The judge said “conditional sentence” and you walked out of the courthouse instead of through the door at the back. The relief lasts about as long as the drive home, because the practical questions start immediately. Can you go to work tomorrow? Can you take your kid to hockey? Can you go to the grocery store, the dentist, your mother’s place on Sunday?
The short answer: a conditional sentence order is a sentence of imprisonment that you serve in the community, usually under house arrest or a curfew, and what you are allowed to do is exactly what the order says you are allowed to do. Nothing more. Every order carries the same five mandatory conditions, most carry house arrest or a curfew with a written list of exceptions, and the exceptions are where people get into trouble. Here is how to read your order, and how to live inside it.
The five conditions every conditional sentence carries
Section 742.3 of the Criminal Code sets out the conditions a court must include in every conditional sentence order. You must keep the peace and be of good behaviour. You must appear before the court when required. You must report to your supervisor within two working days of the order being made, or within whatever longer period the court allows, and after that whenever and however the supervisor directs. You must remain within the jurisdiction of the court unless you have written permission from the court or your supervisor to leave. And you must notify the court or your supervisor in advance of any change of name or address, and promptly of any change of employment or occupation.
Two of those catch people who are trying to comply. “Remain within the jurisdiction” means the province, in most orders, and a weekend in British Columbia for a family wedding needs written permission before you go, not an apology after. “Notify promptly of any change of employment” includes losing a job, not just starting one.
The optional conditions judges actually use
Section 742.3 also lists the conditions a court may add, and these are the ones that shape your days. The court can order you to abstain from alcohol and from drugs other than prescribed ones, and can require you to provide a sample of a bodily substance when a peace officer or your supervisor has reasonable grounds to believe you have breached that condition, or at regular intervals set out in the order. It can prohibit you from owning, possessing or carrying a weapon. It can order you to stay away from named people and specified places. It can require up to 240 hours of community service within 18 months, attendance at a treatment program approved by the province, and support for your dependants.
House arrest and curfews come in under the final paragraph, which lets the court impose any other reasonable condition it considers desirable for securing good conduct and preventing further offences. Because a conditional sentence is meant to stand in for jail, judges use that paragraph to make the sentence feel like one. A typical order requires you to be inside your residence at all times except for a list of stated purposes, often for the first portion of the sentence, followed by a curfew for the rest.
Work, school, medical care and groceries
The exceptions to house arrest are written into the order, and they are specific. A common form is: for the purpose of travelling directly to and from employment, during hours confirmed in writing to the supervisor. Others cover medical and dental appointments, attending court, meeting with counsel, religious services, and a set block of time each week for necessities such as groceries. Some orders allow childcare drop-offs and pickups. Some do not, unless counsel asked for it at sentencing.
Three habits keep people out of breach hearings. First, carry a copy of the order, because a police officer who stops you at 9 p.m. is entitled to ask why you are out. Second, give your supervisor your work schedule in writing and update it every time it changes, before the shift, not after. Third, if the order does not list it, assume it is not allowed, and ask. A phone call to your supervisor takes two minutes. A breach hearing does not.
What happens if you breach
A breach is not a new criminal charge. It is dealt with under section 742.6 as a hearing before the court, which must start within 30 days of your arrest or of being compelled to appear, or as soon after that as is practicable. The Crown has to prove the breach on a balance of probabilities, a lower standard than at trial, usually through your supervisor’s written report, and if you say you had a reasonable excuse, it is on you to prove it. If a breach is found the court has four options: take no action, change the optional conditions, suspend the order and send you into custody for part of what remains, or terminate the order and have you serve the rest of the sentence in jail. The clock on your sentence also stops running from the moment a warrant issues or you are arrested for the alleged breach until the allegation is decided, unless a justice orders you detained in custody pending the hearing, in which case the sentence resumes running while you are held. If you are released pending the hearing, every condition still applies.
The honest takeaway is that the conditional sentence itself is the leniency. There is very little left in reserve once it is breached, and judges tend to read a breach as the offender having already been given the benefit of the doubt once.
Can the conditions be changed?
Yes. Section 742.4 allows the supervisor, the offender, or the prosecutor to apply to the court to change the optional conditions. If your work hours change, you move, or a condition turns out to be unworkable, the route is an application, not a quiet decision to do it anyway. Your lawyer can bring the application, and the supervisor will often support a change that makes the order easier to comply with.
Who gets a conditional sentence in the first place
Not everyone. Section 742.1 limits a conditional sentence to cases where the sentence is under two years, the offence carries no mandatory minimum, the offence is not on the excluded list, and the court is satisfied that serving the sentence in the community would not endanger public safety and is consistent with the purposes and principles of sentencing. The excluded list grew in July 2026 and now covers several sexual offences prosecuted by indictment. A plain-language walkthrough of eligibility, the July 2026 changes, and what to expect at sentencing is in Conditional Sentence Orders Explained.
Frequently asked questions
Can I drink alcohol on a conditional sentence order?
Only if your order has no condition about it. Many do, and those that do often include a sampling condition that lets your supervisor or a peace officer demand a breath or urine sample if they have reasonable grounds to believe you have been drinking, or on a fixed schedule. If your order is silent on alcohol, drinking is not a breach, though being intoxicated in a way that leads to other conduct can be.
Does the sentence keep running if I am arrested for a breach?
Generally, no. Under section 742.6, the running of the sentence is suspended from the issuance of the warrant or your arrest until the breach allegation is decided. The exception is if a justice orders you detained in custody pending the hearing; the sentence then resumes running while you are held. If the court finds no breach, or accepts that you had a reasonable excuse, the suspended time is credited as time served. If it finds a breach, the court decides what happens to the balance.
Can I leave Alberta for work while on a conditional sentence?
Only with written permission from the court or your supervisor, which is a mandatory condition of every order. Ask well before the trip, with dates and a reason, and carry the permission with you.
About the author: Stacey Purser is the founder of Purser Law, a criminal defence and appeals firm in Edmonton. She was called to the Alberta Bar in 2016 and the Northwest Territories Bar in 2025, holds an LLM in Criminal Law and Procedure from Osgoode Hall Law School, and is a sessional instructor at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law.