C-283An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (addiction treatment in penitentiaries)
Private member's bill, introduced in the House of Commons on June 14, 2022
- Status
- Defeated at second reading in the House of Commons
What it does
Lets some people ask to serve a prison sentence in a designated addiction treatment facility, and changes correctional rules for those facilities.
What it does
- Allows a sentencing court, on request, to recommend serving all or part of a sentence in a designated facility for addiction treatment, if the person has a pattern of substance use linked to the offence, agrees to treatment, and the offence meets set limits.
- Requires courts that make a recommendation to send their reasons, related reports, and other relevant information to the Correctional Service of Canada.
- Requires the Correctional Service of Canada to place the person in a designated facility as soon as reasonably possible after a recommendation.
- Lets the Commissioner designate a penitentiary, or part of one, as an addiction treatment facility, and lets the minister make agreements with provinces to provide addiction treatment programs there.
- Requires correctional plans and placement decisions to consider substance use, treatment programs, willingness to participate, and mental health assessments within 30 days of arrival.
- Adds addiction treatment care in a designated facility to the Act’s definition of health care, and adds rules for moving inmates within a penitentiary to a designated facility.
Who it affects
- People sentenced to federal prison
- Inmates with substance use issues
- Correctional Service of Canada
- Federal courts
- Provincial governments
- Addiction treatment providers
Topics
Where it is
House of Commons
First reading
Completed.
Second reading
Defeated here. Defeated
Committee
Not reached.
Report stage
Not reached.
Third reading
Not reached.
Senate
First reading
Not reached.
Second reading
Not reached.
Committee
Not reached.
Third reading
Not reached.
Royal assent
Royal assent
Not reached.
Introduced by an MP who is not a minister. These bills compete in a lottery for debate time, and most do not become law. How a bill becomes law
How the House voted
2nd reading of Bill C-283, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (addiction treatment in penitentiaries)
Vote 274,
Failed
146 yeato177 nay · 2 paired
Party breakdown for vote 274 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Nay 0 152 5 Conservative Yea 114 0 1 Bloc Yea 29 0 3 NDP Nay 0 24 1 Green Split evenly 1 1 0 Independent Yea 2 0 0 Total 146 177
What MPs said
Each party’s first speech on this bill in the House, from Hansard. Excerpts are the speaker’s opening sentences, unedited.
LiberalPam Damoff· October 25, 2022
“The bill proposes specific amendments that would repeal all mandatory minimum penalties in the CDSA and require police and prosecutors to consider alternatives, including diverting individuals to treatment programs instead of laying charges or prosecuting individuals for simple drug possession.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caConservativeTracy Gray· June 14, 2022
“Moved for leave to introduce Bill C-283, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (addiction treatment in penitentiaries).”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caBlocKristina Michaud· March 22, 2023
“I am very pleased that the member for Kelowna—Lake Country contacted me a few months ago to tell me about the bill she is introducing to propose a solution. The bill would allow inmates to be sent to drug treatment facilities.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caNDPLisa Marie Barron· March 22, 2023
“I want to first thank the member for Kelowna—Lake Country for putting forward this bill. In my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith and across Canada, we are losing loved ones at an alarming rate as a result of the toxic substance crisis.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.ca
Read the source
LEGISinfo status: Bill defeated. Bill data from LEGISinfo, votes from openparliament.ca and the House of Commons. Last updated October 13, 2026.