An Act to amend the Criminal Code (aggravating circumstance — evacuation order or emergency)

Bill S-267 was a Senate Private Member's Bill amending the Criminal Code (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46) section 718.2 to add the act of being committed against a person on the basis of homelessness as an aggravating circumstance at sentencing. Brought after multiple high-profile assaults on unhoused Canadians including the 2023 Toronto encampment-area attacks and the 2024 Edmonton Glenora-area incidents. Approximately 35,000 Canadians experience homelessness on any given night per the federal Homelessness Partnering Strategy, with Indigenous people disproportionately represented at over 30 percent of the unhoused population per Statistics Canada Aboriginal Peoples in Canadian Cities Survey. The bill paralleled the existing section 718.2 aggravating factors based on race, religion, age, gender. Did not pass third reading.