Domestic Violence Laws in Canada

Canada has no standalone domestic violence offence under the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46; instead, prosecutors charge domestic abuse as assault, uttering threats under section 264.1, or criminal harassment under section 264. Provincial protection orders and federal peace bonds under section 810 provide additional remedies for victims.

Under Canadian law, persons accused of domestic violence may face prosecution under the Canadian Criminal Code for acts of violence or abuse. In addition, under provincial laws, disobeying protection orders or applying for a protection order under pretense may lead to criminal charges.

Below is everything victims and persons accused of domestic violence in Canada need to know.

Call 911 if you or someone you know is in immediate danger.

Crisis lines, shelter referrals and victim services are run provincially rather than federally, so the number to call depends on where you live. Your provincial or territorial government's family violence page lists the current lines, and Alberta's are set out on Alberta's domestic violence laws page.

Watch out: if the person harming you can get into your phone, your accounts, or your browser history, a call or a saved page can be seen. Many provincial family violence services offer text and online chat as well as phone. If you think you are being monitored, consider reaching out from a device the other person cannot check.

Quick take: Canada's domestic violence laws explained

For victims of domestic violence

• You have the right to protect yourself from domestic violence using reasonable and necessary force under section 34 of the Criminal Code.
• In a criminal prosecution, the Crown, not the victim, must prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt; you do not have to prove your case yourself before reporting to police.
• Your role in the incident is one of the factors a court weighs when deciding whether force used in self-defence was reasonable, under section 34(2)(c).
• You may apply for provincial protection orders or a federal peace bond.

For persons accused of domestic violence

• Upon arrest, let your lawyer speak for you and do not say more than is necessary.
• Police are not obliged to tell you everything they know, and anything you say can be used against you. Say nothing beyond identifying yourself until you have spoken with a lawyer.
• You have the right to protect yourself, others and property from violence or damage.
• Breaching a peace bond is a separate offence under section 811 of the Criminal Code and carries up to 4 years in prison.
• Evidence, witnesses or an alibi can raise a reasonable doubt, but the Crown carries the burden of proving the charge.
• Sentences run higher where the offence involved abuse of an intimate partner or a family member, or abuse of a person under 18, both of which section 718.2(a) of the Criminal Code names as aggravating factors.
• A conviction can cost you your firearms for at least a decade, and in some cases for life, under sections 109 and 110 of the Criminal Code.

References:

• Canadian Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46
• Department of Justice Canada: family law resources, including family violence materials

What constitutes domestic violence in Canada?

The Canadian Criminal Code does not contain legislation specific to domestic abuse or violence. However, an act of violence in the home may consequently result in criminal charges under the Criminal Code. What counts as domestic violence for provincial protection-order purposes depends on your province's family violence legislation. Alberta has its own provincial framework; see Alberta's domestic violence laws for that province's Protection Against Family Violence Act, Clare's Law application process, and penalty details. If your province isn't covered yet, contact a local victim services agency or legal aid clinic for help.

There is no offence called domestic violence to be found guilty of. Conduct in a domestic setting that intentionally or recklessly causes injury, death or property damage is charged under the general Criminal Code offences set out below, and the domestic relationship then operates as an aggravating factor at sentencing under section 718.2(a)(ii).

What are the 5 main types of domestic violence in Canada?

Under provincial laws, the following acts constitute domestic violence:

• Threats that create a reasonable fear for one's safety or property.
• Physical assault includes shoving, slapping, punching, pushing, and kicking.
• Sexual assault includes sexual exploitation, marital rape, child pornography, and other illegal sexual acts.
• Forced confinement/forced marriage and transportation without consent.
• Stalking.

How the Divorce Act defines family violence

The Criminal Code is not the only federal statute that deals with abuse at home. The Divorce Act, RSC 1985, c 3 (2nd Supp), carries its own definition of family violence, and it is deliberately broader than anything in the Criminal Code because it governs parenting decisions rather than punishment.

Section 2(1) of the Divorce Act defines family violence as any conduct, whether or not the conduct constitutes a criminal offence, by a family member towards another family member, that is violent or threatening or that constitutes a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour or that causes that other family member to fear for their own safety or for that of another person.

The section then lists the forms that conduct can take:

• Physical abuse, including forced confinement but excluding the use of reasonable force to protect oneself or another person.
• Sexual abuse.
• Threats to kill or cause bodily harm to any person.
• Harassment, including stalking.
• The failure to provide the necessaries of life.
• Psychological abuse.
• Financial abuse.
• Threats to kill or harm an animal or damage property.
• The killing or harming of an animal or the damaging of property.

The definition also reaches a child's direct or indirect exposure to that conduct.

Two consequences follow for a reader in a separation or parenting dispute. Conduct can count as family violence for Divorce Act purposes even if nobody is ever charged, and a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour is named in the statute even though it is not a standalone criminal offence.

Is coercive control a crime in Canada?

No. As of this update, the Criminal Code contains no standalone offence of coercive control of an intimate partner. Controlling behaviour is prosecuted, if at all, through existing offences such as criminal harassment under section 264, uttering threats under section 264.1, or assault under sections 266 to 268.

Parliament came close. Bill C-332, a private member's bill that would have created a coercive control offence, passed third reading in the House of Commons on June 12, 2024. It was still before a Senate committee when that Parliament ended, so it never received Royal Assent and did not become law.

That gap has a practical edge. A person living with controlling behaviour that has not turned physical may find that no criminal charge fits the facts, while the same behaviour sits squarely inside the Divorce Act definition of family violence and may fall within their province's protection-order legislation. If you are in that position, a protection order application or a family law proceeding can reach conduct that a criminal charge cannot. Check your own province's family violence legislation, or ask a local victim services agency or legal aid clinic which route applies where you live.

Domestic violence laws explained: What are your rights under the Canadian criminal code?

Under the Canadian criminal code, you have the right to use force in self-defence intentionally.

Section 34 of the Criminal Code, as replaced by the Citizen's Arrest and Self-defence Act in 2013, provides a single self-defence test in place of the several overlapping provisions that came before it. It covers defending yourself and defending another person, and it reads the same way whether the accused is the person who called the police or the person the police arrested.

The test has three parts, and all three have to be met:

• Reasonable belief. You believe on reasonable grounds that force is being used against you or another person, or that a threat of force is being made against you or another person.
• Defensive purpose. The act you commit is committed for the purpose of defending or protecting yourself or that other person from that use or threat of force.
• A reasonable act. What you actually did is reasonable in the circumstances.

Nothing in section 34 requires that force be your only option, and the section sets no precondition that you withdraw or retreat first. Whether the use of force was imminent, and whether other means were available to respond to it, is one of the factors a court weighs under section 34(2)(b), alongside the others listed below. The older test, which turned on an apprehension of death or grievous bodily harm coupled with no other means of escape, belonged to the pre-2013 section 34 and no longer applies.

What does "reasonable in the circumstances" mean?

When acting in self-defence, your actions should be proportional and necessary. Meaning do not use more force than is necessary to stop the attack. Furthermore, if the attacker stops, so should you.

Section 34(2) of the Criminal Code sets out the factors a court weighs in deciding whether the act was reasonable, including the nature of the force or threat, whether the use of force was imminent and whether other means were available, the person's role in the incident, whether any party used or threatened to use a weapon, the size, age, gender and physical capabilities of the parties, the nature, duration and history of any relationship between the parties, any history of interaction or communication between them, and the nature and proportionality of the person's response.

"Reasonable force or belief" means that a reasonable person given your situation would act similarly.

How to prove self-defence if accused of domestic violence in Canada

If you rely on self-defence, the evidence usually has to speak to two of the section 34(2) factors in particular:

• Your role in the incident, under section 34(2)(c). Evidence that you responded rather than started the violence weighs in your favour; evidence that you struck first weighs against you.
• The nature and proportionality of your response, under section 34(2)(g). If your spouse threatens you and you stab or shoot the individual, a court is unlikely to find that response proportionate.

The Crown, not the accused, carries the burden of proving the charge beyond a reasonable doubt. Even so, witnesses, photographs, medical records and messages matter in practice, because section 34 turns on what you believed on reasonable grounds and on whether your response was reasonable in the circumstances, and a court can only weigh what is put in front of it.

What to do if your child hits you

Section 43 of the Canadian criminal code allows parents, teachers, and caregivers to use reasonable force to correct a child. The section reads:

"Every schoolteacher, parent or person standing in the place of a parent is justified in using force by way of correction toward a pupil or child, as the case may be, who is under his care, if the force does not exceed what is reasonable under the circumstances."

So, if a child attacks you, you have the right to:

• Use reasonable force to defend yourself.
• Use reasonable force to correct the child.

Is it legal to beat a child in Canada?

No, it is not legal to beat a child.

However, it is legal to use reasonable physical force to discipline a child.

To discipline a child, section 43 allows parents and caregivers to use reasonable physical force. However, teachers, may only use reasonable force to restrain or guide a student.

However, "Reasonable force" means:

• Do not use force that causes physical harm or bodily injuries. That includes using weapons or objects such as belts on a child.
• You should not use language that causes a child to reasonably fear for their safety.
• Avoid committing degrading, inhumane, or harmful acts against a child.
• You should not use physical force on a toddler.

In short, spanking, or using force to correct your child is unlawful if (1) The parent does it in an inhumane or degrading manner. (2) The action results in bodily injuries.

If you are under 18 and a victim of violence, you may call the police or a child welfare agency near you.

What are the types of domestic abuse in Canada?

Under the Canadian Criminal Code, it is unlawful to cause:

• Physical assault/abuse.
• Sexual assault/abuse.
• Verbal or emotional abuse.
• Mental or psychological abuse.
• Cultural and identity abuse.
• Financial and economic abuse.

If you commit any of the acts above at home, you may face the following penalties or civil action.

What is the punishment for domestic violence in Canada?

The actions of the abuser dictate the charges. Consequently, persons accused of committing domestic violence in Canada may face the following penalties.

A note on summary conviction maximums, because it is where most outdated sources go wrong. Many Criminal Code offences, including uttering threats and assault causing bodily harm, state an indictable maximum but no separate summary-conviction figure. Those offences fall back on the general default in section 787(1), which now reads a fine of not more than $5,000 or a term of imprisonment of not more than two years less a day, or both. Bill C-75 raised that general default in 2019. Any source still quoting six months or 18 months as the fallback is describing the pre-2019 Criminal Code.

Physical assault/abuse, causing bodily harm, and uttering threats/verbal or emotional abuse

Under section 264.1 of the Canadian Criminal Code, it is unlawful to knowingly utter, convey, or cause a person, including family members, to receive a threat. Threats include:

• Threats to cause bodily harm, kill, injure, or poison a person, animal, or bird belonging to the victim.
• Destroy real or personal property.

For a threat to become a crime, the victim must have reason to fear for their safety. So, if your partner threatens you and you believe the individual has the will and capability to enact the threat. You should notify law enforcement.

Uttering threats to kill or cause bodily harm is a hybrid offence. On indictment, section 264.1(2) sets a maximum of five years in prison. Section 264.1 states no separate summary-conviction maximum, so the general default in section 787(1) applies: two years less a day. Threatening to destroy property or to kill, poison or injure an animal or bird carries a lower indictable maximum of two years under section 264.1(3), with the same two-years-less-a-day summary default.

What are the defences for uttering threats in Canada?

If accused of uttering threats, the prosecution must prove (1) The accused uttered the threats. (2) What words were uttered, and what was the context of the words. To counter the charges, your lawyer may argue:

• A reasonable person would not perceive your words as a threat.
• The words were a reaction to the circumstances (context of the words).
• The accused did not utter the words expecting the victim to take them seriously (joke).

Physical assault/causing bodily injury

The Canadian criminal code defines assault as, quote:

"A person commits an assault when (a) without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly; (b) he attempts or threatens, by an act or a gesture, to apply force to another person, if he has, or causes that other person to believe on reasonable grounds that he has, present ability to effect his purpose; or (c) while openly wearing or carrying a weapon or an imitation thereof, he accosts or impedes another person or begs."

There are three levels of assault:

Level 1 domestic assault in Canada

The least serious assault charge in Canada is level 1 assault. You are guilty of level 1 assault if you push or slap someone, or if you threaten to apply force to them by an act or a gesture while you have, or cause them to believe on reasonable grounds that you have, the present ability to carry it out. Words alone are not assault. A purely verbal threat with no act or gesture behind it is charged under section 264.1 instead, which this page covers above.

Under section 266 of the Canadian Criminal Code, level 1 (common) assault is punishable by a maximum sentence of five years for an indictable offence. For summary conviction, the penalty is a maximum of two years minus a day.

Courts treat violence against an intimate partner or a family member as an aggravating factor at sentencing under section 718.2(a)(ii) of the Criminal Code, and abuse of a person under 18 under section 718.2(a)(ii.1). Either can increase the sentence imposed within these maximums.

Level 2 domestic assault/causing bodily harm in Canada

Level 2 assault in Canada occurs when an individual commits an assault using a weapon or threatens to use one. You are guilty of level 2 assault if (1) you carry or use a weapon during the commission of an assault. (2) cause bodily harm. (3) choke, strangle, or suffocate the victim.

Unlawfully causing bodily harm to another, using or threatening to use a weapon, or choking, suffocating, or strangling a complainant is a hybrid offence under section 267 of the Criminal Code. On indictment, the maximum is 10 years in prison. Section 267 sets no separate summary-conviction maximum, so the section 787(1) default applies here as well: two years less a day.

Level 3 domestic assault in Canada

Level 3 assault or aggravated assault involves causing bodily injury such as disfiguring the victim, maiming, wounding, or injuries that put the victim at great risk of death or permanent disfigurement.

Aggravated assault is a straight indictable offence under section 268 of the Criminal Code, meaning the Crown cannot proceed by summary conviction. The maximum penalty is 14 years in prison, regardless of the victim's age.

Firearms prohibition orders after a domestic violence conviction

A domestic violence conviction usually costs the offender their firearms, and in a large class of cases the court has no discretion about it. Section 109(1)(a.1) of the Criminal Code makes a weapons prohibition order mandatory where a person is convicted, or discharged under section 730, of an indictable offence in the commission of which violence was used, threatened or attempted against the person's intimate partner, a child or parent of that partner or of the offender, or any person who resides with them.

Where section 109 applies, the court must make the order. Under section 109(2), a first order bars ordinary firearms and crossbows until at least 10 years after the person's release from imprisonment following the conviction, and bans prohibited firearms, restricted firearms, prohibited weapons, prohibited devices and prohibited ammunition for life. Under section 109(3), a second or subsequent order is a lifetime prohibition across every firearm, crossbow, weapon, device and ammunition category in the list.

Section 110 covers the convictions and discharges that section 109 does not reach. There, the court must consider whether a prohibition order is desirable in the interests of the safety of the person or of any other person. Under section 110(2), such an order runs from the day it is made and ordinarily ends no later than 10 years after the person's release from imprisonment for the offence or, where the person is not then imprisoned, after conviction for or discharge from the offence.

Section 110(2.1) is the exception that matters most to anyone reading this page. Despite that 10-year ceiling, a section 110 order may be imposed for life, or for any shorter duration, where violence was used, threatened or attempted in the commission of the offence against the person's intimate partner, against a child or parent of that partner or of the offender, or against any person who resides with the offender. So even in the cases the mandatory section 109 order does not capture, a domestic violence conviction can still produce a lifetime firearms prohibition.

Watch out: the section 109 order is triggered by the conviction, not by whether a firearm was involved in the offence. An indictable domestic assault charged with no weapon at all still produces a mandatory prohibition order if the Crown proceeds by indictment and secures a conviction.

What are the defences for domestic assault in Canada?

Section 265(4) of the criminal code states that, quote:

"Where an accused alleges that he believed that the complainant consented to the conduct that is the subject-matter of the charge, a judge, if satisfied that there is sufficient evidence and that, if believed by the jury, the evidence would constitute a defence, shall instruct the jury, when reviewing all the evidence relating to the determination of the honesty of the accused's belief, to consider the presence or absence of reasonable grounds for that belief."

Defences for domestic assault and battery in Canada

Depending on the facts presented, the accused may argue:

• The victim consented. A consent defence is only valid if the victim voluntarily consented to a legal act. If the act was illegal, this defence will not work.
• Defence of property. You used reasonable force to stop the destruction of your property.
• Defence of others. You had an honest belief that the victim needed immediate assistance.
• Self-defence.

Domestic sexual assault/abuse.

Just like physical assault, there are three levels of domestic sexual violence in Canada. Level 1 involves minor injuries and the use of threats in the commission of a sexual assault. Level 2 sexual assault involves bodily harm and the use of a weapon or imitation of a weapon resulting in bodily injury. Level 3 sexual assault involves maiming, disfigurement, or damages that put the victim at risk of death or disfigurement.

Domestic sexual assault Canada: what you need to remember

• The prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim did not consent.
• Sexual assault occurs when one makes sexual contact with another without consent.
• On indictment, sexual assault carries a maximum of 10 years in prison under section 271, rising to 14 years, with a one-year mandatory minimum, if the complainant is under 16.
• On summary conviction, section 271 states its own figure rather than falling back on the general default: a maximum of 18 months in prison; if the complainant is under 16, the maximum rises to two years less a day, with a mandatory minimum of six months.
• Aggravated sexual assault (level 3) is an indictable-only offence under section 273, with no summary-conviction option, carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison.
• Sexual assault's definition under the criminal code extends to all forms of sexual violence and unwanted touching.
• Domestic sexual violence may include incest, sodomy, sexual interference, an invitation or forcing of sexual touching, child pornography, and sexual exploitation.
• In R. v. Brown, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that self-induced extreme intoxication can, in narrow circumstances, be a defence to violent crimes including sexual assault; Parliament responded with Bill C-28, which received Royal Assent on June 23, 2022 and enacted a new section 33.1 of the Criminal Code requiring the Crown to show the accused departed markedly from the standard of care a reasonable person would observe in becoming that intoxicated.
• A minor cannot legally consent to sexual activity.

Defences for domestic sexual abuse in Canada

A person accused of committing sexual assault in Canada may argue:

• No sexual activity occurred.
• The victim consented.
• The accused was somewhere else at the time of the incident (alibi).
• Insanity or mental incapacity.
• Extreme self-induced intoxication akin to automatism can, in narrow circumstances, be a defence against sexual assault and other violent crimes in Canada, but section 33.1 of the Criminal Code makes it unavailable where the accused departed markedly from the standard of care a reasonable person would observe in becoming intoxicated.

Is emotional abuse against the law in Canada?

In Canada, emotional and psychological abuse refers to a pattern of behaviour one uses against another to control, isolate, or take away the victim's self-respect. The definition encompasses actions including manipulation or gaslighting, constant yelling, criticism, isolation, destruction of property, threats, or violent actions against the victim's pets, and so on.

Under the Canadian Criminal Code, psychological and emotional abuse that may lead to criminal prosecution includes:

(1) Advising a child or family member to commit suicide. (2) Phone harassment. (3) Threatening to harm a family member's pet. (4) Intentionally intimidating a child.

Where the conduct amounts to criminal harassment under section 264 of the Criminal Code, the penalty is up to two years less a day on summary conviction and up to ten years on indictment.

Can you sue for emotional distress in Canada?

Yes. You may sue your partner for emotional distress in Canada. However, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff, meaning you must show the court a pattern of abusive behaviour.

What to remember

• When suing for emotional distress, you may have to provide evidence of physical harm, emotional trauma, and psychological harm.
• Signs of emotional distress include anxiety, anger, isolation, a feeling of worthlessness, and personality changes (hard to prove, recommend consulting with a claims lawyer).

What happens if a victim of domestic violence dies in Canada?

As mentioned, under Canadian law, violence that occurs inside the home is treated similarly to violence that occurs outside the home. In other words, if domestic violence results in death or serious injury, the accused will face charges under the criminal code.

The accused may face manslaughter or murder charges, and the line between them is not the one most people expect.

Under section 229 of the Criminal Code, culpable homicide is murder where the accused meant to cause death, or meant to cause bodily harm they knew was likely to cause death and was reckless whether death followed. Planning is not what makes a killing murder. Under section 231, a murder that is planned and deliberate is first degree murder, and all murder that is not first degree murder is second degree murder. Canada has no third degree murder. Section 235 makes a life sentence mandatory on conviction for either degree, so life imprisonment is the minimum punishment, not a ceiling.

Manslaughter is defined in section 234 as culpable homicide that is neither murder nor infanticide. It is usually reached through an unlawful act or through criminal negligence, two of the routes to culpable homicide that section 222(5) sets out. It is not the same thing as an accidental death. A death that is genuinely accidental, with no unlawful act and no criminal negligence behind it, may be no offence at all.

Canada domestic violence laws: Federal protection orders

If you are a victim of domestic violence or at risk, you may apply for a provincial or federal protection order. See Alberta's domestic violence laws above for one province's protection-order framework, and check with your own province's family law information centre for local rules.

Under section 810 of the Canadian criminal code, the court may issue a peace bond to victims or potential victims of domestic violence. Section 810(1) is written to cover a person who fears on reasonable grounds that another person will cause personal injury to them, to their intimate partner or to their child, or will damage their property.

What is a "peace bond"?

A peace bond is a protection order that imposes specific conditions aimed at preventing the subject from committing acts of violence against a family member. Under section 810(3), a justice satisfied that the fear is reasonably grounded may order the defendant to enter into a recognizance to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for a period of not more than 12 months. Failure to obey a peace bond is a separate offence under section 811 of the Criminal Code and may result in up to 4 years in prison. Learn more about peace bonds from the Department of Justice.

What does a peace bond do?

A peace bond may require the subject to do the following:

• Remove all weapons from the home, or forbid the subject from owning a weapon.
• Restrain the subject from direct or indirect communication with the victim.
• Abstain from drug or alcohol abuse.
• Stay away from named places, in the manner of a restraining order.
• Any condition the court deems necessary to keep the potential victim safe.

Note: applying for a protection order under false pretenses may lead to criminal charges.

Clare's law domestic violence Canada

Clare's Law, also called a Disclosure to Protect Against (Domestic or Intimate Partner) Violence Act depending on the province, lets victims or persons at risk of domestic violence apply to police for information about a partner's history of violence, including prior convictions.

What provinces have passed Clare's Law?

Clare's Law schemes are running in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, where the Interpersonal Violence Disclosure Protocol is in force and applications are accepted online, and Manitoba, where The Disclosure to Protect Against Intimate Partner Violence Act came into force on March 1, 2026 and applications opened the same day.

The year each province opened its scheme is not stated on most of the government pages linked above, so this page does not put a start date on them. What matters for someone applying today is that the scheme is running, and each of the pages linked above confirms that much for its own province.

Coverage is not nationwide, and the picture changes as provinces pass, proclaim or decline to proclaim their own versions. If your province is not listed above, do not assume a disclosure scheme exists or that it does not; check your provincial government's justice or family violence pages, or ask your local police service, before you rely on one.

Application processes vary by province. Alberta's Clare's Law application is online, while others, including Manitoba's, run through a dedicated intake unit; check your provincial government's website for the exact process.

Related Canadian Guides

• Domestic Violence Laws in Alberta
• Canadian law by province and topic
• Recording laws in Canada
• Hit and Run laws in Canada
• Child Support laws in Canada
• Slip and Fall laws in Canada
• Data Privacy laws in Canada