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It is a criminal offence to leave a child alone in a parked vehicle. Typically, people who are accused of this are subject to the criminal charge of abandoning a child.
Section 218 in the Criminal Code of Canada pertains to this, which is described as unlawfully abandoning or exposing a child who is under the age of ten years in a way that its life or its health is or is likely to be endangered or permanently injured.
If found guilty, the offender can either be indicted and be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or be punishable on summary conviction and be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding eighteen months.
How the case proceeds, by indictment or summary conviction, depends on factors like the contextual severity of the alleged offence. If found guilty, an abandoning child conviction carries up to a five-year maximum sentence in the case of indictment by the Crown. Alternatively, if the Crown chooses to proceed summarily, the maximum sentence is eighteen months.
With respect to leaving children alone in cars, the law shows little tolerance and the frequency of charges for this offence is increasing. If this act is committed in severe weather conditions, it's very possible that a criminal charge will be laid by the attending police officers.
In order for a conviction to be achieved, the Crown would need to prove that by abandoning the child, the accused exposed the child to conditions where he/she was endangered or was likely to have been endangered. For such cases, "children" are defined in Section 218 as being under the age of 10.
Ontario parents accused of leaving their children unattended may also face ramifications under the province’s Child and Family Services Act. Although the accused would not be subject to criminal offence charges under this legislation, they would be subject to provincial offences, which are regulatory in nature. A conviction for these provincial offences does not lead to a criminal record for the accused.
However, such a conviction could prompt an investigation by a local Children’s Aid Society, but this would not warrant criminal charges for the alleged abandonment. This specific provincial legislation is applicable to children 16 years and under, unless the child is under the Children's Aid Society system already; then it applies to children under 18 years.
The legislation asserts a child is in need of protection when the child has suffered physical harm as a result of their parent’s failure to properly care for, provide for, supervise, or protect the child. It should be noted that Ontario’s child welfare legislation does not explicitly define child abandonment, so it is left open to interpretation, with context being a meaningful factor.
If you have been charged with child abandonment or any other criminal offence, consider reaching out to Kostman and Pyzer, Barristers for advice.
