C-238An Act to amend the Criminal Code (restitution orders)
Private member's bill, introduced in the House of Commons on September 22, 2025
- Status
- At report stage in the House of Commons since October 5, 2026
What it does
Creates a new kind of restitution order for some offences, letting courts order payment to organizations that provide front-line services to victims.
What it does
- Adds a new restitution option under the Criminal Code for some offences, letting a court order payment to an organization that gave front-line services to the victim.
- Limits that payment to the organization’s reasonable expenses, and only when the amount can be easily shown.
- Applies this option to offences of a sexual nature, offences linked to criminal harassment or trafficking in persons, offences involving violence, threatened violence or attempted violence against an intimate partner, and offences linked to controlled substances.
- Requires courts to pay restitution owed to a victim first, before any amount ordered to an organization under this new rule.
Who it affects
- Victims of sexual offences
- Victims of harassment or trafficking offences
- Victims of intimate partner violence
- Front-line service organizations
- People convicted of covered offences
- Courts
Topics
Background
The bill amends section 738 of the Criminal Code, which deals with restitution orders. It adds a new paragraph that allows payment to certain organizations that provide front-line services to victims.
Where it is
House of Commons
First reading
Completed.
Second reading
Completed.
Committee
Completed.
Report stage
Current stage. Now here
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-238, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (restitution orders)
Vote 101,
Passed
168 yeato153 nay · 18 paired
Party breakdown for vote 101 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Yea 161 0 13 Conservative Nay 0 133 7 Bloc Nay 0 20 2 NDP Yea 6 0 0 Green Yea 1 0 0 Total 168 153
What MPs said
Each party’s first speech on this bill in the House, from Hansard. Excerpts are the speaker’s opening sentences, unedited.
LiberalViviane LaPointe· November 3, 2025
“This bill comes from a simple but powerful idea: that justice should recognize not only the individual victim, but also the communities that bear the weight of the harm. Across Canada, our cities, towns and first nations are on the front lines of two intertwined crises: organized crime and the opioid epidemic.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caConservativeLarry Brock· November 3, 2025
“I want to begin by recognizing what the bill is trying to do: help those community frontline services that are carrying the heaviest load in the fight against crime and addiction. That is the goal every member can respect, but good intentions alone do not make good law.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caBlocRhéal Fortin· November 3, 2025
“Firstly, the bill would in theory allow for a legal entity to be compensated. This is inconsistent with the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, which states that “an individual who has suffered physical or emotional harm, property damage or economic loss as the result of the commission or alleged commission of an offence” can receive restitution.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.ca
Read the source
LEGISinfo status: At report stage in the House of Commons. Bill data from LEGISinfo, votes from openparliament.ca and the House of Commons. Last updated October 13, 2026.