protection Act. Allegations can involve wilfully causing unnecessary pain, suffering or injury, abandonment, or failure to provide suitable and adequate food, water, shelter and care, and the same facts can engage both statutes. On a conviction under section 445, 445.1, 446 or 447, the court can prohibit owning or having custody of animals for any period it considers appropriate — with no upper limit, and at least five years on a second or subsequent offence.
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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 accosting or impeding another person, or begging, while openly wearing or carrying a weapon or an imitation of one. 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 covers breaking and entering a place with intent to commit an indictable offence inside, breaking and entering and committing one, and breaking out afterward; theft is one example, but any indictable offence qualifies. Entry through an open door or window without lawful justification or excuse is deemed a break (section 350). Where the place is a dwelling-house, the maximum is life imprisonment; for any other place the offence is hybrid, with a 10-year maximum on indictment.
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Child Luring
Child luring under section 172.1 of the Criminal Code covers communicating by telecommunication with a person who is, or who the accused believes is, under 18 (or under 16, or under 14, depending on the offence) to facilitate a listed offence — mostly sexual offences, but also trafficking and abduction and, for offences on or after July 18, 2026, extortion of a sexual nature. Some files arise from undercover operations in which the “child” is a police officer. Issues include the accused's belief about age and the reasonable-steps requirement, entrapment, and the digital evidence.
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Child Pornography
Child pornography — now “child sexual abuse and exploitation material” in the Criminal Code — is governed by section 163.1, which creates five offences: making, distributing, possessing, accessing and, for offences on or after July 18, 2026, threatening to distribute the material. An intent to make a profit is an aggravating factor at sentencing (section 163.1(4.3)). Quebec (Attorney General) v Senneville, 2025 SCC 33, declared the one-year minimums for possession and accessing by indictment of no force or effect; Parliament has since affirmed their operation and enacted an individualized exception (section 718.4), and whether that restores them is unresolved.
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Criminal Harassment
Criminal harassment under section 264 of the Criminal Code — often called stalking — covers following, repeated communication, watching or besetting, and threatening conduct. For conduct before July 18, 2026, the Crown must prove the complainant reasonably feared for their safety or the safety of someone known to them. For conduct on or after that date, the test is objective — whether the conduct could reasonably be expected to cause the person to believe their safety, including psychological safety, is threatened — and actual fear is not required. Monitoring a person's location, movements, actions or social interactions was added on the same date.
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Dangerous Driving
Dangerous driving is governed by section 320.13 of the Criminal Code: operating a conveyance — including a motor vehicle — in a manner that, having regard to all the circumstances, is dangerous to the public. The maximum is 10 years on indictment, rising to 14 years where bodily harm is caused and to life where death is caused. Alberta's Traffic Safety Act has its own driving offences and licence consequences, which run alongside the federal charge.
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Domestic Violence
Domestic violence files involve criminal charges — such as assault, uttering threats, mischief, criminal harassment or breach of a release order — in a current or former intimate-partner context. For conduct on or after July 17, 2026, a separate intimate partner violence offence (section 263.1) can raise the maximum available for the underlying offence. The decision to continue a prosecution rests with the Crown, not the complainant. Release conditions, including no-contact terms, are set at the outset and can stay in place for the life of the file.
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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 exportation, and production. The schedule a substance falls in, together with the offence charged, sets the maximum penalty, which reaches life imprisonment for the most serious forms. Searches, vehicle stops and warrants are reviewable under sections 8 and 9 of the Charter, and evidence obtained in breach may be excluded under section 24(2).
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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. A conviction or a discharge can also bring a weapons prohibition order under section 109 or 110 of the Criminal Code, and licensing consequences under the federal Firearms Act.
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Flight from Police
Flight from a peace officer under section 320.17 of the Criminal Code — failing, without reasonable excuse, to stop a motor vehicle or vessel while being pursued by a peace officer — is a hybrid offence with a 10-year maximum on indictment. Prosecuted by indictment, it can meet the section 752 definition of a serious personal injury offence where the conduct endangered another person's life or safety. Where injury or death results, other charges can be laid, such as dangerous operation causing bodily harm or death. Disqualification under Alberta's Traffic Safety Act runs independently of any federal sentence.
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Fraud & White-Collar Crime
Fraud under section 380 of the Criminal Code covers defrauding the public or any person of property, money, a valuable security or any service by deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means. Where the value exceeds $5,000, or the subject matter is a testamentary instrument, the offence is indictable with a 14-year maximum; at $5,000 or less it is hybrid. Fraud affecting the public market price of stocks or goods (section 380(2)) also carries 14 years. White-collar files can involve voluminous disclosure, parallel regulatory proceedings, and 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 a computer (section 342.1), and identity documents (section 56.1). Since 2018, identity theft under section 402.2(1) requires possessing or obtaining another person's identity information with intent to use it to commit an indictable offence that includes fraud, deceit or falsehood as an element. Investigations can span several jurisdictions and draw on banking, telecommunications and internet-service-provider records.
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Immediate Roadside Sanctions
The Immediate Roadside Sanctions (IRS) program operates under Alberta's Traffic Safety Act and Provincial Administrative Penalties Act and applies to alcohol- and drug-impaired driving allegations through administrative penalties — licence suspension, vehicle seizure, and monetary penalties — imposed at the roadside. A review by a SafeRoads Alberta adjudicator must be requested within 7 days, with a late review available within 12 months, only in prescribed exceptional circumstances. 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 to any degree by alcohol, a drug or both, and blood alcohol or blood drug concentrations at or over the legal limits. Minimum punishments under section 320.19 include a fine for a first offence (graduated by blood alcohol concentration for “over 80”) and jail for repeat offences. For sentencings on or after July 18, 2026, section 718.4 requires a shorter jail term where the minimum would be cruel and unusual for that offender; that term is still a minimum. Driving prohibitions and Alberta licence consequences run in parallel.
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Mischief
Mischief under section 430 of the Criminal Code covers wilfully destroying or damaging property; rendering it dangerous, useless, inoperative or ineffective; or obstructing, interrupting or interfering with its lawful use, enjoyment or operation. Section 430(1.1) covers the same conduct in relation to computer data. Maximums depend on the property and the effect: life where the mischief causes actual danger to life; 10 years on indictment for property worth more than $5,000, a testamentary instrument, computer data, cultural property, war memorials or cemeteries, or listed community property where bias, prejudice or hate is proved; two years for other property.
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Obstruction
Obstruction under section 129 of the Criminal Code covers resisting or wilfully obstructing a public officer or peace officer in the execution of their duty, or anyone lawfully assisting them; failing without reasonable excuse to assist an officer after reasonable notice; and obstructing the lawful execution of process against lands or goods. Giving police false information can fall within it. The Crown must prove the officer was acting in the lawful execution of their duty; where the officer's conduct was itself unlawful, that element is not made out.
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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 covers theft with violence or threats, assault with intent to steal, and theft while armed with an offensive weapon or an imitation. Every form carries a life maximum. The four-year minimum for robbery with other firearms was repealed in 2022 (Bill C-5); the five- and seven-year minimums remain where a restricted or prohibited firearm is used, or any firearm for a criminal organization. For sentencings on or after July 18, 2026, section 718.4 requires a shorter term where the minimum would be cruel and unusual for that offender; that term is still a minimum.
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Sexual Assault
Sexual assault is governed by sections 271 through 273 of the Criminal Code. Consent and mistaken belief turn on sections 273.1 and 273.2 (as amended in 2018) and on Supreme Court decisions including Barton. R v Bilinski (heard May 22, 2026; under reserve as of October 24, 2026) concerns the mental element the Crown must prove where the defence of honest but mistaken belief in communicated consent does not arise. Pre-trial applications under the sexual-history and records regimes — considered in J.J. and Kinamore, and restructured for charges laid on or after July 18, 2026 — can shape the evidence available at trial.
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Sexual Offences
Sexual offences under the Criminal Code include sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching (sections 151 and 152), sexual exploitation (section 153), voyeurism and sharing intimate images without consent (sections 162 and 162.1), child luring, and child sexual abuse and exploitation material. Consent is generally not a defence where the complainant is under 16, subject to narrow close-in-age exceptions (section 150.1). A conviction can bring SOIRA registration and section 161 orders, and since July 18, 2026 every sexual offence is treated as an offence involving violence for bail purposes.
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Theft
Theft under section 322 of the Criminal Code covers fraudulently and without colour of right taking or converting property, with one of the intents the section lists. Penalties are graduated by value under section 334, and both tiers are hybrid: where the value exceeds $5,000 (or the property is a testamentary instrument), the maximum on indictment is 10 years; at $5,000 or less, it is two years. Specialized provisions cover motor vehicle theft (section 333.1), theft by a person required to account (section 330), and criminal breach of trust (section 336).
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Uttering Threats
Uttering threats under section 264.1 of the Criminal Code covers knowingly uttering, conveying or causing someone to receive a threat to cause death or bodily harm to any person, to burn, destroy or damage property, or to kill, poison or injure an animal or bird that is someone's property. A threat can be made in any manner — in person, by text message, on social media, or otherwise. The Crown must prove that a reasonable person would understand the words as a threat and that the accused intended them to intimidate or to be taken seriously.
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