Administering a Noxious Substance Lawyers Toronto

Written by Daniel Brown

Etching of a wine glass with a dropper releasing a single burnt orange drop into it, beside a small glass bottle, on white paper

Administering a noxious substance is giving another person poison or any other destructive or noxious thing, or causing them to take it, under section 245 of the Criminal Code. Where the intent was to endanger the person’s life or cause them bodily harm, the maximum is 14 years. Where the intent was to aggrieve or annoy them, the maximum is two years. Our lawyers defend these charges in Toronto and across the GTA.

Defending noxious substance and poisoning charges in Ontario

The Criminal Code calls it administering a “noxious thing”. The charge covers spiking a drink, putting something in food, and throwing or pouring a harmful substance on someone. The person does not have to swallow anything.

These cases usually turn on two questions: what the substance actually was, and what the accused intended. The answer to the second decides whether the maximum is two years or 14.

Daniel Brown Law defends noxious substance charges across the Greater Toronto Area and Ontario, including Toronto, Newmarket, Oshawa, Brampton, Milton, and Hamilton. Daniel Brown Law is recognized among Canada’s top criminal defence firms — see our recognition below.

If you or someone you know has been charged with administering a noxious substance, contact our office immediately at (416) 297-7200.

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See the defences
The charge
Criminal Code s. 245Administering a noxious thing
Crown must prove
A noxious thing, given with intentTo endanger life, cause bodily harm, or aggrieve or annoy
Maximum sentence
14 yearsTwo years where the intent was to aggrieve or annoy
Discharge
Depends on the intentNot available for the 14-year offence

What is administering a noxious thing?

The act is the same at every step: giving a person a harmful substance, or causing them to take it. What changes the charge is what the accused intended.

Sections 245 and 246 of the Criminal Code. Where a poisoning causes death or is meant to kill, the charge is usually attempted murder or murder or manslaughter.

Key considerations

Directly or indirectly

The offence covers giving a substance to a person, having someone else give it to them, and causing them to take it themselves, such as by putting it in a drink they later finish.

No swallowing required

The substance does not have to be eaten or drunk. Pouring or throwing a harmful liquid, such as motor oil, on a person can be enough.

A poison or noxious thing

The Crown must prove that the substance was a poison or another destructive or noxious thing. What the substance was, and how much was given, is usually a matter for toxicology evidence.

Knowledge of the substance

The Crown does not have to prove that the accused knew the substance was noxious. What the accused knew about it can still matter, because it bears on what they intended.

Intent, not recklessness

The Crown must prove a specific intent: to endanger life, to cause bodily harm, or to aggrieve or annoy. Being reckless about the risk is not enough.

Medical assistance in dying

The offence does not apply to a doctor or nurse practitioner who provides medical assistance in dying under the Criminal Code, or to a person helping them do so.

When are noxious substance charges laid?

Most charges come from a handful of situations, and the same facts can support very different charges depending on the evidence of intent.

Spiking a drink

Putting a drug or other substance in someone’s drink. If the purpose was to make it easier to commit another offence, such as sexual assault, the Crown may lay the separate charge of administering a stupefying drug, which carries up to life.

Something in food or medication

Adding a substance to someone’s food, or swapping or tampering with their medication, often in a household, workplace, or care setting.

A prank or a grudge

Slipping something unpleasant, such as a laxative, into a coworker’s or partner’s food or drink. Where the intent was to aggrieve or annoy rather than to hurt, the lower two-year offence applies.

Throwing or pouring a substance

Throwing or pouring a harmful liquid on someone. Depending on the injury and the evidence, the Crown may also lay assault charges, including aggravated assault.

How do you defend a noxious substance charge?

Each defence answers a different part of the Crown’s case.

Etching of test tubes in a wooden rack, one holding a burnt orange liquid, with a magnifying glass in front, on white paper

The substance was not noxious

Attacks: the substance

The Crown has to prove what the substance was and that it was a poison or noxious thing. Without reliable testing, that can be hard to prove.

Nothing was given

Attacks: the administering

Symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, or memory loss can come from alcohol, other drugs, or illness. Many substances leave the body quickly, so a late or missing test can leave the Crown without proof that anything was added.

There was no intent to harm

Attacks: the intent

An accident, a mix-up, or contamination is not the offence. The Crown must prove a specific intent, and recklessness is not enough.

The intent was only to annoy

Attacks: the level of the charge

If the evidence shows at most an intent to aggrieve or annoy, the maximum falls from 14 years to two, and a discharge becomes possible.

It was not you

Attacks: identity

In a bar, a party, or a shared kitchen, many people may have had access to the drink or food. Video, receipts, and witness accounts each have limits.

The evidence was obtained unlawfully

Attacks: the evidence itself

Charter rights breaches: excluding evidence from an unlawful search of a home, a car, or a phone, or a statement taken without access to a lawyer.

Do not give the police a statement before you get legal advice. What you say about the substance, why you had it, or what you meant to happen can be used against you.

What is the sentence for administering a noxious substance?

The maximum is 14 years where the intent was to endanger life or cause bodily harm, and two years where the intent was to aggrieve or annoy. There is no mandatory minimum.

Charge Maximum Mandatory minimum
Noxious thing — to endanger life or cause bodily harms. 245(1)(a) — indictable only 14 years None
Noxious thing — to aggrieve or annoys. 245(1)(b) — hybrid 2 years None
Stupefying drug to commit an indictable offences. 246 — indictable only Life None

Administering a noxious thing with intent to endanger life or cause bodily harm can only be prosecuted by indictment. Because its maximum is 14 years, a discharge is not available. With intent to aggrieve or annoy, the offence is hybrid: the Crown can proceed by indictment, with a maximum of two years, or by summary conviction, with a maximum of two years less a day.

The sentence depends heavily on the substance, the harm caused, the relationship between the people involved, and whether the person was targeted while vulnerable.

Consequences of a conviction

A conviction for administering a noxious substance goes far beyond jail time. Collateral consequences can include:

  • Job loss and disqualification from certain professions, especially in health care, child care, and food service
  • Immigration problems, including possible deportation for non-citizens
  • Denial of entry into the United States and other countries
  • A criminal record stored in the national CPIC database
  • Probation terms, no-contact orders, and weapons prohibitions

For more on collateral impacts, see our page on the immigration consequences of a criminal charge.

Why choose Daniel Brown Law for your noxious substance case?

A noxious substance charge can carry up to 14 years, and the case usually depends on toxicology and on what the accused intended. The lawyer hired in the first 48 hours often shapes the entire case — the bail hearing, the testing evidence, and which charge the Crown can actually prove.

A nationally recognized defence firm

Daniel Brown Law is consistently recognized as one of Canada’s leading criminal defence firms. Canadian Lawyer ranks it among Canada’s top criminal law boutiques, The Globe and Mail names it one of Canada’s Best Law Firms, Best Law Firms ranks it Tier 1 for criminal defence, and Toronto Star readers have repeatedly voted it Best Law Firm.

A boutique focused on criminal defence

Daniel Brown Law represents people charged with crimes — that is all the firm does. Our lawyers have defended serious violence cases at every level of court in Ontario, from first-appearance bail hearings to contested jury trials to appeals at the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

Toxicology evidence, tested properly

Lab reports, hospital records, and testing timelines are often the whole case. We test what was actually found, when the samples were taken, and whether other causes were ruled out.

Bail-stage urgency

Where the complainant is a partner, a family member, or a coworker, bail conditions can keep you out of your home or your job. We prepare bail materials with the same care most firms reserve for trial — identifying sureties, anticipating Crown concerns, and framing a release plan a justice will accept.

Trial and appellate capability under one roof

Intent cases often turn on legal rulings that matter on appeal. Our lawyers handle both stages, so the trial record is built with appellate review in mind. Read more about our criminal appeals practice.

Across the GTA and Ontario

We appear regularly in Toronto, Newmarket, Oshawa, Brampton, Milton, Hamilton, and Barrie courthouses, and travel to other Ontario courts as a case requires.

Recognized by the profession and the public

Daniel Brown Law is named one of Canada’s Best Law Firms by The Globe and Mail, ranked among Canada’s top criminal law boutiques by Canadian Lawyer, ranked Tier 1 for criminal defence by Best Law Firms, and voted Best Law Firm by Toronto Star readers. Five of its lawyers are recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada for criminal defence.

The Globe and Mail Best Law Firms 2026, Criminal Law

Best Law Firms: Criminal Law

The Globe and Mail, 2026

Canadian Lawyer Top Criminal Law Boutique 2026-27

Top Criminal Law Boutique

Canadian Lawyer, 2026–27

Best Law Firms Canada, Criminal Defence Tier 1, 2026

Criminal Defence, Tier 1

Best Law Firms Canada, 2026

Best Lawyers in Canada 2027, Daniel Brown Law

Best Lawyers in Canada

Criminal Defence, 2027

Chambers Canada 2027, Ranked in Canada, Daniel Brown Law

Crime, Nationwide

Chambers Canada, 2027

Toronto Star Readers' Choice winner seal

Toronto Star Readers’ Choice

Best Law Firm and Best Legal Services, repeat winner

Daniel Brown Law is consistently recognized as one of Canada's leading criminal defence firms.

What happens after a noxious substance charge?

The first weeks after the charge, and above all the bail hearing and the testing evidence, often shape the whole case.

  1. Arrest and the bail hearing

    Release conditions often bar contact with the complainant and can keep you away from your home or workplace. We prepare the release plan and sureties before the hearing.

  2. Disclosure

    The Crown must disclose its case: toxicology and lab results, hospital records, video, receipts, phone records, witness statements, and any statement you made. We test all of it.

  3. Election and preliminary inquiry

    For the 14-year offence, you choose how to be tried — by a provincial court judge, a superior court judge alone, or a judge and jury. If you choose the Superior Court, you can ask for a preliminary inquiry, which is held in the Ontario Court of Justice before the case goes to the Superior Court, to test the evidence before trial.

  4. Resolution

    Many cases resolve without a trial: charges withdrawn, reduced to the lower aggrieve-or-annoy offence or another charge, or a negotiated sentence.

  5. Trial, and appeal if needed

    At trial the Crown must prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt. A conviction or sentence can be appealed.

Frequently asked questions about noxious substance charges

Plain answers to the questions people ask most after a noxious substance charge.

The charge

What is administering a noxious substance?

Giving another person poison or any other destructive or noxious thing, directly or indirectly, or causing them to take it. The Criminal Code calls it administering a noxious thing, in section 245.

Is administering a noxious thing the same as poisoning?

Poisoning is one form of it. The offence also covers any other destructive or noxious thing, which can include drugs, chemicals, and other harmful liquids.

Does the person have to swallow the substance?

No. The offence does not require ingestion. Pouring or throwing a harmful substance, such as motor oil, on a person can be enough.

Does the Crown have to prove I knew the substance was harmful?

No. The Crown does not have to prove that you knew the substance was noxious, but what you knew can be relevant to whether you had the required intent.

What intent does the Crown have to prove?

An intent to endanger the person’s life, to cause them bodily harm, or to aggrieve or annoy them. Recklessness is not enough.

Drink spiking and related charges

Is spiking a drink a crime in Canada?

Yes. Putting a drug or other harmful substance in someone’s drink can be charged as administering a noxious thing. If it was done to make it easier to commit another indictable offence, such as sexual assault or robbery, it can be charged as administering a stupefying or overpowering drug, which carries up to life.

Is it a crime if I only meant it as a prank?

It can be. Giving someone a noxious thing with intent to aggrieve or annoy them is a hybrid offence with a maximum of two years. The higher 14-year offence requires an intent to endanger life or cause bodily harm.

Does this charge apply to medical assistance in dying?

No. It does not apply to a doctor or nurse practitioner who provides medical assistance in dying under the Criminal Code, or to a person who helps them do so.

What are the defences to administering a noxious substance?

Common defences include challenging what the substance was, whether anything was given at all, the intent, identity, and Charter breaches. Showing that the intent was at most to annoy can reduce the charge.

What charges are laid alongside it?

Noxious substance charges often arrive alongside assault, sexual assault, domestic assault, uttering threats, or failing to comply with bail conditions.

Sentencing and bail

What is the sentence for administering a noxious substance?

Up to 14 years where the intent was to endanger life or cause bodily harm, and up to two years where the intent was to aggrieve or annoy. There is no mandatory minimum.

Can I get a discharge?

Not for the 14-year offence. For the aggrieve-or-annoy offence, a discharge can be available where it is in your interest and not contrary to the public interest.

Is it an indictable offence?

With intent to endanger life or cause bodily harm, it is indictable only. With intent to aggrieve or annoy, it is hybrid, so the Crown can proceed by indictment or by summary conviction.

What happens at bail on a noxious substance charge?

The Crown usually has to show why detention is justified. Where the complainant is a partner or family member, the charge may be treated as intimate partner violence, and a strong release plan matters. Learn more on our page about Toronto bail hearings.

Charges we defend

Learn more about some of the charges we defend. We also defend charges not listed here.

Charged with administering a noxious substance? Speak with Daniel Brown Law

Call Daniel Brown Law at (416) 297-7200 for a confidential consultation. We appear in courts across the GTA and Ontario.

Call 416-297-7200
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