Sentencing Ranges


Sentencing ranges are nothing more than summaries of the minimum and maximum sentences imposed in the past, which serve in any given case as guides for the application of all the relevant principles and objectives. However, they should not be considered “averages”, let alone straightjackets, but should instead be seen as historical portraits for the use of sentencing judges, who must still exercise their discretion in each case.

There will always be situations that call for a sentence outside a particular range: although ensuring parity in sentencing is itself a desirable objective, the fact that each crime is committed in unique circumstances by an offender with a unique profile cannot be disregarded. The determination of a just and appropriate sentence is a highly individualized exercise that goes beyond a purely mathematical equation. It involves a variety of facts that are difficult to define with precision. This is why it may happen that a sentence that, on itself face, falls outside a particular range, and that may never have been imposed in the past for a similar crime, is not demonstrably unfit. Everything depends on the gravity of the offence, the offender’s degree of responsibility and the specific circumstances.

R. v. Lacasse, 2015 SCC 64, [2015] 3 S.C.R. 1089, at paras 57,58.


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