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Theft & Robbery Lawyer in Brampton
If you’ve been charged with theft, shoplifting, possession of stolen property or robbery in Brampton, your case will be heard at the A. Grenville and William Davis Courthouse on Hurontario Street. What happens in the first few weeks matters more than most people expect.
Vincent Houvardas is a criminal defence lawyer who has handled theft charges in Brampton and across Peel Region for over 20 years. If you’re looking for a criminal defence lawyer for a theft charge in Brampton, the office answers the phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the first consultation is free.
Charged With Theft in Brampton? Here's What You're Facing
Theft is defined in section 322 of the Criminal Code. In plain terms, you commit theft when you take something that isn’t yours, dishonestly and without any honest belief that you had a right to it, intending to deprive the owner of it — permanently or temporarily.
The Crown has to prove two things, and intent is frequently the contested one:
- The act — you took or converted the property.
- The intent — you did so fraudulently and without colour of right.
“Colour of right” refers to an honestly held belief in a legal or proprietary entitlement to the property. The belief can be mistaken, but it has to be genuine and connected to an actual asserted right. If you thought the item was already yours, that you had paid, or that you had permission, that may raise a reasonable doubt about the dishonest intent the Crown must prove. Whether the defence is available in your case depends on the evidence.
Theft Under $5,000 and Theft Over $5,000
Section 334 splits theft by the value of what was taken. Both are hybrid offences, meaning the Crown chooses whether to proceed by indictment or summarily:
Charge
Theft over $5,000 (or a testamentary instrument)
Theft not more than $5,000
Section
334(a)
334(b)
Maximum on indictment
10 years
2 years
Neither carries a mandatory minimum sentence.
Where the Crown proceeds summarily, the maximum is set by the summary conviction provisions of the Code. For theft over $5,000 that is a substantial reduction from the ten-year indictable maximum. For theft under $5,000 the two maximums are close to identical — the practical significance of the Crown’s election there lies in procedure, trial forum, and collateral consequences rather than in the ceiling on jail.
A note that matters: theft over $5,000 is no longer a straight indictable offence. Bill C-75 made it hybrid in 2019. A number of Ontario law firm websites still describe it the old way. The Crown’s election affects your trial options, your exposure, and how the charge is treated for immigration purposes — so it’s worth getting right.
Shoplifting Charges in Brampton
Shoplifting isn’t a separate offence in Canada. It’s charged as theft under $5,000. If you’re looking for a shoplifting charge lawyer in Brampton, that’s the section you’ll see on your paperwork.
These cases often involve loss-prevention evidence: store CCTV, an officer’s notes, a written statement taken in a back room. That evidence is sometimes weaker than it first appears. How the detention was carried out, whether you were told you could leave, whether you were cautioned, and whether you were given a chance to speak to a lawyer can all matter.
Loss-prevention personnel are not police officers. Any detention or arrest by store staff has to stay within the authority available to private citizens under section 494 of the Criminal Code and comply with the legal requirements that attach to it.
Police in Peel frequently lay a second charge of possession of property obtained by crime (section 354) alongside the theft count.
Robbery Charges — Why They're Different
Robbery is theft plus force. Section 343 sets out four ways it can happen: using violence or threats to carry out the theft or overcome resistance; stealing from a person and assaulting them at the time; assaulting someone with intent to steal; or stealing from a person while armed with an offensive weapon or an imitation of one.
That last one catches people off guard. A replica or imitation weapon is enough.
The sentencing difference is enormous. Under section 344, robbery is a straight indictable offence carrying a maximum of life imprisonment. Where a restricted or prohibited firearm is used — or any firearm, where the offence is connected to a criminal organization — there is a mandatory minimum of five years for a first offence and seven years for a second or subsequent one.
One thing has changed in the client’s favour. The four-year mandatory minimum that applied to robbery with an ordinary (non-restricted, non-prohibited) firearm, under section 344(1)(a.1), was repealed by Parliament in 2022. In those cases a judge now has full discretion on sentence. Several Ontario firm websites have not caught up with this.
If you need a robbery defence lawyer in Brampton or a Peel Region robbery lawyer, call before you speak to police again.
How Theft and Robbery Charges Are Defended
Every case is different, but these are the lines of defence that come up most often:
- Colour of right — an honest belief you were entitled to the property.
- No intent — you forgot to scan an item, walked out distracted, or believed the item had been paid for.
- Identification — grainy CCTV, a description that fits half the mall, an unreliable eyewitness.
- Charter applications — section 8 (unreasonable search and seizure), section 9 (arbitrary detention), section 10(b) (right to counsel), and section 11(b) (unreasonable delay). Where a breach is established, the defence can apply to exclude the affected evidence under section 24(2). Exclusion is not automatic — the court applies a legal test to the circumstances.
- Problems with store detention procedure — the limits on what private citizens and store staff may lawfully do.
- Weakness on value — if the Crown can’t prove the property was worth more than $5,000, the charge falls to the lesser offence.
Resolutions That Avoid a Criminal Record
For a first theft allegation involving property of modest value, the criminal record is usually the sharper concern. Resolutions that can avoid one include:
- Diversion (alternative measures under section 717) — completion of a program, a charitable donation, or counselling, in exchange for the charge being withdrawn.
- Withdrawal following negotiation with the Crown.
- An absolute or conditional discharge under section 730 — a finding of guilt without a conviction being registered.
None of these is automatic. Eligibility depends on Crown policy, the allegations, the value of the property, any restitution, and your record. That’s the conversation to have early.
The Consequences People Don't Expect
A theft conviction is a crime of dishonesty, and that classification follows you:
- Employment — background checks, and immediate difficulty in any role involving money, inventory or trust.
- Immigration — a conviction can affect permanent residency and citizenship applications, and non-citizens should get immigration-specific advice as well.
- Travel to the United States — theft is generally treated by US authorities as a crime involving moral turpitude, which can result in being denied entry. Admissibility is determined under US law, and charges and admissions can matter as well as convictions. Get advice from a qualified US immigration lawyer before travelling.
- Professional licensing and bonding — regulated professions require disclosure.
If you’re an employee charged with theft from your workplace, note that the courts treat breach of trust as a significant aggravating factor. Those cases need to be taken seriously from day one.
What Changed on 15 July 2026 — The Bail and Sentencing Reform Act
The Bail and Sentencing Reform Act (Bill C-14) received Royal Assent on 15 June 2026 and came into force on 15 July 2026. It makes more than 80 changes to the Criminal Code, and several of them touch property offences directly.
The offence definitions and maximum penalties for theft and robbery did not change. What changed is the environment around them:
Organized retail theft is now an aggravating factor at sentencing
- expressly including robbery, break and enter, and possession of property obtained by crime. A judge must weigh it when the allegation fits that pattern.
New reverse onus at bail
- for break and enter of a home, and for violent or organized-crime-related auto theft. In a reverse onus case the accused must show why release is justified, rather than the Crown showing why detention is.
A further reverse onus
- for anyone charged with a serious violent offence who has two or more prior convictions for similar offences — which can capture repeat robbery allegations.
The "ladder principle" no longer applies
- to an accused subject to a reverse onus, and the legislation clarifies that the principle of restraint does not mandate release.
Courts must now consider specific bail conditions
- for auto theft and break and enter of a home, including geographic restrictions, curfews, and non-possession of break-in devices.
Restrictions on who can act as a surety
- a person convicted of a serious offence within the previous ten years generally cannot, unless no other suitable surety is available.
Denunciation and deterrence become the primary sentencing objectives
- for a second or subsequent break and enter conviction.
For a first, low-value shoplifting allegation, none of this is likely to change the practical picture much. For anyone facing a robbery, break and enter, or repeat property allegation in Peel Region, it changes what a bail hearing looks like — and it applies now.
What Happens After You're Charged in Brampton
Arrest and release
Most theft charges result in release on an undertaking. Where you’re held, a bail hearing follows — see bail hearings.
First appearance
at the A. Grenville and William Davis Courthouse, usually within a few weeks.
Disclosure
The Crown provides its evidence: officer notes, CCTV, witness statements.
Crown pre-trial
Your lawyer discusses resolution — diversion, withdrawal, or a plea.
Trial
if the case doesn’t resolve.
Do not attend your first appearance without advice. Decisions made early — including what you say to police — are difficult to undo later.
