Ontario Review Board
Re: Bryson Osmond
ORB File No: 7558
Hearing held on: Tuesday, October 7, 2025
Place of hearing: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health 1001 Queen Street West, Toronto
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before: Alternate Chairperson: Ms. L. Banks Members: Dr. L. Cappe Dr. C. Rose Hon. C. Nelson Mr. J. Cyr
Parties Appearing: Accused: Bryson Osmond Counsel: Ms. C. Francis (via Zoom videoconference)
The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Mr. D. Blumenkrans Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. D. Brandes
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated October 30, 2025)
Introduction:
[1]. On June 12, 2019, Mr. Bryon Osmond was found not criminally responsible (“NCR”) on account of mental disorder on charges of fail to comply with probation order (x3), all contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada (“Criminal Code”). Since that time, he has been subject to Dispositions of the Ontario Review Board (“ORB” or the “Board”), most recently a Disposition dated October 2, 2025, pursuant to which Mr. Osmond was ordered to be detained at the Forensic Service of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (“CAMH” or the “hospital”), in Toronto. The Disposition provided for privileges up to and including residing in the community in accommodation approved by the person in charge.
[2]. On October 7, 2025, the ORB convened a panel for the purposes of the annual review of Mr. Osmond’s Disposition pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Osmond was present at the hearing and was represented by his counsel, Ms. Francis.
[3]. The issues to be considered at this hearing are whether Mr. Osmond is a significant threat to the safety of the public as now defined in s. 672.5401 of the Criminal Code and, if he is found to be a significant threat to the community, the determination of the necessary and appropriate Disposition in the circumstances bearing in mind the factors enunciated in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.
[4]. For the reasons set out below, this Board concluded that Mr. Osmond continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public. This Board is satisfied that the necessary and appropriate Disposition is that Mr. Osmond continue to be subject to the terms of his existing Detention Order.
Index Offences:
[5]. The circumstances of the index offence are set forth in the Hospital Report dated September 26, 2025 (the “Hospital Report”), as follows:
“According to the File Information, on the January 9, 2019, Mr. Osmond was placed on a 2-year probation (expires January 8, 2021) as a result of charges of Breach of Probation; Possess Weapon Dangerous to Public; Fail to Comply; and Mischief. Condition included keeping the peace; no contact or communication either directly or indirectly (unless with provided consent) with David Stonehouse or Chyleen Nicholas; and report to probation officer as directed.
Mr. Bryson did not report to probation officer on January 10, 2019. He did not report again March 2, 2019 and was subsequently found him at Ms. Chyleen Nicholas’s with her. He was alleged to have not received consent to be at the address from the individual. Officers described him as behaving bizarrely and appearing as if intoxicated on substances. He was taken into custody and later transferred to Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre.
According to Mr. Osmond’s prior self-reports regarding the index offences, he claimed that he had been living his girlfriend, Ms. Chyleen Nicholas at the material time. However, he also noted primarily being homeless since his release into the community in January 2019.”
Personal History:
[6]. Mr. Osmond’s personal history is set out in detail in the Hospital Report which was filed as an exhibit at the hearing and need not be repeated here. These Reasons also adopt the background information from last year’s ORB Reasons, as follows:
[7]. Mr. Osmond is 33 years of age, and was born in Grand Falls, Newfoundland. He moved to Ontario with his family as an infant and has continued to reside in Ontario since that time. When Mr. Osmond was approximately 12 years old, his parents separated. His mother moved to a new town with the children. The move was very difficult for Mr. Osmond. At about age 13, he began experimenting with street drugs. He left school after grade 8, having achieved only one grade 9 credit.
[8]. For a few years, Mr. Osmond was employed in various manual labour and seasonal jobs, but he has been financially supported through ODSP since approximately 2011. According to his mother, his support from ODSP coincided with the onset of his mental illness, and his first contact with psychiatric services, in early 2010, after a suicide attempt. Mr. Osmond’s mother reported that, in 2009, she noticed changes in her son’s behavior – he talked and laughed to himself for hours, would not eat and was unable to focus during a conversation.
[9]. Following his initial hospitalization in 2010, Mr. Osmond was hospitalized on multiple occasions, because of his behaviour in the community. His psychiatric difficulties were often precipitated by his non-adherence to prescribed medications and/or his substance use. Throughout, he demonstrated poor insight into his mental health difficulties and was consistently resistant to psychiatric treatment.
[10]. Following the onset of his psychiatric difficulties, Mr. Osmond’s mother asked him to leave her home, because of his erratic, aggressive behaviour. From late 2010, Mr. Osmond was frequently homeless and resided in shelters or with a partner. He also had significant contact with the criminal justice system, including convictions for criminal harassment (2012), assault and mischief (2016), assault peace officer and mischief (2018) and multiple convictions for failing to attend court or to comply with probation orders. The December 2016 assault conviction involved Mr. Osmond's unprovoked attack on a female stranger on the street. He received a sentence of 12 months incarceration, in addition to the 60 days of pre-sentence custody he had served.
[11]. On January 9, 2019, Mr. Osmond was convicted on charges of possession of a weapon, mischief under $5,000, breach of probation and failure to comply with an undertaking. Those convictions arose out of two incidents. First, on October 8, 2018, Mr. Osmond was seen walking down a street in London, Ontario, swinging a hockey stick around in an agitated manner. When a police officer asked about this behaviour, he laughed and repeatedly smashed the stick to the ground, but he refused to drop it.
[12]. Regarding the charge of mischief, Mr. Osmond was angry at his then girlfriend, Chyleen Nicholas. Ms. Nicholas left the apartment to get the help of a neighbour. They were unable to calm Mr. Osmond down and heard him throwing things around the apartment and breaking glass. When police were able to enter the apartment, they found Mr. Osmond, naked and agitated, with blood on his head. He was arrested and subsequently admitted to the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care (“Southwest Centre”), from early November 2018 to January 11, 2019.
[13]. On admission to the Southwest Centre, Mr. Osmond presented with significant psychotic symptoms. Throughout the admission, he continued to appear to respond to internal stimuli, but the frequency of his problematic behaviour decreased with treatment with Olanzapine. On discharge, he declined any follow up and expressed an intention to stop his medication and resume living on the street. He also planned to return to Ms. Nicholas' apartment, though he was prohibited from doing so.
[14]. Upon conviction on January 9, 2019, Mr. Osmond was sentenced to one day of incarceration and time served, as well as two years of probation. Among other things, Mr. Osmond's probation order prohibited any contact with his former girlfriend and required that he report to a probation officer, as directed. Mr. Osmond did not report to the probation officer the following day and did not report again in March 2019. He was subsequently found at Ms. Nicholas' home with her. The officers who attended that day described Mr. Osmond as behaving bizarrely and appearing as if intoxicated. He was arrested and charged with breach of probation (x3), the index offences.
[15]. It appears that Mr. Osmond was primarily homeless since his release into the community from the Southwest Centre, in January 2019. He was also almost immediately noncompliant with treatment.
[16]. By early March 2019, when arrested for the index offences, he had decompensated to the extent that he was unfit to stand trial. He was admitted to Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care (“Waypoint”) on March 7, 2019, under a Treatment Order and restarted on antipsychotic medication. After being found fit to stand trial, Mr. Osmond was assessed for criminal responsibility and found NCR in early June 2019.
[17]. After being found NCR in June 2019, Mr. Osmond was initially detained at Waypoint, but he was transferred to CAMH in September 2019, where he remains. He has not been involved in any incidents of violence or problematic behaviour, either at Waypoint or at CAMH, except for the elopements, which will be discussed below. While at Waypoint, he was treated with Paliperidone, a long-acting injectable antipsychotic medication.
[18]. In November 2021, Mr. Osmond absconded while on an indirectly supervised pass. He remained at large a little over a week, until he was seen wandering on CAMH grounds by the unit social worker. He agreed to return to hospital and, upon admission, stated that he had been walking the streets, consuming alcohol, and cannabis that he found.
[19]. In July 2022, Mr. Osmond again absconded while on an indirectly supervised pass and was found the following day, wandering near the hospital without shoes or pants. He gave varying accounts as to the amount of cannabis he smoked, but he admitted to drinking two 750 mL bottles of beer. There was no observable change in his mental state on either occasion.
Current Diagnoses:
[20]. Mr. Osmond’s current diagnoses are:
Schizophrenia; and Substance Use Disorder (in remission in a controlled environment).
Position of the Parties:
[21]. At the outset of the hearing, all parties were canvassed as to their initial recommendations to the Board. Counsel for the hospital submitted that the recommendation of the treatment team was for no change to Mr. Osmond’s current Detention Order Disposition.
[22]. Counsel for the Attorney General of Ontario supported the recommendation of the hospital.
[23]. Counsel for Mr. Osmond submitted that his client was supportive of the hospital’s recommendation. Counsel waived the issue of significant threat for the purposes of this hearing.
[24]. All parties maintained their joint recommendation in closing submissions.
Evidence at the Hearing:
[25]. The evidence on behalf of the hospital was presented by Dr. I. Swayze, who was Mr. Osmond’s community psychiatrist for the majority of the year in review. Dr. Swayze is also the co-author of the Hospital Report which was filed as an exhibit at the hearing. Dr. Swayze advised that he had consulted with Dr. Woodside, who has been Mr. Osmond’s psychiatrist since September 8, 2025, in order to prepare for the hearing. Since September 8, 2025, Mr. Osmond’s care has been supervised by Dr. Woodside.
[26]. Dr. Swayze testified that it has been somewhat of a challenging year in review for Mr. Osmond. He reminded the Board that Mr. Osmond had been discharged from the hospital, in June 2024, to Dowling Avenue, a 24-hour staff supervised residence. At his residence, his medications were administered by housing staff. Since Mr. Osmond’s discharge to the community, he had been supported by the Forensic Out-Patient Service (“FOS”).
[27]. In April 2025, Mr. Osmond relapsed to cannabis use as evidenced by positive urine drug screen (“UDS”) test results (April 17 to May 5, 16). At that time, he did not suffer any deterioration in his mental status and he remained medication compliant. In response to his cannabis use, his reporting with the FOS was increased from 3 times a week to 5 times a week. He was able stop using cannabis and he avoided hospitalization.
[28]. Unfortunately, for a period of approximately three weeks, beginning in early June 2025, Mr. Osmond’s UDS test results once again returned positive for cannabis use. Mr. Osmond acknowledged his use but was unwilling to cease consumption despite understanding the likely result. As anticipated, with consistent cannabis consumption, Mr. Osmond suffered an exacerbation of his psychosis and presented with more prominent auditory hallucinations which were command in nature. He also began to have visual hallucinations and he presented with a slight increase in his paranoia. He remained fully adherent to his medications during this time frame.
[29]. The treatment team assessed him as presenting with an elevation in his risk profile and the decision was made to readmit him to hospital on June 23, 2025. The readmission was also intended to interrupt Mr. Mr. Osmond’s pattern of cannabis use. He has remained an inpatient on the Forensic General Unit C (“FGUC”) under the clinical care of Dr. Scott Woodside.
[30]. Mr. Osmond remains incapable of consenting to his treatment and substitute consent is provided by his mother. Under her authority, he is treated with the oral antipsychotic paliperidone (Invega) at the maximum daily dose of 12 mg. Despite compliance with his prescribed treatment, Mr. Osmond has continued to experience residual psychosis and there is no room to titrate this medication up further. Mr. Osmond also receives a daily oral dose of topiramate to assist him in managing his cravings.
[31]. When asked if his current medication should be reviewed in order to attempt to optimize Mr. Osmond’s treatment, Dr. Swayze responded that his SDM is not in favour of injectable medication and at present, Dr. Swayze does not consider a trial of Clozapine necessary.
[32]. In terms of his baseline residual symptoms, Mr. Osmond reports hearing voices in the form of ongoing narratives that are not command in nature. The content of the voices is considered benign and Mr. Osmond has not presented with behavioural concerns in response to these symptoms. Occasionally, Mr. Osmond also expresses ideas of reference but no violent themes have been disclosed.
[33]. When residing at Dowling Avenue, Mr. Osmond attended a weekly Substance Relapse Prevention group from June 2024 to January 2025 when he chose to withdraw from the program. In April and May 2025, when Mr. Osmond was relapsed to cannabis use, he was strongly encouraged to re-engage with the Substance Relapse Prevention group, which he again declined. Over the past reporting year, Mr. Osmond was otherwise not involved in any structured recreational, leisure, educational, employment, or risk management programming.
[34]. Since his readmission to the hospital in June 2025, Mr. Osmond has not presented as a management problem and he has not required seclusion or physical/chemical restraints. He is not engaged in any aggressive or sexually inappropriate behaviours and he is cooperative to with the treatment team. He agreed to an increase in his anti-craving medication and has continued to be compliant with his antipsychotic medication.
[35]. Dr. Swayze noted that it took a long time for Mr. Osmond’s UDS to return negative for cannabis, likely indicative of the fact that his cannabis consumption prior to readmission was significant. Despite encouragement from the treatment team, he declined engagement in substance relapse prevention programming; however, just recently, he agreed to individual counselling sessions and has attended two sessions to date. In the doctor’s opinion, Mr. Osmond has not yet demonstrated a robust commitment to participate in substance use programming, nor has he expressed a commitment to remaining abstinent upon his return to community living.
[36]. Dr. Swayze commented that almost all occasions of Mr. Osmond’s engagement in violence and threatening behaviour have correlated to episodes of his substance use. He continues to express very limited insight into the relationship between his substance use and the likely consequences of same, being his readmission to the hospital.
[37]. The Hospital Report also indicates that Mr. Osmond continues to display some negative symptoms, including amotivation and restricted emotional expression. Dr. Swayze commented that Mr. Osmond’s experience of negative symptoms is likely why he shows no interest in engaging in vocational, volunteer, recreational or other structured programming.
[38]. Since his readmission, Mr. Osmond has been working his way up the hospital’s privilege ladder, and he is currently able to use level 2 staff accompanied hospital and grounds passes for recreation and rehabilitation. He has not yet been granted indirectly supervised privileges, either on hospital grounds or in the community.
[39]. Dr. Swayze advised that prior to Mr. Osmond’s return to community living, Mr. Osmond will have to:
- maintain medication compliance;
- remain abstinent from all substance use, including cannabis (verified by the administration of frequent and random UDS);
- commit to abstinence upon his return to the community;
- participate in substance relapse prevention programming; and
- progress to regular and appropriate use of indirectly supervised community passes, without relapse to substance use.
[40]. In terms of his insight, Dr. Swayze stated that Mr. Osmond’s insight into his mental condition, its symptomatology, the role of psychiatric treatment, the effects of substance use and his risk of re-offence continue to be “exceptionally limited”. His compliance with the terms of his ORB Disposition is primarily externally motivated.
[41]. Dr. Swayze endorsed the following clinical risk factors which he agrees are pertinent to Mr. Osmond’s risk profile:
- when suffering from symptoms of his major mental illness, he presents with delusions, hallucinations, agitation, mood disturbances and behavioural dyscontrol that can result in conduct that poses a real risk of physical and/or psychological harm;
- his substance use which can exacerbate his underlying psychotic disorder;
- his limited insight into his illness, the need for treatment with medication, the impact of substance use on his mental state and other factors that increase his risk for violence/reoffence;
- his history of non-compliance and resistance to psychiatric treatment and services; and
- his limited social supports, being his mother and his sister.
[42]. In the doctor’s assessment and that of the treatment team, Mr. Osmond continues to meet the threshold of posing a significant threat to public safety.
[43]. The doctor opined that at the present juncture, the treatment team is of the opinion that a Detention Order continues to be necessary and appropriate as it provides two key risk management features. First, it allows the hospital to retain authority over Mr. Osmond’s accommodation in the community. The treatment team believes that when ready for return to community living, Mr. Osmond will again require intensive support, supervision and follow-up. In response to a question posed by a panel member, the doctor advised that there is no indication that Mr. Osmond’s community residence is at risk while he remains detained in the hospital.
[44]. Additionally, the doctor commented that the hospital must have the ability to readmit Mr. Osmond expeditiously if necessary and at an early juncture, should he evidence any signs of decompensation, whether as a result of medication noncompliance, relapse to substance use, or otherwise. In the treatment team’s opinion, a Conditional Discharge Disposition is insufficient to safely manage Mr. Osmond’s risk. If Mr. Osmond were on a Conditional Discharge, then it would be necessary to wait until he was certifiable before he could be readmitted and this would result in an unacceptable level of risk.
[45]. No further evidence was called by the parties.
Analysis and Disposition:
[46]. The panel finds that Mr. Osmond continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public. In coming to this conclusion, the panel relies on the evidence of Dr. Swayze and the documentary evidence before us. Mr. Osmond suffers from treatment-refractory Schizophrenia and he continues to experience daily symptoms of his illness. When acutely unwell, he has presented with more intense delusions, hallucinations, agitation, mood disturbances and behavioural dyscontrol that has resulted in physical violence.
[47]. Additionally, Mr. Osmond continues to have underdeveloped insight across all domains, and specifically with regard to the impact of substance use on his mental state. Over the past review period, he has engaged in cannabis use on numerous occasions and in June 2025, his cannabis use resulted in a significant exacerbation in his psychotic symptoms, which resulted in an increase in his risk to the safety of the public. This deterioration occurred despite the fact that Mr. Osmond remained medication compliant at that time.
[48]. If no longer under an ORB Disposition, Mr. Osmond would be extremely likely to return to his historical pattern of noncompliance with medication, relapse to substance use, either one of which would be likely to lead to emergence of psychosis and his resultant engagement in criminal behaviours. For all of the above reasons, the Board finds that he continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public.
[49]. The past reporting year has been a challenging one for Mr. Osmond and his relapse to cannabis use ultimately resulted in his readmission to the hospital on June 23, 2025. Prior to that readmission, he had been successfully transitioned to community living in a 24-hour a day supervised setting after having been detained in the hospital for several years. The treatment team and the Board remain hopeful that Mr. Osmond will re-engage in Substance Relapse Prevention therapy in order to better manage this active risk factor.
[50]. At this juncture, the Board finds that it is critical that the hospital retains the ability to oversee his community residence to ensure that it provides him with the requisite degree of support, structure, supervision, and monitoring when he is a suitable candidate for discharge from the hospital.
[51]. In addition, we conclude that the Mental Health Act is not sufficient to manage Mr. Osmond’s risk to the community. In the event of a decompensation in his mental status while living in the community, the treatment team will require the ability to return him quickly to hospital for readmission rather than to wait until such time as he meets criteria for certification under the Mental Health Act. When unwell, Mr. Osmond can present in a threatening, aggressive, and agitated manner and he has exhibited violent behaviour. Further, the doctor’s evidence is that given Mr. Osmond’s chronic and ongoing experience of symptoms of his psychotic illness, it is likely that any decompensation in his mental state would occur rapidly, underscoring the need for rapid intervention. For all of these reasons, the panel is unanimous in agreeing that the necessary and appropriate Disposition is a continuation of the current Detention Order.
[52]. In making this Disposition, the Board has reviewed the provisions of s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code and has carefully considered the need to protect the public from dangerous persons, Mr. Osmond’s mental condition, his reintegration into society and his other needs.
DATED this 30th day of October, 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Region of Toronto.
Ms. L. Banks Alternate Chairperson
Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board