What is the victim surcharge I have to pay?
Short answer
The victim surcharge is an amount provided for in section 737 of the Criminal Code that is added to the sentence: 30% of the fine imposed, or, where there is no fine, $100 per offence punishable on summary conviction and $200 per indictable offence. The court can waive or reduce it in the case of undue hardship.
In detail
The surcharge funds services for victims. It applies per offence, which is why a file with several counts can generate a large amount.
Section 737(2.1) allows the court to order that it not be paid, or to reduce the amount, if satisfied that it would cause undue hardship to the person, or that it would be disproportionate to their degree of responsibility or to the seriousness of the offence.
The idea of “undue hardship” covers, among other things, an inability to pay flowing from being out of work, having no housing, having no assets, or having significant financial obligations towards dependants.
This point has a direct practical consequence: the waiting period for a record suspension only starts running on the expiration according to law of the sentence, which includes paying the amounts owed in full. An unpaid surcharge can therefore delay a pardon application by several years.
What to document
Keep the document setting out the amounts imposed, the due date and every proof of payment. If you ask for a reduction or a waiver, document your financial situation: bank statements, proof of benefits, bills, family obligations. Keep proof of the final payment: that is what establishes the date your sentence expired.
Put your facts in writing, free. Writing your version down early, keeping your documents dated and preparing your questions for a lawyer: the tool is there to document, never to advise.
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Official sources
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.