A teenager grabs a phone out of someone’s hand at a bus shelter. A man leaves a store with unpaid goods, and a security guard stops him at the door; there’s a shove. Someone demands money from a coworker he says owes him. None of these looks like the masked bank hold-up most people picture when they hear the word robbery. Depending on the evidence, any of them could still be charged that way.
Robbery is one of the most serious offences in the Criminal Code. It carries a potential life sentence, it can’t be dealt with summarily, and it stands apart from theft or assault in ways that matter. The gap between what was taken and how it was taken is often what the whole case is about. Understanding the Crown’s burden helps you see where a charge may be strong and where it may not hold up.
This is general information, not legal advice. Whether an allegation fits the offence depends on evidence that needs to be reviewed by a lawyer who has read your full disclosure.
Four Paths to One Offence
Section 343 sets out four different ways of committing robbery:
1. Stealing with violence or threats. The person steals and, in order to extort the property or to prevent or overcome resistance to the theft, uses violence or threats of violence to a person or property. Note the words “or property.” Threatening to smash a vehicle unless someone hands over their wallet can qualify.
2. Stealing from someone and using force at the time. This covers stealing from a person and, at the time or immediately before or after, wounding, beating, striking or using personal violence against them.
3. Assaulting with intent to steal. This route doesn’t need an actual theft. An assault with the purpose of stealing from someone is enough, even if the person walks away with nothing.
4. Stealing while armed. Stealing from a person while armed with an offensive weapon or an imitation of one is robbery, even without any threat or force being used. A replica handgun tucked into a waistband can count.
Each route has its own elements, and a charge sheet doesn’t always make clear which one the Crown will rely on. The first step in any defence is working out exactly what theory is being advanced.
The Theft Component
Except for the third route, the Crown must prove theft as an element of robbery. That brings in section 322’s requirement that the taking be done “fraudulently and without colour of right.” Colour of right means an honest belief in a legal entitlement to the property, even if that belief turns out to be mistaken.
Consider a hypothetical. Two men in Brampton argue over a tool set that one of them says he lent to the other. The first man grabs it, and there’s a scuffle. If he honestly believed that it was his, the Crown may have difficulty proving theft, and without theft there can’t be a robbery on the first two routes. An assault charge may remain, and it doesn’t change the fact that force is rarely a lawful way of recovering property. But legally, it’s a much smaller case.
The honest belief must be about ownership of that property, though. A belief that you’re owed money in general won’t always justify seizing someone’s goods. These cases turn on detail: what was said, what the history was, and how believable the claimed entitlement is. Text messages from before the event are often the best evidence of what somebody really believed.
How Much Force Is Enough?
Force, in the sense of the robbery provisions, need not be severe. No injury is required. The core question is whether violence or threats were used to get the property or overcome resistance, or whether personal violence was used at the time of the theft.
The trickiest facts usually involve snatches. Pulling a purse off someone’s shoulder or a phone out of their hand with enough force that they feel it can be enough for a robbery charge, but a light, quick taking that involves no real force against the person might not be. Courts look closely at how the force was applied and whether it was directed at the person or simply at the object. The difference between theft from the person and robbery can decide whether a person faces a possible life sentence.
Stores are another common source. A shoplifting allegation can escalate if there’s a struggle with loss prevention staff on the way out. That’s because force used to prevent resistance to the theft can turn it into robbery. If the file began as something closer to shoplifting, a careful look at the video may show who touched whom first and whether the physical contact was really part of the theft. A person who pushes past someone in panic after dropping the items is in a different position from someone who strikes a guard in order to keep them.
Weapons and Imitations
An “offensive weapon” is defined broadly and overlaps with the Criminal Code’s definition of a weapon. A knife, bat, or firearm clearly counts. So can an ordinary object that’s used or intended to be used to cause injury or to threaten. A claim that the object was only ever a toy doesn’t help much, since the section expressly mentions imitations.
The Crown has to prove the person was actually armed, or that an imitation was involved. Sometimes, the only evidence of a weapon is a complainant’s impression of something in a pocket or under a jacket. That raises a question of reliability. A hand held inside a hoodie might support a threat, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that someone was armed.
Weapons matter at sentencing and at bail as well. Bail hearings for robbery allegations involving firearms can involve a reverse onus depending on the circumstances, meaning you may need to show why you should be released.
When More Than One Person Is Involved
Group incidents raise a different question. Section 21 makes people liable as parties if they do something to help, or encourage, another person in committing an offence. A driver who waits outside knowing what’s about to happen may be just as guilty as the person who enters the store. A friend who blocks a door may be too.
Merely being present isn’t enough, though. A person who is simply there when a friend suddenly decides to take someone’s phone, without having helped or encouraged it, isn’t a party simply because they didn’t walk away. The Crown must prove knowledge and an act of assistance or encouragement. Text messages and video of how people moved before and after will often be what proves or undermines this.
Young people are often involved in these allegations. Anyone aged 12 to 17 goes through the Youth Criminal Justice Act, with different procedures and sentencing principles.
Identification Evidence
Many robbery investigations rely on identification from a stranger who saw the person for a few frightened seconds. Courts in Canada have long warned about mistaken eyewitness evidence. The certainty of a witness doesn’t necessarily mean they’re accurate.
Your lawyer will likely examine:
- how long the witness had to see the person, in what lighting, and from what distance;
- whether a weapon drew their attention;
- how the first description compares with your actual appearance;
- how a photo line-up was put together and run, and whether the witness was told anything that might influence them;
- whether security or phone footage clearly shows a face, or only clothing;
- what cell-site data, transit records or fingerprints add, and how much they actually show.
Brampton’s commercial plazas often have multiple cameras. Footage is excellent evidence for both sides when it exists, but it doesn’t last. If there’s video that could help you, tell your lawyer quickly so a preservation request can be made.
Procedure and Possible Sentences
Since the maximum is life imprisonment, a robbery charge has a specific path. It’s strictly indictable. You can elect trial by an Ontario Court of Justice judge, by a Superior Court judge alone, or by a judge and jury, and either court may hear it at 7755 Hurontario Street. Because the maximum exceeds 14 years, you may ask for a preliminary inquiry if you elect a Superior Court trial, a chance to test the Crown’s evidence under oath before a trial.
Section 344 sets out the punishment:
- With a restricted or prohibited firearm, or with any firearm where the offence is for a criminal organization: life as the maximum, with a minimum of five years on a first offence and seven years for a second or subsequent offence.
- In any other case: up to life imprisonment, with no minimum.
Having no minimum doesn’t mean the penalty will be light. Real jail is a serious prospect in many robbery cases, especially when there’s a weapon, violence, a vulnerable victim or a planned operation. On the other hand, the circumstances vary widely, from sophisticated armed hold-ups to spontaneous phone grabs, and sentences reflect that. Youth, a lack of record, and rehabilitative efforts are all considered. A discharge isn’t available because the maximum is life.
The federal Bail and Sentencing Reform Act, in force from July 15, 2026, added factors that can affect some robbery cases. They include a sentencing aggravating factor for organized retail theft (which expressly includes robbery), a factor for repeat violent offenders with a violent conviction within five years, and a reverse onus at bail for serious violent offences where the accused has two or more prior similar convictions.
Longer-term effects include a likely weapons prohibition under section 109, an order to provide a DNA sample, and a criminal record that can affect employment and travel. For non-citizens, immigration consequences can be severe and should be reviewed before any resolution is discussed.
Lesser Findings
A judge or jury doesn’t always have to choose between robbery and a complete acquittal. Depending on the wording of the charge, a court might find a person guilty of an included offence if the evidence doesn’t prove robbery but does prove something smaller, such as theft, or an assault. This can also shape plea discussions, in which the defence might argue that the true nature of the event is a lesser charge. The Crown decides on its own whether to accept. Reasonable, well-documented arguments carry more weight than general appeals for leniency.
Early Steps
Anyone arrested for robbery should use the right to speak with a lawyer right away, and shouldn’t give a statement until they’ve done so. Police will often suggest that explaining your side will help. It’s a decision to take after advice, not in the moment.
Your bail plan is the next priority. A robbery charge often means a contested bail hearing, so it helps to have a proposed surety and details about where you’ll live, as well as information about work or school. Family members who want to help should speak with counsel about what serving as a surety requires, and they should avoid discussing the facts of the case with you.
The firm’s criminal law page gives more information on how these files are handled, and you can arrange a consultation to review the charges and your disclosure. What a person is alleged to have done can sound much worse on an arrest report than it does once the evidence is closely tested, and the only way to know is to go through it step by step.