Quick Answer — Toronto
Point Duty defends uttering threats charges under Criminal Code s.264.1(1)(b) and (c) — threats to burn, destroy or damage property, or to kill, poison or injure an animal — spoken, written, or sent online, whether or not you meant to carry them out. On summary election these carry up to two years less a day, a criminal record, and no-contact and weapons conditions. A threat of death or bodily harm under s.264.1(1)(a) falls outside paralegal scope and is referred to a lawyer.
Uttering threats reaches the Armoury Street courthouse in Toronto out of domestic disputes, road rage, and arguments between neighbours or coworkers, and where it grows out of an intimate partner or similar relationship the domestic designation is attached. Unlike criminal harassment, the Crown does not have to show the complainant was actually afraid — the words are measured objectively, as a reasonable person would hear them in context, and the question is whether they were meant to be taken seriously, which is why "I was angry" or "I was only kidding" does not end the matter on its own: a Toronto Crown weighs the seriousness of the whole incident around the words. Point Duty Traffic Court Defence and Legal Services reads the disclosure for whether the Crown has the proof and what resolution can be had. On scope, a paralegal may act on the s.264.1(3) branch — threats to damage property or injure an animal — once the Crown elects to proceed summarily; a threat of death or bodily harm falls outside paralegal scope and is referred to a lawyer.
Knowingly uttering, conveying, or causing any person to receive a threat to cause death or bodily harm, to damage property, or to injure an animal. Hybrid offence; only the property and animal branch, punishable under s.264.1(3), is within paralegal scope.
Section 264.1 of the Criminal Code prohibits knowingly uttering or conveying a threat to cause death or bodily harm, to burn, destroy or damage property, or to kill, poison or injure an animal. The threat must be communicated but does not require an intent to actually carry it out.
Hybrid, and the maximum depends on the branch. Threats to property or an animal, punishable under s.264.1(3): up to 2 years on indictment, up to 2 years less a day on summary conviction. Threats of death or bodily harm, punishable under s.264.1(2): up to 5 years on indictment. Criminal record on conviction. Common conditions include no-contact orders and weapons prohibitions.
Disclosure review of the alleged words and the context in which they were spoken. Many files resolve through peace bond, diversion, or withdrawal where the evidence is contested.
Toronto runs three Provincial Offences courts, not one — Toronto South on Front Street East, Toronto East on Markham Road, and Toronto West on Eglinton Avenue West. Which one hears your ticket is set by where it was issued. Summary criminal charges go to the Toronto Courthouse at 10 Armoury Street. We appear at all four.
10 Armoury Street, Toronto, ON M5T 0C2
(416) 327-5707
All Toronto criminal matters. Consolidated the former Old City Hall, College Park, 1000 Finch West, 2201 Finch West, 1911 Eglinton East and 311 Jarvis courthouses in March 2023.
Local practice notes reviewed 2026-09-01
Twenty minutes, confidential, no obligation. We’ll discuss your charge, the realistic outcomes, and the cost of defence before you commit to anything.
