Arson and Fire-Related Offences

Arson is not treated as a minor property offence. Under the Criminal Code of Canada, arson charges carry maximum sentences ranging from five years to life imprisonment depending on the circumstances. If someone was endangered or killed, the consequences are catastrophic. If insurance fraud is alleged alongside the arson, you are facing two prosecution tracks at once.

Fire investigations are technically complex. Fire marshals, forensic engineers, and Crown-retained experts build these cases using evidence that most people cannot evaluate without specialist knowledge. That is exactly where your defence begins.

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Fire investigation is not an exact science, and that is one of the most important things to understand about defending an arson charge.

The Crown's case typically rests on the opinion of a fire investigator or forensic expert who has concluded the fire was deliberately set. Those opinions can be challenged. The methodology used, the qualifications of the investigator, the alternative causes that were ruled out or never considered, and the physical evidence that was collected or missed during the investigation are all lines of attack an experienced defence team pursues from the moment we are retained.

In arson cases more than almost any other, retaining counsel immediately matters. Evidence degrades. Scenes get cleared. The sooner we are involved, the more we can do to preserve and contest the evidence the Crown is building their case on.

A significant number of arson cases involve a parallel allegation of fraud, typically insurance fraud. The Crown's theory is that the fire was set to generate an insurance claim. When this is alleged, you are defending two distinct criminal matters simultaneously, each with their own evidentiary demands and procedural track.

Our team approaches these cases with a coordinated defence strategy that addresses both the fire science evidence and the financial evidence the Crown relies on to establish motive.

Fire investigations often begin before you are formally a suspect. Investigators attend the scene, speak to witnesses, and collect evidence. The line between an investigation into the cause of a fire and an investigation into you personally can shift quickly, and your Charter rights shift with it.

If investigators questioned you without advising you of your right to counsel, if your property was searched without proper authorization, or if statements were taken in circumstances that violated your rights, those are live grounds for challenging the admissibility of evidence against you. We look for those issues in every file.