A sex offender registry is a police database that holds information about people convicted of certain sexual offences. In Ontario, there are two. The National Sex Offender Registry is set up under the federal Sex Offender Information Registration Act, known as SOIRA. Ontario’s Sex Offender Registry is set up under a provincial law called Christopher’s Law. A person living in Ontario can be on both, but the rules differ for each.
The rules on who has to register have changed a lot in recent years. Registration is no longer automatic for most offences, and new offences were added in July 2026. This guide explains how both registries work now, how long registration lasts, and how to get off a registry.
Key Takeaways
- Canada has a national registry under SOIRA, and Ontario has its own registry under Christopher’s Law.
- Neither registry is public. Only police and a few authorised people can use them.
- A national registry order is mandatory in some cases, but in most cases the court can decline to make one if the person meets a legal test.
- Ontario’s registry applies automatically after a conviction for a listed sex offence, with no court order needed.
- A national order can last 10 years, 20 years or life, and a person can apply to end it early after a set time.
What Is the National Sex Offender Registry?
The National Sex Offender Registry was created in 2004 under SOIRA. The RCMP runs it, and its purpose is to help police services prevent and investigate crimes of a sexual nature. It holds identifying details about people ordered to register, such as their addresses, workplaces, vehicles, and a current photograph.
Registration is a court order made as part of a sentence. It isn’t a legal punishment, but it imposes ongoing duties that can last for many years.
Registration doesn’t decide where a person can live, work or travel. It’s a reporting system, not a set of conditions like probation. The duties are strict, though, and missing a deadline is a criminal offence. In some cases involving children, a judge can also make a separate prohibition order, for example barring a person from parks or certain kinds of work. That’s a different order from registration.
What Is a SOIRA Order?
A SOIRA order is a court order requiring a person to comply with the Sex Offender Information Registration Act. A judge can make it when sentencing someone for a designated offence. It can also be made when a person is found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder for a designated offence. Our article on not criminally responsible verdicts explains that finding.
Which Offences Can Lead to a SOIRA Order?
The Criminal Code splits designated offences into two groups.
Primary offences are sexual offences. They include:
- sexual assault, including sexual assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm, and aggravated sexual assault
- sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching and sexual exploitation
- incest and bestiality offences
- luring a child and making sexually explicit material available to a child
- offences involving child sexual abuse and exploitation material
- obtaining sexual services from a person under 18
- exposure to a person under 16
- sharing, or threatening to share, an intimate image without consent
Threatening to share an intimate image was added to the primary list on 18 July 2026. Learn more about these charges in our guides to types of sexual assault charges and sexual interference.
Secondary offences include voyeurism, indecent acts and certain non-sexual offences, like kidnapping and criminal harassment. Our guide to voyeurism and intimate image laws covers how the registry applies to those charges.
When Is Registration Mandatory?
In 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in R v Ndhlovu that automatic registration for every sexual offence was unconstitutional. It caught people who posed no increased risk of reoffending. Parliament responded with new rules that took effect on 26 October 2023.
- Mandatory orders. The court must make an order where a primary offence against a person under 18 was prosecuted by indictment and the sentence is two years or more in prison. The court must also make one if the person was previously convicted of a primary offence or has previously been subject to a registry order.
- Presumed orders. For other primary offences, the court must make an order unless the person shows that the order would not connect to the registry’s purpose, or that its impact on them would be grossly disproportionate to the public interest.
- Secondary offences. The court can make an order only if the Crown applies for one and proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the person committed the offence with intent to commit a primary offence.
When deciding whether the person has met the test, the court looks at:
- the nature and seriousness of the offence
- the victim’s age and other characteristics
- the relationship between the person and the victim
- the person’s own circumstances and criminal history, including how long they’ve gone without offending
- opinions from professionals who have assessed the person
How Long Does a SOIRA Order Last?
The length depends on the maximum sentence for the offence:
- 10 years if the case was prosecuted summarily, or the maximum sentence is two or five years
- 20 years if the maximum sentence is 10 or 14 years
- Life if the maximum sentence is life imprisonment
An order also lasts for life where the person has a previous conviction for a primary offence or a previous registry order. When someone is convicted of two or more designated offences in the same case, the judge can also make a lifetime order if the offences show a pattern of behaviour that increases the risk of sexual reoffending.
What Does a Registered Person Have to Do?
A person under a SOIRA order has to report in person to a registration centre within seven days of the order, or within seven days of release if they’re in custody. After that, they must:
- report once a year
- report within seven days of changing their main or secondary address, or their name
- report within seven days of getting a driver’s licence or passport, or of changes to their vehicle details
- give notice at least 14 days before leaving home for seven days or more, including where they’ll stay
- give notice before any trip outside Canada, if their offence involved a child
At each report, police collect information including:
- name, date of birth and any other names used
- home address and the address of any work, volunteer work or school
- phone numbers
- height, weight and identifying marks, like scars or tattoos
- a current photograph
- vehicle details, and driver’s licence and passport numbers
Ontario’s Sex Offender Registry Under Christopher’s Law
Ontario created its own registry in 2001 under Christopher’s Law (Sex Offender Registry), 2000. The Ontario Provincial Police run it, and it applies to Ontario residents convicted of a listed sex offence.
The law is named after Christopher Stephenson, an 11-year-old boy who was abducted and murdered in 1988 by a man with previous sexual offence convictions who had been released from federal prison on mandatory supervision. The coroner’s inquest into his death recommended a registry, and Ontario set one up three years before the national registry existed.
The Ontario registry works differently from the national one:
- No court order. The duty to register applies automatically after a conviction for a listed offence, or a finding of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. A person found not criminally responsible must also report when they’re later discharged.
- Reporting. A person must report to a police service within the period set by the law’s regulation, currently seven days, after conviction or after release from custody. After that, they must report once a year and when details like their address, name or online accounts change.
- Digital information. Ontario requires people to report email addresses and social media usernames, which the national registry doesn’t.
- How long it lasts. Reporting lasts 10 years if the maximum sentence for the offence is 10 years or less. It lasts for life if the maximum is more than 10 years, or if the person has more than one sex offence conviction.
- Ending it. There’s no court application to end Ontario reporting early. The obligation ends with a record suspension, a pardon, or a successful appeal.
How the Two Registries Differ
- The national registry needs a court order. Ontario’s applies automatically.
- Ontario’s registry applies to people who live in Ontario. A national order applies wherever the person lives in Canada.
- A court can end a national order early. An Ontario obligation can’t.
- Reporting periods and penalties differ under each law, so one obligation can end while the other continues.
Is the Sex Offender Registry Public?
No. There’s no public list of everyone on a sex offender registry in Canada, Ontario or Toronto. Neither the national registry nor Ontario’s registry is public. Both are restricted to police services and a few other authorised uses, like research using anonymised information. Unauthorised access or disclosure is itself an offence.
There is one separate public tool. On 15 January 2026, the RCMP launched the High Risk Child Sex Offender Database. It lists people found guilty of sexual offences against children who are considered at high risk of reoffending, using information a police service or public authority has already made public. It isn’t linked to the National Sex Offender Registry, and it isn’t a list of everyone who is registered.
Police can warn the public about a specific person who poses a significant risk, but only in limited cases. Those warnings come from a police decision about that person, not from opening the registry to the public.
Information stays in the national registry long after reporting ends. Under current law, it’s kept until 50 years after the person’s death, unless it must be removed, for example after an acquittal on appeal.
Can You Avoid Being Placed on the Registry?
In some cases, yes. The main routes are:
- A discharge. A person who receives an absolute or conditional discharge is treated as not convicted, so no SOIRA order is made, and Ontario’s registry doesn’t apply either. Discharges aren’t available for offences with a mandatory minimum sentence, or a maximum of 14 years or life. Read more about how discharges work.
- Youth. SOIRA doesn’t apply to a young person unless they receive an adult sentence. Our young offenders page explains the youth justice process.
- Meeting the legal test at sentencing. For presumed orders, the defence can present evidence that registration would serve no purpose in this case, or would have a grossly disproportionate impact. That evidence can include risk assessments, the circumstances of the offence and the person’s background.
- Holding the Crown to its burden. For secondary offences, the Crown must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, intent to commit a primary offence.
- Defending the charge. If there’s no conviction, there’s no registry order. Our article on defending sexual assault charges explains the main defences.
How to Get Off the Sex Offender Registry
A person on the national registry can apply to court to end their order once enough time has passed:
- after 5 years for a 10-year order
- after 10 years for a 20-year order
- after 20 years for a lifetime order, or where there’s more than one order
A person can also apply earlier after receiving a record suspension (formerly called a pardon). The court will end the order if the person shows there’s no longer a connection between the order and the registry’s purpose, or that continuing it would be grossly disproportionate to the public interest. If the application is refused, the person can apply again later. Someone found not criminally responsible can apply once the Review Board grants them an absolute discharge.
A strong application rests on evidence. That can include how long the person has lived in the community without offending, any treatment or counselling they’ve completed, a stable home and job, and a professional risk assessment. The court also weighs how registration affects the person’s privacy and freedom.
In Ontario, a record suspension is the main way out. Read our guide to pardons and record suspensions to learn about eligibility and waiting periods.
What Happens If You Don’t Comply?
Failing to comply with a SOIRA order without a reasonable excuse is a criminal offence. The Crown can choose how to proceed:
- On indictment, the maximum is two years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
- On summary conviction, the maximum is two years less a day in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
Breaking Ontario’s registry rules is a separate provincial offence. A first offence can lead to a fine of up to $25,000, up to one year in jail, or both. A later offence carries the same fine and up to two years less a day in jail.
A conviction for non-compliance also adds to a person’s criminal record and can affect any later application to end the order.
Speak to a Sexual Assault Defence Lawyer
Whether you’ve just been charged or are facing sentencing, the rules that apply to you depend on your offence, your sentence and the date of your conviction. Pyzer Criminal Lawyers represents people charged with sexual offences across Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area. Consultations are free, confidential and carry no obligation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Registered Sex Offender Travel Outside Canada?
Yes, but they must give notice at least 14 days before leaving for seven days or more, including where they’ll be staying. People whose offence involved a child must give notice of any trip outside Canada. Other countries have their own entry rules, and a conviction for a sexual offence can make it difficult to enter some of them. Our article on travelling to the United States with a criminal record explains the US rules.
If I Get a Discharge, Will I Be on the Registry?
In most cases, no. A discharge means you’re treated as not convicted, so that no SOIRA order can be made, and Ontario’s registry applies to convicted people. The exception is a person found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder, who can have reporting duties under both laws, including after the Review Board discharges them. Speak to a lawyer about how both laws apply to your case.
Can a Young Person Be Placed on the Registry?
Only in limited cases. SOIRA applies to a young person only if they receive an adult sentence. Ontario’s registry also doesn’t apply to youth sentences under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, unless the young person received an adult sentence.
Can a SOIRA Order Be Appealed?
Yes. Both the person and the Crown can appeal the decision to make, or not make, a SOIRA order. The appeal goes to the court that would hear an appeal of the conviction. Time limits apply, so get advice quickly.
This article provides general legal information only and should not be construed as legal advice. Laws and their interpretation may change, and the application of law to specific circumstances requires professional legal assessment. If you have questions about a legal matter, please contact us for a free consultation.
