An Act to amend the Criminal Code

Sponsor

Frank Caputo  Conservative

Introduced as a private member’s bill. (These don’t often become law.)

Status

Second reading (House), as of Oct. 20, 2025

Subscribe to a feed (what's a feed?) of speeches and votes in the House related to Bill C-225.

Summary

This is from the published bill.

This enactment amends the Criminal Code in order to:
(a) create specific offences in respect of intimate partner violence and to prohibit a peace officer from releasing a person arrested for an intimate partner offence if the person has committed an intimate partner offence in the preceding five years or is at large on a release order in respect of an intimate partner offence;
(b) allow a court to order that an accused charged with an offence involving intimate partner violence be taken into custody for a risk-of-reoffending assessment at any stage of proceedings; and
(c) increase the detention period of things seized under section 490 of the Act from three months to one year and to provide for circumstances in which notices to the person from whom the thing was seized may be dispensed with.

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

Bill numbers are reused for different bills each new session. Perhaps you were looking for one of these other C-225s:

C-225 (2022) An Act to amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 (pension plans and group insurance plans)
C-225 (2020) An Act to amend the Aeronautics Act, the Fishing and Recreational Harbours Act and other Acts (application of provincial law)
C-225 (2020) An Act to amend the Aeronautics Act, the Fishing and Recreational Harbours Act and other Acts (application of provincial law)
C-225 (2016) Protection of Pregnant Women and Their Preborn Children Act (Cassie and Molly's Law)

Debate Summary

line drawing of robot

This is a computer-generated summary of the speeches below. Usually it’s accurate, but every now and then it’ll contain inaccuracies or total fabrications.

Bill C-225 aims to amend the Criminal Code by creating specific offences for assault and criminal harassment of intimate partners, designating the murder of an intimate partner as first-degree murder, allowing risk assessments, and updating detention laws.

Conservative

  • Strengthens intimate partner violence laws: The bill creates distinct offences for intimate partner assault and criminal harassment, makes the murder of an intimate partner first-degree murder, and allows for judicial-ordered risk assessments to prevent escalation.
  • Addresses an epidemic of violence: The party considers intimate partner violence an epidemic with rising rates of assault and sexual assault, emphasizing that the bill offers concrete, non-partisan action to protect victims.
  • Calls for immediate legislative action: Conservatives urge swift passage of Bill C-225, including collapsing debate, to address the increasing rates of intimate partner violence and prevent further tragedies like Bailey McCourt's.

Bloc

  • Supports committee discussion: The Bloc supports discussing the issue in committee to find solutions that balance the presumption of innocence, offender rehabilitation, and public safety, while expressing solidarity with victims.
  • Advocates a balanced approach: The party advocates for a balanced and prudent approach, avoiding extreme solutions, and calls for expert input and actual statistics to guide decision-making on measures like electronic bracelets.
  • Calls for government funding: The Bloc urges the government to provide necessary funding to provinces for rehabilitation programs, crime prevention, and judicial resources to ensure timely trials and uphold principles.

Liberal

  • Bill C-225 could harm victims: The party views Bill C-225 as well-intentioned but ill-conceived, arguing its proposed changes could negatively affect victims rather than truly protecting them, and advocates for evidence-based measures.
  • Opposes automatic first-degree murder: The party strongly opposes the bill's proposal to automatically classify IPV-related killings as first-degree murder, warning it could unfairly penalize abused women who kill their aggressors.
  • Supports comprehensive, evidence-driven reforms: The government advocates for deliberate, evidence-driven reforms developed in collaboration with survivors and experts to address the full spectrum of intimate partner violence, building on prior legislative actions.
Was this summary helpful and accurate?

Criminal CodePrivate Members' Business

October 20th, 2025 / noon

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès) Alexandra Mendes

That would be a pretty tough debate, which we are not going to have right now.

We are going to finish with the hon. member's intervention, and I am going to ask him to try to avoid using discriminatory adjectives to describe other members.

Criminal CodePrivate Members' Business

October 20th, 2025 / noon

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

Madam Speaker, the point is that the member is trying to raise this as an important issue, and let there be no doubt that intimate partner violence is an important issue—

Criminal CodePrivate Members' Business

October 20th, 2025 / noon

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Criminal CodePrivate Members' Business

October 20th, 2025 / noon

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès) Alexandra Mendes

Hon. members will come to order.

We have to let the hon. parliamentary secretary finish his intervention.

Criminal CodePrivate Members' Business

October 20th, 2025 / noon

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

Madam Speaker, the second part of what the member was asking for was to depoliticize it. This government has taken apolitical action, and we have seen nothing but political reaction coming from the Conservatives, day in and day out. In fact, in the example I was providing, the member used a false pretense on social media in order to generate negative feelings toward the legislation or toward me personally.

At the end of the day, we recognize that the issue is important. That is why we have taken many steps, whether they are legislative initiatives or budgetary measures, to support women. The parliamentary secretary for the department made it very clear that we, as a government, have invested tens of millions of dollars in fighting domestic violence and supporting women in our communities, yet time and time again, we get Conservative after Conservative standing up and voting against our initiatives. That is the reality. When a Conservative member stands up and says, “I have a bill”, I will emphasize time and time again how important it is that we, as parliamentarians, do whatever we can to support the victims of intimate partner violence. I will stand up all the time and advocate for doing what we can.

I asked the member if he could tell us what sort of consultation he has done, and his response was that he was a Crown attorney. I was a critic for justice when I was an MLA. That does not necessarily mean that we do not have to do the proper consultation, whether it is with the provinces or the many different stakeholders, like women's organizations, shelters and abuse centres.

It is important that we look at that legislation. I hope to be able to continue my remarks—

Criminal CodePrivate Members' Business

October 20th, 2025 / noon

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès) Alexandra Mendes

The hon. member will have a minute to conclude his remarks when we next debate this bill.

The time provided for the consideration of Private Members' Business has now expired, and the order is dropped to the bottom of the order of precedence on the Order Paper.