First degree murder and high treason carry the longest period of parole ineligibility in the Criminal Code, at 25 years.
A statutory amendment to allow periods of parole ineligibility greater than 25 years was held to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Bissonnette (2022 SCC 23), as contrary to section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.
Parole eligibility for second degree murder typically varies between 10 and 25 years, and is set by the sentencing judge.
[1] High treason and first degree murder carry a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with a full parole ineligibility period of 25 years.
An amendment to the Criminal Code passed in 2014 granted courts the authority to issue consecutive life sentences, in effect allowing for multiple periods of parole ineligibility to be stacked and lead to a total parole ineligibility period of greater than 25 years.
The Supreme Court ruled that Alexandre Bissonnette, who attacked the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City in 2017 and murdered six worshippers, would be permitted the option of applying for parole after 25 years.
[15][16] Offences under the Criminal Code that carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment in Canada (with a parole ineligibility period of between 7 years and 25 years) include treason, piracy, mutiny, aircraft hijacking, endangering the safety of an aircraft or an airport, endangering the safety of a ship or fixed platform, refusing to disperse after a riot proclamation, arson (disregard for human life), robbery, kidnapping, break and enter with intent, attempted murder, accessory after the fact to murder, conspiracy to commit murder, manslaughter, causing death by street racing, impaired driving causing death, causing death by criminal negligence, killing an unborn child in the act of birth, and aggravated sexual assault.
[25] Even if the crown does discharge its burden of proving an adult sentence is justified, the period of parole ineligibility for murder is nonetheless different for youths.