This enactment amends the Criminal Code to require a court to consider the fact that the victim of an assault is a health care professional or a first responder to be an aggravating circumstance for the purposes of sentencing.

Preamble

Whereas there is an increasing number of incidents involving violence against health care professionals and first responders;

Whereas assaults on health care professionals and first responders have both a physical and a psychological impact;

And whereas health care professionals and first responders, who care for and protect others, deserve to feel protected and valued by the justice system;

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

Aggravating circumstance — assault against health care professionals and first responders

269.‍02 When a court imposes a sentence for an offence referred to in paragraph 264.‍1(1)‍(a) or any of sections 266 to 269, it shall consider as an aggravating circumstance the fact that the victim of the offence was, at the time of the commission of the offence, a health care professional or a first responder engaged in the performance of their duty.