Bill C-231, An Act to amend the Youth Criminal Justice Act, moved a step closer to the Senate on 6 October 2026. Journals No. 146 record that the motion to concur in the bill at report stage, as amended by the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, “was agreed to.” Its sponsor, Luc Berthold (Mégantic—L’Érable—Lotbinière), then moved third reading. Debate began, and under the Standing Orders the item dropped to the bottom of the private members’ order of precedence. It returns for more third-reading debate later. The bill passed second reading on 15 April 2026 by 327 to 0.

The bill lets courts and police point young people toward treatment. It does not create or fund a single treatment program; provinces still decide what exists.
Citizen impact: The bill is aimed at teenagers whose offending is tied to drugs, and at their families. It gives police, prosecutors and youth courts more explicit ways to send a young person to treatment instead of, or before, a sentence. Whether that works depends on there being programs to send them to. The bill writes treatment into the Act but leaves program approval with the provincial director and the Attorney General.

What the bill does, as reported by committee

  • Police referral (s. 6(1.1)): where a youth is alleged to have committed simple possession under s. 4(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act or s. 8(1) of the Cannabis Act, the officer “shall consider whether it would be sufficient” to refer the youth, with consent, to a problematic substance use treatment program.
  • Extrajudicial sanctions (s. 10(3.1)): a sanction may include attending a treatment program.
  • Delayed sentencing (new s. 41.1): after a finding of guilt for any offence, a youth court may delay sentencing so the young person can attend a problematic substance use program “or any other treatment program.” This needs the consent of the Attorney General and the young person, and the court must consider the Act’s sentencing principles. The court must then consider that participation when it sentences (s. 42(1)).
  • Sentence and supervision conditions: treatment programs are written into non-residential program orders, capped at 240 hours over no more than six months (s. 42(2)(m)), into the conditions of youth sentence orders (s. 55(2)(e.1)), and into conditional supervision (s. 105(3)(c.1)).
  • Coordination with C-16: if the government’s Bill C-16 (Protecting Victims Act) becomes law, prosecutors get the same “shall consider” duty for possession cases.
  • Coming into force: 30 days after royal assent.

What committee changed

Comparing the first-reading text (19 September 2025) with the committee reprint (reported 1 June 2026) shows four main changes:

  • Program language: “addiction treatment program” became “problematic substance use treatment program,” and in most places “or any other treatment program” was added.
  • Police referral narrowed: the original duty covered any offence “linked to” a controlled substance or cannabis. The reported version covers only the two possession offences.
  • Delayed sentencing widened: it was limited to drug-linked offences and now covers any offence.
  • No-custody clause deleted: committee struck clause 3, which said a youth court “shall not commit a young person to custody” solely because the young person failed or refused to comply with a treatment condition.

What this piece refuses

Do not describe C-231 as “decriminalising” youth drug possession. Possession stays an offence, and treatment referral needs the youth’s consent. Do not write that it “mandates treatment”: police must consider referral, and courts may delay sentencing. Do not report the bill as passed. It still needs a third-reading vote in the House and then passage in the Senate.

Contested: Supporters say youth whose offending is driven by drugs are better served by treatment than by custody, and the second-reading vote was unanimous. Some will read the deleted no-custody clause as making non-compliance with treatment riskier for a young person. Others will read it as keeping judges’ discretion intact. The committee report and the reprinted text are the verified record. Committee debate was not reviewed for this piece.

Bottom line

Verified as of 7 October 2026 (LEGISinfo; Journals No. 146; first-reading and committee-reprint texts): C-231 is at third reading in the House. Police would have to consider treatment referral for youth possession charges, and youth courts could delay sentencing for treatment for any offence. The original bar on custody for refusing treatment is gone. Watch the third-reading vote and the Senate.