Fraud Charges in Ontario: What They Mean and What Happens Next
Fraud covers everything from a bad cheque to an investment scheme, and the dollar amount involved mostly drives how serious the charge is. There's no mandatory jail time for fraud unless the amount is over $1 million.
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What counts as fraud, and how is it divided by amount?
Fraud is getting money, property, a service, or some other benefit from someone through lying or other dishonesty, putting them at real risk of loss. It doesn't need to succeed for the charge to apply. Common examples: identity fraud, credit card fraud, employment or benefits fraud, real estate or mortgage fraud, and investment scams. Like theft, it's charged by value: up to 14 years for fraud over $5,000, or up to 2 years for $5,000 or under, often through a faster process. Fraud over $1 million carries a mandatory minimum of 2 years, the only mandatory minimum in fraud cases.
Read what the video says
You never meant to steal. You moved the money.
The test: Fraud is a dishonest act that puts someone’s money at risk. Deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means. Moving money isn’t fraud by itself.
No loss, no profit needed: No loss needed. Risk of loss can be enough. You don’t have to profit.
What you knew: The Crown must prove what you knew. The dishonest act. And that it could put someone’s money at risk. A belief that nobody would end up hurt isn’t a defence.
Passing it along: Knowingly holding money from a crime can be its own charge. Moving money to hide it can be laundering. Only if you know or believe it’s from crime. Both depend on what you knew and meant. The Crown must prove it.
The amount: A maximum, not a prediction. Over $5,000: up to 14 years. $5,000 or less is still fraud: up to 2 years.
Paying it back: Paying the money back doesn’t automatically end a fraud charge. The Code doesn’t name repayment as a defence. After a conviction or discharge, a court can order restitution.
Your case turns on its own facts.
What to do now
- Facing fraud questions? Ask a lawyer about your case.
- Keep your bank records and messages as they are.
- Not a citizen? Ask about immigration too.
What does the Crown have to prove?
The Crown has to prove you were dishonest, through a lie or some other fraudulent method, and that this put someone else's money or interests at real risk, even if nobody ended up losing anything. In most fraud cases, the real fight is over whether what happened was genuinely dishonest, versus a mistake or a business deal gone bad.
What can happen after a fraud charge?
For lower-value, first-time cases, outcomes can include the charge being withdrawn, a peace bond, or a discharge. As the amount climbs, or where there's a breach of trust, such as fraud against an employer or a vulnerable person, sentences move toward real jail time. A conviction stays on your record unless you later get a record suspension. If you're not a Canadian citizen, a fraud conviction can carry immigration consequences of its own, so raise that with an immigration lawyer alongside your criminal case.
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Paid it back? The charge doesn't automatically go away
Paid it back? The charge doesn’t automatically go away.
Not an element: Repayment isn’t part of the offence. The Code doesn’t name it as a defence.
What a court can order: After a conviction or discharge, a court can order restitution. It’s in addition to other measures, not instead of them.
The Crown reviews every charge on its own facts.
What to do
- Charged or questioned? Ask a lawyer about your case.
Where to go from here
- Keep every document, statement, and message tied to the allegation. Don't delete anything.
- Don't contact anyone named as a victim or witness without legal advice first.
- Pin down the exact dollar amount being alleged, since it changes how the charge is treated.
People also ask
Is writing a bad cheque a criminal charge?
It can be, if the Crown can show you knew there wasn't enough money to cover it and meant to deceive the person you gave it to.
Do I need to have actually taken money for it to be fraud?
No. Fraud is complete once someone's money or interests are put at real risk through dishonesty, even if the scheme is caught first.
Will I go to jail for a first fraud charge?
Not necessarily. Jail becomes more likely as the amount grows or where there's a breach of trust, but there's no mandatory jail time below $1 million.
Sources
- Criminal Code, ss. 380, 380.1 (laws-lois.justice.gc.ca)
- Criminal Records Act (laws-lois.justice.gc.ca)
This page is general information about Ontario law as of September 2026. It isn't legal advice about your situation.