Statement on the Ford Government's Cash Bail Requirements

The Law Union of Ontario condemns the Ford government’s recent amendments to the Bail Act, which mandate cash deposits within two days of an accused person’s release on bail. Prior to these amendments, only in exceptional circumstances was an accused person, or their surety, required to put down a cash deposit as a condition of release. Now, accused people are forced to put up money to maintain their freedom. The Ford government’s imposition of a cash bail requirement is unjust and unconstitutional. It is part of a broader trend, both provincial and federal, of undermining the presumption of innocence, investing in the prison-industrial complex and waging a war on the poor.

Mandatory cash bail creates a cruel, two-tier legal system, in which accused people are punished simply because they do not have money. If an accused person is released on the promise to pay a financial penalty for breaching their bail conditions, the new amendments require that they, or their surety, must pay a cash deposit within two days of their release. In short, the poor and the rich are not equal under the law. Accused people with money-on-hand, or a surety to stand in their place, can stay out of jail. But accused people unable to pay this cash deposit will be subject to provincial prosecution. Effectively, the Ford government has put a cash price on freedom and subjected poor and vulnerable Ontarians to greater state scrutiny and potential criminal penalty.

Bill 75 is a betrayal of fundamental Charter protections: the presumption of innocence and the right to reasonable bail. Its short title is telling: Keeping Criminals Behind Bars Act. This Act labels people who have been charged with an offence, but have not been found guilty in a court of law, as “criminals” deserving of punishment and loss of freedom. The Charter mandates that courts and governments protect our freedom, not render it subject to having cash-on-hand. In Antic, the Supreme Court expressly recognized cash bail’s inconsistency with the Charter right not to be unreasonably denied bail, and that its imposition will result in the increased incarceration of accused persons. 

Requiring cash bail will have a disproportionate effect on poor, Indigenous, and Black people, as well as other vulnerable groups, including drug users and people living with severe mental illness, all of whom are already disproportionately criminalized and incarcerated. The imposition of cash bail will also further exacerbate the overcrowding in Ontario’s jails, where living conditions are deplorable, and the vast majority are legally innocent people held in pre-trial detention.

In effect, cash bail is nothing but a war on the poor. There are less onerous and more fair means of ensuring that accused people abide by their conditions of release, and that sureties fulfill their responsibilities to the court. 

What You Can Do:

The Law Union of Ontario urges the legal community to come together to advocate and litigate against the imposition of mandatory cash bail. In particular, we encourage all officers of Ontario’s criminal court to take creative measures to mitigate the effect cash bail will have on the Charter-protected rights of accused persons, with special regard to the most vulnerable and impoverished members of our community who will undoubtedly face the brunt of this injustice. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Criminal Lawyers’ Association have filed an urgent constitutional challenge as of August 17, 2026. While this vital legal challenge progresses, we urge our community to recognize that the needs of those most affected by the imposition of cash bail will not disappear while we await a court decision. 

For more information or to speak to a LUO member about the changes to the Bail Act, please email: contact@lawunion.ca.