Purser Law Blog

What is a CSO?

Last updated August 2026.

If you have been found guilty of a crime, or you are thinking about pleading guilty, the question that matters most to most people is simple. Am I going to jail?

In some cases the answer is a conditional sentence order, or CSO. A CSO is a jail sentence that you serve in the community instead of in a jail. It is still a sentence of imprisonment. You are just serving it at home, under conditions, rather than in a cell. Most CSOs involve house arrest or a curfew and a list of other rules you must follow for the length of the sentence.

Not everyone can get a CSO. The law sets out who is eligible, and as of July 2026 that list got shorter.

Why conditional sentences exist

Parliament created the CSO in 1996. At the time, many people were being sent to jail for offences where jail did little good. Jail is expensive, and for many people it makes things worse. The idea was that someone who could safely serve their sentence at home, with supervision and conditions, would have a better chance of staying out of trouble afterward. That is still the point of a CSO. What has changed over the years is how many offences Parliament is willing to let it apply to.

What changed on July 15, 2026

Before July 2026, a CSO was unavailable for a short list of offences. Anything with a mandatory minimum jail sentence. Attempted murder, torture, and advocating genocide. And terrorism or criminal organization offences prosecuted by indictment with a maximum sentence of 10 years or more.

Section 742.1 of the Criminal Code was amended effective July 15, 2026. A judge now also cannot impose a CSO for the following offences when the Crown prosecutes by indictment: sexual assault (s. 271), sexual assault with a weapon, threats to a third party or causing bodily harm (s. 272), aggravated sexual assault (s. 273), sexual exploitation of a person with a disability (s. 153.1), and any offence of a sexual nature, or committed for a sexual purpose, involving a victim under 18.

There are two things to check before you assume this applies to you.

The first is how the Crown is proceeding. The new exclusions only apply when the charge is prosecuted by indictment. Sexual assault with a weapon, s. 272, and aggravated sexual assault, s. 273, are straight indictable offences and will now always be precluded from a CSO as a sentence. However, on charges of sexual assault, s. 271, sexual exploitation of a person with a disability, s. 153.1, and any offence of a sexual nature or purpose involving a minor that is not straight indictable, the Crown can still choose to proceed summarily, and if it does, a CSO is still available. The Crown's election is something your lawyer can sometimes influence, which is one more reason to get a lawyer involved early.

The second is when the offence is alleged to have happened. The new rules only apply to offences committed on or after July 15, 2026. If the conduct you are charged with is alleged to have taken place before that date, you are sentenced under the old rules, and a CSO may still be an option even on an indictable sexual assault charge.

Requirements for a CSO

If your offence is not excluded, the judge still has to be satisfied of a few things before imposing a CSO.

The sentence has to be less than two years. A CSO takes the place of a provincial jail sentence, not a penitentiary sentence. If the judge decides a fit sentence is two years or more, a CSO is off the table.

The offence cannot carry a mandatory minimum sentence.

The offence cannot be one of the excluded offences listed above.

The judge has to be satisfied that letting you serve the sentence in the community would not endanger public safety, and that a CSO is consistent with the purpose and principles of sentencing in the Criminal Code. This is usually where the argument happens. The basic rule of sentencing is that the sentence has to be proportionate to how serious the offence was and how responsible you are for it. The judge also looks at denunciation (the court showing that the conduct was wrong), deterrence (discouraging you and others from doing it again), and rehabilitation (helping you get to a point where you do not reoffend). If the judge thinks a sentence served at home cannot do that job in your case, you will not get one.

Conditions of a CSO

Every CSO comes with the same basic conditions. Keep the peace and be of good behaviour. Appear in court when required. Report to your supervisor. Stay within the jurisdiction unless you have permission to leave. Tell the court or your supervisor if you change your name, address, or job.

The judge will usually add optional conditions on top of those, and these are the ones that make a CSO hard. Since a CSO is meant to stand in for jail, the conditions are meant to feel like jail. House arrest with limited exceptions for work, medical appointments, and necessities is common. So are curfews, no-contact orders, no alcohol or drugs, counselling or treatment, and community service. A CSO is also often longer than the jail sentence it replaces.

What happens if I breach my CSO?

A breach of a CSO is not normally a new criminal charge. Instead, the alleged breach goes back before the court. In practice it feels a lot like a new charge. You get a hearing, and the question is whether you had a reasonable excuse for the breach.

If the judge finds you breached without a reasonable excuse, the judge can do one of several things. Take no action. Change the optional conditions. Suspend the CSO, have you serve part of the remaining time in custody, and then resume the CSO when you get out, with or without new conditions. Or terminate the CSO and send you to jail for the rest of the sentence. A lot depends on the nature of the breach and how it is presented, so do not go into a breach hearing without a lawyer.

If you were refused a CSO

A decision not to impose a CSO is a sentencing decision, and sentencing decisions can be appealed. If the judge got the eligibility rules wrong, applied the new exclusions to an offence that happened before July 15, 2026, or handed down a sentence that was unfit in the circumstances, you may have grounds for a sentence appeal. Purser Law handles sentence appeals at the Alberta Court of Appeal, and we regularly review sentences argued by other lawyers at trial. The deadlines for filing an appeal are short, so if you think a CSO should have been available in your case, call us soon after sentencing.

For more information about conditional sentence orders, call Purser Law

If you are facing sentencing and want to know whether a CSO is realistic, if you have been charged with breaching a CSO, or if you think a CSO was wrongly refused, call Purser Law for a free 30-minute consultation at 780-851-7435.

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