Re: Bryce Robinson
ORB File No: 8892
Hearing held on: Tuesday, January 13, 2026
Place of hearing: North Bay Regional Health Centre
Pursuant to: Section 672.47(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Mr. P. Hageraats Members: Dr. J. Watts Dr. G. Stones Ms. M. Chamberlain Ms. C. Plyley via video conference
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Bryce Robinson Counsel: Mr. C. Bracken
Person in charge of Hospital: Representative: Ms. J. Doyon Counsel Mr. P. Trenker
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. L. Van Gorder
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated March 2, 2026)
Introduction:
The accused, Bryce Robinson, was found not criminally responsible (“NCR”) on October 27, 2025, of charges of break and enter commit assault, and assault with a weapon, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada (“Criminal Code”) in relation to an incident that occurred on March 18, 2024. On finding Mr. Robinson NCR, the Court did not make a Disposition but referred the matter to the Ontario Review Board (“ORB” or the “Board”) for an initial hearing.
On January 13, 2026, a panel of the ORB convened a hearing to make a Disposition as required pursuant to s.672.47(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Robinson was present at the hearing with his counsel, Mr. Bracken.
The issues to be decided at this hearing are whether Mr. Robinson meets the test of posing a significant risk to the safety of the public and, if so, a decision as to the necessary and appropriate Disposition to be made in the circumstances, including conditions to be attached to that Disposition, bearing in mind the four factors set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.
For the reasons set out below, the Board unanimously finds that Mr. Robinson represents a significant threat to the safety of the public. The Board finds that the necessary and appropriate Disposition is that he be bound by the terms of a Detention Order Disposition at the North Bay Regional Health Centre – North (the “Hospital”) as set forth at the conclusion of these Reasons.
Position of the Parties:
At the commencement of the hearing, all parties were canvassed as to their initial recommendations to the Board. Counsel for the Hospital submitted that Mr. Robinson represents a significant threat to public safety and that he should be ordered detained at the Hospital with privileges to enter the catchment area of North Bay Regional Health Centre, accompanied by staff, community agency or a person approved by the Person in Charge.
Counsel for the Attorney General supported the hospital's recommendation regarding significant threat and the proposed Disposition. Mr. Bracken stated that Mr. Robinson also agreed that he posed a significant threat to the safety of the public and should remain detained in the Hospital. Mr. Robinson requested that his privileges be changed to allow him to go into the community indirectly supervised. He also did not agree with the prohibition of alcohol and drugs.
The Hospital and Crown maintained their joint recommendations that Mr. Robinson represented a significant threat to the safety of the public and should be detained in the Hospital. Counsel for the Hospital noted that the restriction on alcohol may not be necessary at this time but submitted that there may be some benefit to a restriction on Mr. Robinson’s use of Cannabis. Mr. Trenker further submitted that it was unlikely that Mr. Robinson would be able to reach the level of indirectly supervised community privileges if this was granted to him.
Mr. Bracken submitted that the parties were close to a joint submission. Counsel acknowledged that his client was not ready for indirect community privileges at the time of the hearing but submitted that his client would like to have this available to him in the event that he made the required improvements in the coming year.
Index Offence(s):
- The circumstances of the index offence are taken from the Hospital Report as follows:
“The accused, victim, and witness, Brooklyn Hartin are all known to each other as they three of them all reside at 620 McIntyre Street East in the City of North Bay. Each of them has their own units; however, all share a large entrance way and common area with all three of their entrance doors being accessed through this shared common area.
Count One — Mischief Under $5,000
On March 18, 2024, at 9:00 a.m.,-the victim was in her residence of 2-620 McIntyre Street East in the City of North Bay. At this time, the accused attended the victim's entrance door and kicked it and damaged it with the victim hearing the loud bang at her door. The victim attended to the door and noticed it was broken and upon opening the door, she observed the accused walking though the common area out the front entrance of the building.
Count Two — Count Three: Break, Enter, and Commit, Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose
On March 18, 2024, at 7:30 p.m., the victim was in her residence of 2-620 McIntyre Street East in the City of North Bay. At this time, the accused attended the victim's door and began kicking it with the victim hearing this. The victim went to her door with the accused continuing to kick the door. The accused then forcefully kicked and damaged the door pushing it open into the victim.
The accused then entered the victim's residence while brandishing a large kitchen knife in his hand, holding it up as if he was going to stab the victim. The victim was pushed to the ground by the force of the accused entering her residence and during this time the accused cut the victim's left forearm with the knife. The accused still holding the knife up, stood over the victim who laid on her back on the floor with the accused yelling at the victim; however, not making sense. The accused then left the victim's residence and attended his unit being 4-620 McIntyre Street East. The accused left his unit shortly after, then exited the building.
During this incident, it was heard by witness Brooklyn Hartin, who was in her unit being 3-620 McIntyre Street East in the City of North Bay Brooklyn called North Bay Police Service and the victim also called after the accused left her residence. The victim then attended her neighbour's residence, being witness Tracey Timpano and told her what happened.
The accused was located on Main Street East and at 7:40 p.m., the accused was arrested and transported to the North Bay Police Service.
Police obtained statements from the victim and witnesses and obtained photographs of the victim and scene.
At 9:33 p m., the accused was advised of all charges and provided his rights to counsel and caution, which was understood. The accused spoke with duty counsel and declined to provide a statement.
The accused was held for bail to appear in court on March 19, 2024.”
Background:
Mr. Robinson is a 32-year-old man. He was born in Ottawa, Ontario, to parents Michael and Cynthia Robinson. His family lived in Ottawa for approximately one year following Mr. Robinson’s birth, and then moved to Kapuskasing, Ontario, where they had extended family. His parents separated when Mr. Robinson was around eleven years old.
Mr. Robinson’s mother is a nurse who currently resides in the United States but remains in contact with him via telephone and in-person visits, although over the last year, this has been complicated by his delusional beliefs about his mother. His father, Michael, currently resides in Timmins, Ontario, where he works as a stationary engineer for Trans Canada Pipeline. Mr. Robinson has only limited contact with his father. Mr. Robinson has one sister, who is two years younger than him, and resides in the United States, where she works as a paramedic. They are not in regular contact.
When Mr. Robinson was a pre-teen, his mother left her marriage. The children and their mother stayed in women’s shelters before moving in with his maternal grandparents. Following the divorce, the three moved to United States, although Mr. Robinson elected to move back to Canada and live with his father after one year due to difficulty making friends at his new school. He was reportedly a “normal” child who only occasionally misbehaved.
Limited information is available about Mr. Robinson’s teenage years. He reportedly had little contact with his mother during this time and had little supervision in his father’s home. He regularly drank alcohol and experimented with cannabis.
Following his high school graduation, he moved to Sudbury to attend university, then to Ottawa to complete a postgraduate degree, before moving to the Maritimes, where he studied at Holland College on Prince Edward Island. He later worked as a Conservation Officer in Labrador for several months before returning to the Kapuskasing area in 2021 due to declining mental health. In 2022, he moved to North Bay to study at Nipissing University and to teach at Canadore College. As his mental health became worse, he developed a number of delusional beliefs, many of which involved various relations, resulting in his estrangement from his family.
Mr. Robinson had one long-term relationship. While attending Laurentian University, he began a relationship with a Croatian woman, and they had a daughter together around 2018. However, Mr. Robinson was reportedly highly possessive of his partner, who became afraid of him. He proposed marriage, but she declined and returned to Eastern Europe with their child. He has had no contact with them since that time. He had another relationship with a woman while residing in Newfoundland but has had no other significant relationships and has never been married.
Current Diagnosis:
- Mr. Robinson suffers from Schizoaffective Disorder, Depressive Type.
Evidence:
Mr. Trenker called Dr. Munro to give evidence on behalf of the Hospital. The doctor agreed with the contents of the Hospital Report. Dr. Munro stated that she had been Mr. Robinson’s treating psychiatrist since June 2025, when he came to the Hospital for the purposes of an NCR assessment. Dr. Munro conducted this assessment and has continued to work with Mr. Robinson.
Dr. Munro confirmed that currently Mr. Robinson did not have any privileges given his status. She further noted that clinically, Mr. Robinson had a challenging course in the Hospital and was not doing very well. Dr. Munro stated that Mr. Robinson has exceptionally poor insight into his need for medication and treatment. Given that he had refused all medications, his capacity was assessed in December, and he was found incapable of consenting to treatment. As a result, Mr. Robinson had only been receiving treatment for the six weeks leading up to the date of the ORB hearing. Dr. Munro stated that Mr. Robinsonresponded marginally well to treatment and noted the Hospital was hoping that he would continue to improve as his medication was optimized.
The doctor testified Mr. Robinson was not eating regularly. Dr. Munro said he had begun to restrict his food intake while he was incarcerated, and this continued after he arrived at the Hospital. He has said the reason he does not eat the Hospital food is that it has a lot of preservatives in it. This has been acknowledged by the Hospital staff, but they have tried to work with him to find foods that he would be willing to eat.
Dr. Munro stated that she felt that it was quite unlikely for Mr. Robinson to be able to access Hospital grounds indirectly supervised within the next 12 months if the Board allowed this privilege to be added to his disposition. She stated Mr. Robinson does not have insight into his illness and is not willing to cooperate with his treatment team. Mr. Robinson continues to express some of the same delusions that were present at the time of the index offence so there continues to be a risk to the public.
While it is a recommendation of the Hospital that Mr. Robinson abstain from the use of alcohol or drugs, Dr. Munro conceded this has not been a significant concern for him. She stated that Mr. Robinson has had no major history of substance use beyond typical teenage typical use. As well, the doctor noted drugs and alcohol were not involved in the index offence.
In response to questions from Mr. Bracken, Dr. Munro agreed that:
a. Mr. Robinson had previously done quite well and had been reasonably stable while taking medication. He is a bright individual and has a high level of education. In the past, Mr. Robinson was able to live on his own and was able to find employment intermittently.
b. Mr. Robinson had only been on medication for the previous 5 or 6 weeks and it was early days in his current recovery. The hospital was still assessing the appropriate medications and dosage and waiting for them to take affect.
c. There was the possibility there could be a significant improvement in Mr. Robinson’s functioning over the next 12 months, but Dr. Munro felt that it would most likely be a gradual improvement that would take a longer period of time.
Dr. Munro also added that the Hospital expected it to take a couple of months before they had a sense of how Mr. Robison was responding to his treatment. Mr. Robinson was not willing to accept any oral medications which limited the Hospital’s ability to provide fulsome treatment to him. The treatment team will continue to work with Mr. Robinson on his willingness to take medication orally.
Dr. Munro was questioned about whether she felt Mr. Robinson would present a risk of elopement if he were to be granted indirectly supervised community privileges. The doctor agreed that this was a concern given level of Mr. Robinson’s insight. She also noted his unwillingness to work with the Hospital’s treatment team and his lack of involvement with Hospital activities were also factors in the Hospital’s position that he was not ready for this level of privilege at this time.
Regarding the request to have the abstinence clause removed from the disposition, Dr. Munro stated the Hospital would not have concerns about this as long as the testing clause remained. This would allow the Hospital to monitor Mr. Robinson as he is not willing to share anything with the treatment team and therefore, they are not able to assess his likelihood of use. The Hospital would be most concerned with Mr. Robinson using cannabis as it is known to exacerbate psychotic symptoms.
Analysis and Conclusion:
The Board unanimously finds that Mr. Robinson poses a significant threat to the safety of the public. In coming to this conclusion, the Board notes the salient risk factors highlighted in the expert evidence of Dr. Munro and in the Hospital Report. Mr. Robinson suffers from Schizoaffective Disorder, and he is not yet optimally treated. His risk profile is further elevated due to his near complete lack of insight into his mental illness, and the need for medication.
This panel finds there is a foreseeable and substantial risk that Mr. Robinson would be likely to commit a serious criminal offence, if discharged absolutely. If not under the Board’s jurisdiction, he would be likely to stop his psychiatric medications entirely and suffer a further deterioration into psychosis leaving him at high risk to become impulsive and act out violently.
This panel finds that a Detention Order is both necessary and appropriate to safely manage Mr. Robinson’s risk to public safety. These are early days in Mr. Robinson’s tenure on the Ontario Review Board’s jurisdiction. Presently, he requires the structured environment of a Hospital admission for the reasons articulated in the expert evidence. Mr. Robinson was recently found incapable to consent to treatment and has only begun medication in the last five to six weeks.
At this time, the panel finds that Mr. Robinson will not be ready for indirectly supervised community privileges within the next reporting period. The Board agrees with the Hospital’s evidence that his improvement with medication is likely to be gradual.
The Board finds that intoxicants are not an issue for Mr. Robinson therefore a total abstinence clause is not necessary at this time. However, given the evidence at the hearing about how cannabis affects psychosis, the Board has decided to include a prohibition of that one substance.
Accordingly, we accept Dr. Munros’s evidence that the necessary and appropriate level of security to safely manage Mr. Robinson’s risk is that he be detained at the Hospital subject to the following privileges, terms, and conditions:
To attend within or outside of the Hospital for necessary medical, dental, legal, or compassionate purposes.
Hospital and grounds privileges, accompanied by staff, community agency or a person approved by the Person in Charge.
Hospital and grounds privileges, indirectly supervised.
To enter the catchment area of North Bay Regional Health Centre, accompanied by staff, community agency or a person approved by the Person in Charge.
Mr. Robinson will abstain absolutely from use of cannabis in any form.
Mr. Robinson will submit samples of his urine and/or breath to the Person in Charge, or their designate, for the purpose of analyzing whether he has ingested alcohol, drugs, or any other intoxicant.
Mr. Robinson will refrain from having in his possession any firearm, ammunition, or other offensive weapon, or being in the company of any person possessing a firearm other than a peace officer.
- 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. Robinson’s mental condition, his reintegration into society and his other needs.
DATED this 2nd day of March 2026 at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Ms. M. Chamberlain
Legal Member
Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board