In Criminal Trial Handbook:
"Section 731(1)(a) ... authorizes the sentencing judge to suspend the passing of sentence, except where the (Criminal) Code provides for a minimum punishment.
"In such instances, the offender must be placed on probation and be subject to the conditions set forth in the probation order.
"An offender who breaches a term of the probation order, is liable to a charge of breach (of) probation. The Crown may then apply to have the sentencing judge revoke the suspended sentence and impose any sentence that could have been imposed originally."
In any event, a suspended sentence results in a criminal record.
By a suspended sentence, a judge may wish to give a convicted person an opportunity to avoid a period of incarceration or a significant fine by suspending or postponing that part of the sentence until the convicted person has had an opportunity of complying with certain conditions set out in a probation order. If the conditions of the probation order are not complied with, the full brunt of the suspended sentence may then be enforced.
REFERENCES:
- Salhany, R., Criminal Trial Handbook (Toronto: Carswell, 2008), page 15-19.