Jhirvyn Felix (Re), 2025 CanLII 122723

Ontario Review Board

Re: Jhirvyn Felix

ORB File No: 7764/7656

Hearing held on: Wednesday, October 15, 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: Mr. J. Goldenberg Members: Dr. M.V.A. Prakash Dr. M. Mamak Ms. M. den Haan Mr. S. Duffy

Parties Appearing: Accused: Jhirvyn Felix Counsel: Mr. A. Rai

The person in charge of hospital: Representative: Dr. P. Darby

Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. M. Feindel

REASONS FOR DISPOSITION

(Dated November 25, 2025)

Introduction

1On November 22, 2019, Mr. Jhirvyn Felix was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder on charges of utter threat to cause death or bodily harm and possession of weapon for dangerous purpose, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada (the "Criminal Code"). Further, on August 10, 2020, Mr. Jhirvyn Felix was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder on charges of break and enter (x3), contrary to the Criminal Code.

2On October 15, 2025, a panel of the Ontario Review Board ("ORB" or the "Board") convened to review Mr. Felix's current Disposition pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. At the time of the hearing, Mr. Felix was ordered detained at the General Forensic Unit of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto ("CAMH" or the "Hospital") with privileges up to living in the community in accommodation approved by the person in charge.

3Mr. Felix was present for his hearing and was represented by counsel, Mr. Rai, throughout the proceedings.

Position of the Parties

4At the commencement of the hearing, the parties were canvassed for their initial positions.

5On behalf of the Hospital, Dr. Darby recommended that the necessary and appropriate Disposition continues to be a Detention Disposition with one change to the conditions, which is to add permission to travel nationally or internationally up to three weeks, with an itinerary approved in advance by the person in charge of the Hospital.

6Counsel for the Attorney General and for Mr. Felix agreed with the recommendation of the Hospital and therefore the panel was presented with a joint submission for its consideration.

7For the reasons below and based on the evidence and opinions before us, the Board found that Mr. Felix continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public. The Board also finds that a continuation of the existing Detention Disposition is the necessary and appropriate order on the terms set out in our formal Disposition having regard to the safety of the public, which is the paramount concern, and also having regard to Mr. Felix's mental health, reintegration into society, and other needs. The Board finds, based on the submissions of the parties, that the change to the Disposition to permit international and national travel up to three weeks, is also necessary and appropriate.

Index Offences

8The circumstances of the index offences are summarized in last year's Reasons as follows:

"On May 17, 2019, Mr. Felix was on a TTC bus. The bus driver stopped the bus and Mr. Felix became agitated and irate and stated he was going to stab everyone on the bus if he didn't keep driving. The driver explained that he needed to keep the bus stopped and Mr. Felix exited the bus. He began walking with a knife in his hand near WalMart where pedestrian traffic was moderate. Mr. Felix was waving the knife around when police approached and arrested him without incident.

On November 29, 2019, the victims went to investigate the loud banging at the front door of their residence. They observed Mr. Felix standing on their 6th floor balcony. They then observed Mr. Felix climb down from the 6th floor balcony to the 5th floor balcony where he resided. On December 16, 2019, Mr. Felix attended the victim's unit again and aggressively kicked and banged on their front door. On December 19, 2019, Mr. Felix was observed via hallway surveillance video footage damaging the front door of the victim's apartment and gaining access into the unit. Police found evidence that Mr. Felix had climbed down the balcony onto the 5th floor balcony. He was located and arrested on December 21, 2019."

Background and History

9Mr. Felix's background and history are detailed in the Hospital Report and need not be repeated here. However, the following information is of note.

10Mr. Felix is currently 32 years old and was born in Ontario. At the time of the index offences, he did not have a fixed address but was living with various family members. Mr. Felix attended Humber College after high school and has completed his apprenticeship as an electrician.

11Mr. Felix was first admitted for psychiatric care to the Humber River Hospital in November of 2016 as a result of severe paranoia and volatile behaviour. He was hospitalized for psychiatric admission eleven more times prior to the index offences.

12Mr. Felix has an extensive history of cannabis use. Its impact on Mr. Felix's mental state has been noted to be significant.

13Prior to the index offences, Mr. Felix was charged in April 2019 with assault peace officer.

14Following Mr. Felix's ORB hearing on April 18, 2023, he was granted a Conditional Discharge. During the summer of 2023, however, Mr. Felix showed significant decompensation in his mental state and was charged with harassment and assault. The assault charge was a result of Mr. Felix attending his former place of employment, grabbing the victim, throwing him to the ground, and then punching him in the face. Mr. Felix also travelled to New York in July 2023 without telling his treatment team and had a car accident during that journey.

15During the summer of 2024, Mr. Felix's urine samples tested positive for metformin but negative for cannabis. Some concern was raised that Mr. Felix had provided someone else's urine sample instead of his own since his urine had regularly tested positive for cannabis from January 2024 until that time. In July 2024, the Hospital required Mr. Felix to report more frequently to his case manager as a result of positive testing for cannabis.

16While Mr. Felix appeared to have some insight into the need for medication, his insight into the risk of using substances remained limited. During the 2024 ORB annual hearing, Mr. Felix requested that he be permitted to use cannabis. His request was strongly opposed by the Hospital and at that time they noted that the decompensation during the summer of 2023, when additional charges were incurred, happened in the context of cannabis use and some medication nonadherence. The result of this medication nonadherence was a switch to an injectable antipsychotic medication.

17Mr. Felix is capable to consent to treatment and capable to manage property.

Current Diagnoses

18Mr. Felix is currently diagnosed with Schizophrenia and Cannabis Use Disorder.

Evidence at the Hearing

19The Board had available to it the evidence and documents forming the Record, Exhibits, and oral evidence of Dr. Darby, who is Mr. Felix's attending psychiatrist.

20Counsel for Mr. Felix informed the panel that Mr. Felix's 2023 charges have been resolved. On January 7, 2025, Mr. Felix entered into a Peace Bond for 10 years and the charge of criminal harassment was withdrawn. On January 24, 2025, with respect to the charge of assault, Mr. Felix entered into an 18-month Peace Bond and charges were withdrawn. Mr. Rai confirmed that the victims of the criminal harassment and assault offences were two different complainants.

21On behalf of the Hospital, Dr. Darby testified that Mr. Felix has had a very good year, especially in contrast to the two prior years which he described as "rocky". Mr. Felix has had no positive urine drug screens over the reporting year.

22Mr. Felix is highly motivated for employment and has completed the extensive number of apprenticeship hours required to become an electrician. Mr. Felix is set to write his exams in January to become a fully qualified electrician. In Dr. Darby's opinion, gaining employment as an electrician is a very positive motivator for Mr. Felix to remain compliant with the terms of his disposition.

23There have been no behavioural concerns over the reporting year. There has been some concern with the superficial level of engagement with the treatment team. Dr. Darby noted that Mr. Felix can be guarded with respect to issues in his life and the treatment team was unaware of difficulties that Mr. Felix had with paying his rent. Mr. Felix entered into a payment plan to repay the arrears of rent, but the treatment team has some concern because the issue of non-payment of rent has happened before.

24Mr. Felix tells Dr. Darby that he is no longer interested in using marijuana. The treatment team has some concerns that Mr. Felix has not engaged in any relapse prevention programming. To Mr. Felix's credit, however, all the urine drug screens during the reporting year have been negative.

25Counsel for the Attorney General confirmed with Dr. Darby that Mr. Felix's current housing is independent housing supervised by CMHA. This is not staffed housing, and there is no need to inspect Mr. Felix's housing.

26When referred to page 30 of the Hospital Report which noted a discrepancy between pharmacy records and Mr. Felix's reporting of medication compliance, Dr. Darby stated that there may have been a mix up, and he did not take this as a negative sign.

27Counsel for Mr. Felix confirmed with Dr. Darby that during the treatment year, Mr. Felix has not been readmitted to Hospital, there has been no violence, and Mr. Felix has been paying the arrears of rent that he owes.

28In response to questions from members of the panel regarding a urine drug screen sample was diluted and tested positive for alcohol (page 31 of the Hospital Report), Dr. Darby stated that he spoke to the lab and that it was a false positive for ethanol. There was no explanation for the dilution of the sample, however, Dr. Darby does not think it was the result of interference with the sample.

29Mr. Felix currently is working full time and is unable to do group programming. Mr. Felix was offered 1:1 programming for substance relapse prevention with a forensic consultation assessment team. Mr. Felix is ambivalent about participating in programming but has not said no. On the other hand, Mr. Felix has not completed any programming. There are occasional challenges with Mr. Felix's scheduled work times and attendance at the Hospital.

30The Hospital recommends the travel clause because Mr. Felix wishes to attend a family event in Jamaica over Christmas. Mr. Felix will be with family while he is in Jamaica, which in Dr. Darby's opinion, mitigates some risk. Dr. Darby confirmed that Mr. Felix's family has not been in contact with the treatment team.

31Mr. Felix now receives a long-acting injectable medication which has a protective factor. If Mr. Felix's mental state were to decompensate, the decompensation would not be as acute as with oral medication. Mr. Felix receives his injection every three weeks, which is the reason for the request for travel passes for up to three weeks. Although Mr. Felix had asked in the past to switch back to oral medication from the long-acting injectable medication, Dr. Darby testified that Mr. Felix states that he is fine for now with the long-acting medication.

32Dr. Darby also indicated that Mr. Felix pays his rent from his own income as an electrical apprentice. His housing is not in jeopardy if he continues to follow the payment plan for arrears of rent and if he continues to pay his rent.

33No further evidence was led.

Analysis and Disposition

34At the conclusion of the hearing, the parties maintained their joint position that Mr. Felix continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and that the necessary and appropriate Disposition is a continuation of the current Detention order, with the inclusion of permission to travel. No further submissions were required from the parties.

35Dr. Darby noted that it is important to emphasize that Mr. Felix had a good year, and that he wishes Mr. Felix good luck on his exams in January which will require a lot of studying. Counsel for the Attorney General joined in congratulating Mr. Felix for his efforts over the year and noted that work seems to be a very positive motivator for him.

Significant Threat

36Mr. Felix did not contest the issue of significant threat to the safety of the public. Based on the evidence at the hearing, the panel independently finds that Mr. Felix continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public.

37Although this year Mr. Felix had no positive tests for cannabis, as recently as last year he was requesting that his Disposition permit him to use cannabis. It is notable that the index offences and 2023 charges were directly tied to use of cannabis. Mr. Felix's relatively recent desire to be permitted to use cannabis demonstrates that his insight into factors which exacerbate his illness, such as cannabis use, is still developing. Although we are mindful of the demands of Mr. Felix's employment, the Board shares the Hospital's concern that Mr. Felix has not yet availed himself of any substance treatment programming even when offered 1:1 programming to facilitate his ability to schedule.

38In addition, the 2023 charges were incurred during a period of some non-adherence to medication. While the risk has been mitigated by a switch to long-acting injectable medication and Mr. Felix is currently content to continue to use this method of administration, he did previously request to switch back to oral medication.

Necessary and Appropriate Disposition

39Based on the evidence before it, the panel agrees with the joint submission of the parties that that the Detention Disposition with the addition of travel passes is the most necessary and appropriate Disposition for the coming year.

40As Dr. Darby noted, Mr. Felix has had an outstanding year in comparison to the two previous years. It appears to be highly motivating for Mr. Felix that he is completing his apprenticeship and will be working full time as an electrician.

41As noted above, Mr. Felix requires ongoing psychoeducation to improve his understanding of the impact of substance use on his mental state. Mr. Felix has recent charges in 2023 which arose during a state of mental decompensation in the context of cannabis use. At the time of those charges, Mr. Felix was subject to a Conditional Discharge. It would be premature to grant a Conditional Discharge at this time, and in the panel's opinion, a Conditional Discharge would not be sufficient to manage his risk as is evidenced by his recent 2023 decompensation and resulting legal charges.

42Because Mr. Felix is receiving long-acting injectable medication every three weeks, based on Dr. Darby's expert opinion, the Board agrees that adding a condition to permit Mr. Felix to travel for up to three weeks with the approval of the Hospital is appropriate.

43The Board notes that Mr. Felix has done well this year and wishes him luck with his upcoming exams.