Have You Been a Victim of Crime? What's Next… - Office for Victims ...

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Imprisonment
A judge may sentence an offender to serve time in prison. A judge can also order a “no
contact order” as part of a prison sentence. This means that the offender is not allowed
to call you while s/he is in prison.
If the prison sentence is less than two years, the offender will be sent to a provincial
prison; this may be combined with probation.
If the sentence is two years or more, the offender will be sent to a federal prison. There
are minimum, medium and maximum federal security prisons. The security level a
prisoner is held under is determined by the risk s/he poses within the prison, and not
the seriousness of the crime.
Intermittent sentence
Where a judge orders a sentence of 90 days or less, s/he may order that the sentence
be served intermittently (in blocks of time), such as on weekends. This allows the
offender to be released into the community for a specific purpose, such as going to
work or school, caring for children, or for health reasons.
An intermittent sentence is always accompanied by a probation order, which governs
the offender’s conduct while s/he is out of jail. If the offender breaches the conditions
of the probation order, s/he can be charged with a new offence of breach of probation
and may have to serve the rest of the sentence in prison.
Conditional sentence
A conditional sentence is a sentence that is served in the community rather than in
prison. It can be ordered only for periods of less than two years. A judge will not order a
conditional sentence unless s/he is satisfied that serving the sentence in the community
will not endanger public safety. One type of conditional sentence is house arrest, where
the offender is confined to his/her home except for special permission to attend such
things as medical appointments or legal proceedings.
The Criminal Justice Process
An offender who is serving a conditional sentence will be subject to certain conditions
contained in a conditional sentence order. If the offender fails to comply with the
conditions, s/he may have to return to court, and may then be ordered to serve the
rest of the sentence in prison.
Ministry of the Attorney General