10 years
Hybrid offence with a 10-year maximum. This constitutes serious criminality under IRPA s.36(1). A conviction for assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm creates significant immigration consequences.
Assault where a weapon came out or the other person was actually hurt. The 10 year ceiling is the tripwire, and crossing it turns the record into serious criminality for entry purposes. A guilty plea that felt minor in the local courthouse still carries that full 10 year label into a border check.
Every person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years or is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction who, in committing an assault, (a) carries, uses or threatens to use a weapon or an imitation thereof, (b) causes bodily harm to the complainant, or (c) chokes, suffocates or strangles the complainant.