Is Carrying an Ordinary Kitchen Knife in Public a Crime in Canada?

Article by Rory Ziv

The definition of a weapon is found in s. 2 of the Criminal Code of Canada. It is reproduced below. 

weapon means any thing used, designed to be used or intended for use

• (a) in causing death or injury to any person, or
• (b) for the purpose of threatening or intimidating any person

and, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, includes a firearm and, for the purposes of sections 88, 267 and 272, any thing used, designed to be used or intended for use in binding or tying up a person against their will; 

The answer to the question will in large part depend on whether the knife can be categorized as a weapon based on the above definition? 

 If the answer to this question is yes, the next issue is whether carrying the weapon is a crime. For example, if a person is on a court order not to possess a weapon and they carry a kitchen knife determined to be a weapon then they have committed a crime. 

Ordinarily, carrying a kitchen knife, which is a weapon, by itself is not a crime, unless it is being carried for a purpose dangerous to the public, see R. v. Kerr 2004  SCC  44.

So, can a kitchen knife be categorized as a weapon? The best answer is found in the case R. v. Vader 2018 ABQB 1 at para 20 where Justice Clackson says “an item which is both violent and non-violent in potential use will be found to be a weapon where the context supports the inference that was the accused’s design and the context does not support any other reasonable possibility”. 

For example, a person who is carrying a kitchen knife in a bar may have some explaining to do. It may very well be that without a reasonable explanation the knife will be categorized as a weapon. 

A reasonable explanation for carrying a knife in a bar is that you just purchased the knife and stopped in the bar for a quick drink. If this explanation is not rejected, then the kitchen knife would not be a weapon.