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Criminal Code

s. 235 Punishment for Murder

Punishment for murder

  • Homicide & Related
  • Homicide
Maximum sentence
Life imprisonment (mandatory minimum)
Classification
Indictable

Last verified: June 2026 · Source: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca

The law says

Criminal Code s. 235
Verify on justice.gc.ca(opens in a new tab)
  • (1)Every one who commits first degree murder or second degree murder is guilty of an indictable offence and shall be sentenced to imprisonment for life.
  • (2)For the purposes of Part XXIII, the sentence of imprisonment for life prescribed by this section is a minimum punishment.
Amendment History (3)
  • R.S., c. C-34, s. 218
  • 1973-74, c. 38, s. 3
  • 1974-75-76, c. 105, s. 5

Justice Laws is the authoritative version. If this copy and it ever differ, Justice Laws wins.

Immigration

Where this offence sits under IRPA

Murder carries a mandatory life sentence. That puts it among the most serious crimes for immigration. A conviction is treated as serious criminality under IRPA s.36(1). No deemed rehabilitation is possible when the maximum is life. For a conviction outside Canada, the route is an application to be found rehabilitated (s.36(3)(c)). For a conviction in Canada, s.36(3)(b) bars inadmissibility based on a conviction with a record suspension. Whether one can be ordered is set by the Criminal Records Act, which this page does not hold.

This is how the law sorts the offence, not a reading of any one record. An officer decides each case.

IRPA sections involved

Related sections

Criminal Code s. 222HomicideIndictableCriminal Code s. 229MurderIndictableCriminal Code s. 234ManslaughterIndictableCriminal Code s. 236Punishment for ManslaughterIndictable