Re: Ivan Irazi
ORB File No: 8407
Hearing held on: Friday, October 10, 2025
Place of hearing: North Bay Regional Health Centre – North Bay Site
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1), of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Ms. M. Labrosse
Members Dr. P. Prendergast
Dr. G. Nexhipi
Hon. E. Kruzick
Ms. D. Smith
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Ivan Irazi
Counsel: Mr. W. Stickland
The Person in charge of Hospital: Representative: Mr. R. Holden
Counsel: Mr. P. Trenker via Zoom
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. M. Mazurski
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated December 2, 2025)
Introduction
On October 13, 2023, Ivan Irazi was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (“NCR”) of three counts of assault, and one count of each mischief under $5000, criminal harassment, and failing to comply with a release order, all contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada.
Mr. Irazi is currently subject to a disposition of the Ontario Review Board (“ORB”), dated November 5, 2024, which detains him at the Forensic Program of the North Bay Regional Health Centre – North Bay Site, on terms and conditions, including permission to live in the community within the catchment area of the North Bay Regional Health Centre – North Bay Site in accommodation approved by the person in charge.
On October 10, 2025, the ORB convened a hearing at the North Bay Regional Health Centre – North Bay Site, herein after referred to as to the hospital, to review Mr. Irazi’s disposition pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Irazi was present for the hearing, represented by his counsel, Mr. W. Stickland. A hospital report dated September 15, 2025, was entered as Exhibit 1 for the hearing.
The issues for this hearing are whether Mr. Irazi continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and if so to determine the necessary and appropriate disposition having regard to the factors set out at s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.
Position of the Parties and Findings of the Board
At the outset of the hearing, the Board was presented with a joint submission of all parties that Mr. Irazi continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public and that the maintenance of the current detention order on the same terms and conditions remains the necessary and appropriate disposition for the coming year. That joint position was maintained in final submissions.
For the reasons set out below the Board finds that Mr. Irazi continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public and that the maintenance of the current detention order, on the same terms and conditions, is the necessary and appropriate disposition.
Summary of Index Offences
- On April 21, 2023, Ivan Irazi (DOB: August 7, 2002) confronted a woman (J.O.) and her 2-year-old daughter at Walmart, Sudbury. He asked to pick up the child, followed her through the store, and harassed her. Employees intervened, but Mr. Irazi attempted to reach the child and assaulted staff members S.G (by yanking her lanyard), J.C. (grabbing his shoulder), and R.P. (grabbing his arm and throwing his phone, causing damage). He was charged with criminal harassment, three counts of assault and one count of mischief to property under $5,000. Police arrested Mr. Irazi at 20:23 hrs., read him his rights, and held him pending bail. On April 28, 2023, Mr. Irazi breached his Release Order (dated April 25, 2023) by returning to Walmart, violating conditions to stay away from the store and victims. He was arrested for Breach of Release Order and held for a bail hearing due to safety concerns.
Background History
Mr. Irazi’s personal, legal, and psychiatric history is set out in detail in the hospital report. Briefly summarized, Mr. Irazi is 24 years of age and was born in Rwanda and moved to Canada with his mother at the age of four. The rest of Mr. Irazi’s family moved to Kenya and were able to join them in Canada in 2013. His parents presently live in Sudbury and his siblings reside in Ottawa and Toronto.
Mr. Irazi has no previous criminal record. Mr. Irazi has a significant history of substance use including using alcohol and having previously used other substances such as DMT, Ketamine, Psilocybin, and cannabis.
The hospital report sets out that Mr. Irazi experienced a significant history of trauma and abuse having grown up in a home where the father was extremely strict and placed high demands on the children. He was reportedly physically abusive to other family members and Mr. Irazi witnessed assaults directed at his mother and siblings, as well as being himself the victim of significant physical and psychological abuse from his father and siblings.
With respect to his previous psychiatric history, Mr. Irazi’s family reported that he displayed significant behavioural changes in the two years preceding the index offences. He voiced suicidal ideation but refused to speak with a physician or therapist. The hospital report sets out several admissions to hospital in the months leading up to the index offences.
Mr. Irazi’s current diagnoses include schizophrenia, alcohol use disorder, mild, in early remission in a controlled environment.
Evidence at the Hearing
The hospital’s evidence was presented through its report, Exhibit 1, and through the oral testimony of Dr. J.-G. Gagnon, who has been Mr. Irazi’s attending psychiatrist since May of 2024. This evidence is summarized below.
Dr. Gagnon noted that Mr. Irazi has made significant progress over the course of the past year including his recent discharge on September 10, 2025, to Maplewood House which is a transitional residence in the community of North Bay.
Mr. Irazi had initially been expected to move to 501 Morris Transitional Home instead of Maplewood. He was disappointed as he wanted to be discharged to Maplewood where his romantic partner is residing. In dealing with this disappointment, Mr. Irazi exhibited acute anxiety symptoms consistent with a panic attack and disclosed recurrent intrusive memories and flashbacks related to the past abuse by his father.
Ultimately, the hospital decided to discharge Mr. Irazi to Maplewood because his independent living skills were deemed to be greater than most co-residents at the 501 Morris home. Dr. Gagnon stated that the treatment team felt that Mr. Irazi was capable of adapting to greater independence with the supports available at Maplewood.
The team hopes that Mr. Irazi will be able to demonstrate that he can live independently and that he is able to engage in pro-social community activities including longer-term plans such as returning to school to complete his GED or pursue employment. Mr. Irazi has expressed a desire to complete his high school diploma but has yet to take the steps to register for school.
Mr. Irazi has a girlfriend who resides at Maplewood and Dr. Gagnon explained that the treatment team will attempt to navigate that issue with Mr. Irazi and provide him with the support that he needs in the event that there should be any issues with the relationship.
The treatment team has concerns about Mr. Irazi’s level of maturity and are supporting him in progressing to the level of managing his own routine including his medications and cooking and cleaning and laundry. Initially the treatment team thought that he was not quite ready to assume those responsibilities as he generally needed greater prompting to attend to these things, however it appears that he is indeed demonstrating a more functional ability than what was initially thought. Dr. Gagnon likened Mr. Irazi’s situation to that of a 17- or 18-year-old teenager being sent off to university with the parent hoping that they will manage despite their young age.
Dr. Gagnon hopes that Mr. Irazi will settle into a routine and at this time believes that his girlfriend is a good influence as she is not interested in having a dependent and is herself quite independent. Accordingly, the treatment team is hoping for a quick maturation and that this cautious “push out of the nest” will succeed. They plan on keeping a good eye on him and hope that he will be able to manage the stress of having to grow up quickly.
With respect to the issue of risk, Dr. Gagnon believes that it is important for Mr. Irazi to learn to occupy his time and to engage in prosocial activities as well as learning not to withdraw from services when he is upset, and things don’t go his way. A concern at this time would be that without the support of the hospital, Mr. Irazi would not have meaningful ways to occupy his time and is likely to get bored and perhaps return to substance use. The risk is not knowing how well he will do in the community and needing to test him over the course of the next year to see how he manages.
Without adequate supports, Mr. Irazi could withdraw, start consuming substances, and get into trouble again. Dr. Gagnon believes that Mr. Irazi is on the right course at the moment and that if he can maintain his gains, he would likely be progressing towards a conditional discharge next year. The treatment team has been clear about expectations and Mr. Irazi’s response has been to engage, which is protective and encouraging.
Dr. Gagnon confirmed that Mr. Irazi has been abstinent of substances in the past year as demonstrated by his negative urine tests.
In response to questions posed to him by members of the panel, Dr. Gagnon indicated that with respect to Mr. Irazi’s history of trauma, he continues to see the hospital social worker on a weekly basis for trauma support and that he is engaged in that therapy. With respect Mr. Irazi’s affect control, Dr. Gagnon acknowledged that Mr. Irazi is at times reactive when he does not get what he wants. Dr. Gagnon believes that his anxiety also plays into this. Mr. Irazi has had to be supported about dealing with a first relationship. By and large, he has been able to regulate his emotions and has not lost control.
Dr. Gagnon believes that Mr. Irazi’s stay at Maplewood could be on the shorter side but that this will depend on his ability to mature over the course of the next year and to demonstrate that he is able to manage with less supports. Dr. Gagnon added that housing is an issue in North Bay such that even if Mr. Irazi is deemed ready for discharge to independent living, he could be required to stay at Maplewood for a little longer until proper accommodation can be secured. Dr. Gagnon believes that he will be ready in about a year or so if he continues on the same trajectory. Mr. Irazi will continue to have the extensive supports of the outpatient team but will be expected to take control of what he needs to do over the course of the next year.
With respect to insight, Dr. Gagnon believes that Mr. Irazi has good insight into his illness and the need to take medication. He explained that Mr. Irazi was having side effects associated with his medication and that rather than stating that he wanted to discontinue them, he asked to sit down with Dr. Gagnon to discuss possible alternatives. Mr. Irazi understands that his symptoms would return if he was off medications. He also understands that he was not well at the time of the index offences and does not try to minimize this.
The hospital’s Risk Assessment is found at pages 21 to 23 of the hospital report and is summarized as follows:
The treatment team met for a pre-Board conference in order to formulate recommendations in preparation for Mr. Irazi’s upcoming annual hearing before the Ontario Review Board. Mr. Irazi’s treatment team opines that he continues to require external support to develop and implement appropriate coping mechanisms and to engage in positive social interactions.
Mr. Irazi has Schizophrenia and Alcohol Use Disorder. When unwell, he experiences paranoia, grandiosity, bizarre delusional beliefs, and psychotic symptoms such as thought insertion, perceptual disturbances, and significant thought disorder. The index offence was unprovoked, indicating a risk of serious physical aggression when unwell. Mr. Irazi's mood remains volatile, and he becomes so angry that he fears he will “lose control.” The treatment team believes that if left unmanaged, Mr. Irazi is likely to revert to alcohol and cannabis use, which could significantly worsen his current stable mental state.
Mr. Irazi has been compliant with medication, his mental status has been stable, and he has been a willing and engaged participant in activities offered and available to him. However in regard to treatment specific programming, he has stated that the groups are repetitive, and he finds little value in them. Clinicians that provide the groups report that he frequently sits at the back or the group, engages very little, does not pay attention and will get up and leave without reason. His coping skills remain inadequate, and he becomes easily distracted when frustrated.
Mr. Irazi has had a relatively successful year given the level of support provided. He has remained medication compliant and appears to have successfully transitioned to the community, although in a supervised and supported transitional accommodation that is transitional in nature. As Mr. Irazi’s future placement options are uncertain at this time, the treatment team believes it is essential that the authority to approve any future community placements remains with the Person in Charge. It is expected that he will require significant support to ensure any future placement is reasonable and safe and does not serve to contribute to increased risk. The treatment team also opine that it remains crucial for the Person in Charge to retain the authority to promptly and proactively return Mr. Irazi to hospital if necessary or appropriate to protect public safety.
- No other evidence was presented.
Analysis and Conclusion
Having considered all of the evidence presented at the hearing, and the joint submission of the parties, the Board finds that Mr. Irazi continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public as set out in s. 672.5401 of the Criminal Code of Canada and as further defined in Winko v. British Columbia (Forensic Psychiatric Institute), 1999 CanLII 694 (SCC), [1999] 2 SCR 625.
According to R. v. Winko, a significant threat to the safety of the public means a real risk of physical or psychological harm to members of the public that is serious in the sense of going beyond the merely trivial or annoying. The conduct giving rise to the harm must be criminal in nature.
Our finding that Mr. Irazi continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public is based on the evidence of the hospital and is summarized at page 22 of the hospital report as follows:
“Mr. Irazi has Schizophrenia and Alcohol Use Disorder. When unwell, he experiences paranoia, grandiosity, bizarre delusional beliefs, and psychotic symptoms such as thought insertion, perceptual disturbances, and significant thought disorder. The index offence was unprovoked, indicating a risk of serious physical aggression when unwell. Mr. Irazi's mood remains volatile, and he becomes so angry that he fears he will “lose control.” The treatment team believes that if left unmanaged, Mr. Irazi is likely to revert to alcohol and cannabis use, which could significantly worsen his current stable mental state.”
Mr. Irazi has made great progress over the course of the last year and has just very recently been discharged to transitional housing. He is compliant with medication; his mental status has been stable, and he has been better engaged with his treatment team. He is engaged in ongoing one-to-one therapy for trauma. He has proven to be responsive and insightful and is going through an important maturation process. He will need the ongoing intensive supports of the hospital as he continues with his transition to the community.
We hope that Mr. Irazi will remain on this positive trajectory in the coming year and wish him all the best.
We agree with what is being recommended and find the maintenance of the current disposition on the same terms and conditions remains necessary and appropriate and is the least onerous and least restrictive disposition to manage the risk. In coming to our decision, we have considered the four factors as set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code, namely the protection of the public, which is the paramount consideration, the mental condition of the accused, his reintegration into society and his other needs.
DATED this 2nd day of December 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Ms. Michèle Labrosse
Alternate Chairperson
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Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board