What Happens If Someone Breaks a Protection Order in BC?

If your ex contacts you or turns up where they are not allowed to be, you may wonder whether it counts as a breach and whether calling police is the right step. A protection order exists to make that contact stop.

This article explains how breaches are enforced in British Columbia, how they can become criminal charges, and what practical steps help.

This article covers the law of British Columbia.

Should you call the police?

If you are in immediate danger, contact emergency services right away. For a breach, police are the route the law sets up. A police officer with reasonable and probable grounds to believe a person has contravened a term of a Part 9 order may take action to enforce it, whether or not there is proof the order was served, and may use reasonable force if necessary.

A Part 9 order cannot be enforced by another order under the Family Law Act or under the Offence Act. So going back to court for a second family order is not how a breach is dealt with.

Whether something is a breach depends on the terms of your order. A protection order may include terms restraining contact and communication, restricting attendance at specified places, directing police to remove, accompany or seize items such as weapons, requiring reporting, and other terms the court considers necessary. Unless the court provides otherwise, a protection order expires one year after the date it is made. The court can set a different term, and a party can apply to shorten, extend, change or terminate the order.

How police confirm your order

The Protection Order Registry is a confidential database of all family law and criminal protection orders in BC. Police can confirm an order's current details by calling a central number at any time of day or night, and then act to enforce it right away.

Court staff usually enter orders in the registry the same day a judge signs them, so the protected person does not have to request registration. The registry holds both Family Law Act orders and criminal orders such as peace bonds. Even so, keep a copy of your order with you.

Breach as a criminal offence

Section 127(1) of the Criminal Code makes it an offence to disobey, without lawful excuse, a lawful court order other than an order to pay money. It is either an indictable offence with imprisonment of not more than two years, or a summary conviction offence. Actual sentences vary from case to case.

BC protection order forms carry a warning that disobeying is an offence under section 127. The Supreme Court form (F54) adds that enforcement may include arrest without warrant.

If you have a peace bond instead

A peace bond under Criminal Code section 810 is available if a person fears on reasonable grounds that another person will cause personal injury to them, their intimate partner or child, or damage property. If the fear is shown to be reasonable, the court may order a recognizance to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for up to 12 months. The court must consider whether a firearms or weapons prohibition is desirable for safety, and if so must add it.

Breaching a peace bond is an indictable offence with imprisonment up to four years, or a summary conviction offence. Criminal protection orders such as peace bonds can be enforced anywhere in Canada.

What to do next

• Contact emergency services if you are in danger, and report breaches to police.
• Keep a copy of your order and know its terms, such as no-contact or places the person cannot attend.
• Write down each incident: date, time, what happened, and any messages or witnesses.
• Save texts, voicemails and screenshots rather than deleting them.
• Register for victim notification if you are a protected party on a civil or criminal order.
• Talk to a lawyer if you need the order changed, or if it was made in another province, since a civil order from elsewhere may need an application to a BC court for police to enforce it.

Frequently asked questions