Can I get protection from a stalker who is not a partner or family member?

Key points

• A former relationship is not a prerequisite to criminal harassment or a general peace bond.
• The federal criminal-harassment test changed on 18 July 2026; it includes psychological safety and monitoring.
• Different legal routes have different tests; annoyance alone is not automatically criminal harassment.
• Section 810 may provide preventive conditions without a prior conviction, if its reasonable-fear requirements are proved.
• Provincial civil protection may cover non-family stalking; ordinary injunctions require legal grounds, evidence and the applicable court test.
• Preserve original evidence safely, obtain a safety plan and show all existing orders.
• Check notification, terms and expiry; report suspected breaches and seek formal changes where needed.

Can I get protection without a family relationship?

Someone who is not a partner or relative is stalking you. Can the law help? Yes. Criminal harassment and a general peace bond do not require a family relationship. Provincial civil protection may also be available. These routes have different tests, so start with the conduct, the risk and your province.

Sources: S1, S4, S7, S8

What is criminal harassment now?

The criminal-harassment law changed in July twenty twenty-six. It addresses prohibited conduct without lawful authority, with intent to harass, or knowing or being reckless about whether it would harass another person. In the circumstances, the conduct must be something that could reasonably be expected to make them believe their safety, or the safety of someone known to them, is threatened. Safety includes psychological safety.

Sources: S1, S3

Does online monitoring count?

Imagine an acquaintance repeatedly follows your commute and uses accounts to monitor your movements. The current law expressly addresses monitoring location, movements, actions or social interactions, including through technology. Repeated following and repeated communication remain listed conduct. Watching places and threatening conduct are also covered. Do not assume every category needs the same number of incidents. Explain the whole pattern to police.

Sources: S1, S2

Can I seek a peace bond before a conviction?

A general peace bond is preventive. You must have reasonable grounds to fear personal injury to you, your intimate partner or child, property damage, or the intimate-image offence specified in the Code. A prior conviction is not required. If the court is satisfied, it may impose conditions for up to twelve months. That is this general route, not the maximum for every kind of peace bond.

Sources: S4, S6

What could the peace bond require?

The court can consider no-contact and stay-away terms, including indirect communication, and appropriate weapons restrictions. Identify the places and people needing protection. Starting an application does not itself create those conditions. Ask about immediate safety arrangements while the case proceeds. A peace bond is not itself a criminal conviction, but breaching it can be a criminal offence.

Sources: S4, S5, S6, S13

Are civil orders only for family violence?

Civil options differ. Manitoba’s stalking legislation can protect someone without a family relationship, if its own stalking, continued-risk and urgency requirements are met. Quebec’s civil protection procedure can address threatened life, health or safety, including harassment, without requiring a criminal offence. Some family-law restraining orders have relationship qualifications. Do not choose a form just because its title sounds right.

Sources: S7, S8, S9, S10

What about an ordinary civil injunction?

An ordinary civil injunction may be another option, but it needs a proper legal basis. For urgent relief, the evidence must satisfy the applicable court test. Asking someone to take positive action can require a stronger case. Ask a provincial lawyer about the claim, urgency, notice, costs and alternatives. Alleging a crime does not automatically establish a right to a civil injunction.

Sources: S11, S12

What evidence should I keep?

If safe, keep original messages, account details, voicemails and a factual log of dates, places and conduct. Note witness details. Keep your police file number. Explain threats, monitoring and any existing orders. Avoid meeting or confronting the person to obtain more evidence. Ask police or victim services for help with a safety plan and protecting your personal information.

Sources: S13

What happens after an order is made?

Get a copy of every order. Check when it binds the person, how notification happens, its exact terms and expiry. Report suspected breaches promptly and seek emergency help if danger is immediate. Enforcement and changes depend on the legal route. A private agreement does not by itself rewrite a court order, and the paperwork is only one part of a safety plan.

Sources: S4, S5, S7, S8, S9, S13

Your next steps

1. Seek emergency help for immediate danger; otherwise contact police or victim services about risk and a safety plan.
2. Preserve original evidence safely and record incidents, witnesses and the police file number.
3. Ask about the appropriate peace bond, provincial protection order or injunction and its legal test, notice, terms and urgent procedure.

Sources and publication

Full primary-source research: 6 September 2026. Targeted production checks: 8 September 2026. Publication-date checks and any source-access limitations are separately recorded; these dates do not imply that every source was reviewed again.

• S1. Parliament of Canada — Protecting Victims Act, 2026 c.19

  27 amending Criminal Code 264; 80; 205(1)–(4). Royal assent 18 June 2026. Section 27 commenced 18 July 2026 under 205(1), with no delayed exception. Full official enactment retrieved and relevant provisions read 6 September 2026..
  Current criminal-harassment mental and objective safety elements, technology-neutral scope, monitoring limb and psychological safety; no family relationship required. Section 80 changes only French 810(1)(b).

• S2. Justice Laws — Criminal Code, section 264

  264(2)(a)–(c), read with 2026 c.19 s.27. Displayed consolidation current to 21 June 2026, preceding the July amendment. Retained as a base text only; superseded 264(1) and other replaced language are not narrated as current law..
  Unchanged repeated-following and repeated-communication limbs; watching/besetting locations. The word repeatedly is not imported into every statutory limb.

• S3. Justice Canada — Protecting Victims Act backgrounder

  Opening; coming-into-force explanation. Official post-assent backgrounder: most reforms effective 18 July 2026..
  Corroborates commencement; some consolidated Criminal Code and explanatory pages precede the enacted amendments.

• S4. Parliament of Canada — Criminal Code section 810

  810(1), (3), (3.01), (3.2), (4.1). Consolidation displayed current to 21 June 2026; checked against 2026 c.19 ss.80–81 and commencement s.205. Section 80 changes French text only..
  General peace bond: reasonable fear, up to twelve months, no-contact and location terms, judicial variation, consequence of refusing a court-ordered recognizance.

• S5. Parliament of Canada — Criminal Code section 811

  811(a)–(b). Consolidation current to 21 June 2026; no alteration to s.811 in 2026 c.19..
  Breach of a recognizance is a criminal offence; indictable maximum four years, or summary conviction. No prediction of sentence.

• S6. Justice Canada — Applying for a peace bond

  Hearing before the Court; final substantive paragraph; revision notice. Live page expressly under revision for July 2026 amendments. Used only for propositions checked against legislation..
  A peace bond is not itself a criminal conviction; a hearing can be contested. Breach can lead to a new charge and criminal record.

• S7. Manitoba Laws — The Domestic Violence and Stalking Act, CCSM c.D93

  2(1)–(3); 6; 6.1; 7(1); 8.1; 14; 17. Official bilingual 33-page PDF retrieved 6 September 2026; current version from 4 June 2024, footer currency early September 2026. Relevant provisions read. HTML describes itself as unofficial; PDF is the retained legislative source..
  Independent stalking protection route without a family relationship; repeated conduct and actual reasonable fear under this provincial definition; seriousness/urgency and likelihood of continuation; no-contact and location restrictions; notice and expiry.

• S8. LégisQuébec — Code of Civil Procedure, C-25.01

  515.1–515.4; 509–511 for general injunction distinction. Official current web text displayed updated 7 April 2026, read 6 September 2026. Direct retrieval failed 403; actual web-tool source text retained. Articles 515.1–515.4 enacted by 2024 c.37 s.6..
  Civil protection of natural persons fearing threatened life, health or safety, including harassment; no family relationship prerequisite; notification and urgent process; general contempt provisions excluded for these protection orders.

• S9. Québec — Applying for a protection order in a civil matter

  Who may apply; reasons; obtaining order; notification; period; violation. Current official guidance retrieved and read 6 September 2026, alongside the actual Code articles..
  Civil protection may be available without an underlying criminal offence; physical or psychological safety, Superior Court application, support and reporting violations.

• S10. Ontario e-Laws — Family Law Act, RSO 1990 c.F.3

  46(1)–(3), including not-yet-in-force annotations. Current official API response retrieved 6 September 2026. Existing operative text and future annotated amendments distinguished..
  This family-law restraining-order route has relationship/cohabitation qualifications; do not treat it as a general stranger-stalking form.

• S11. Ontario e-Laws — Courts of Justice Act, RSO 1990 c.C.43

  101(1)–(2). Current official full legislative API response retrieved; provision read 6 September 2026..
  Superior Court power to grant interlocutory injunctions or mandatory orders on appropriate terms; not a substitute for establishing the legal basis and applicable test.

• S12. Supreme Court of Canada — R v Canadian Broadcasting Corp, 2018 SCC 5

  12–18; 24–26. Actual official reasons retrieved and pinpoint paragraphs read 6 September 2026; judgment 9 February 2018..
  Injunction is a remedy requiring a legal basis. Interim relief tests address merits, irreparable harm and balance of convenience; mandatory relief has a stronger merits threshold. Case does not establish ordinary availability to restrain alleged crimes.

• S13. Justice Canada — Stalking is a crime called criminal harassment

  Taking Action: evidence and police file number; Ways to Increase Your Personal Safety. Official older guidance retrieved 6 September 2026. Used only for practical evidence/safety steps, not its outdated offence, enforcement, territorial or bail descriptions. Wrong initial URL returned an HTTP-200 404 page and is excluded..
  Keep factual dates, contacts, original messages and witnesses; record the police file number; obtain safety help and avoid meeting the person. Practical guidance is not a legal proof checklist or safety guarantee.

• S14. Legal Hotline — Canada

  Service FAQ; contact; footer. Live site checked 6 September 2026..
  Canada number 1-855-529-1555; free AI general information; separate lawyer matching; Platfirm AI service. No response-time, booking guarantee or outcome claim used.

Full transcript

Someone who is not a partner or relative is stalking you. Can the law help? Yes. Criminal harassment and a general peace bond do not require a family relationship. Provincial civil protection may also be available. These routes have different tests, so start with the conduct, the risk and your province.

The criminal harassment law changed in July 2026. It addresses prohibited conduct without lawful authority, with intent to harass, or knowing or being reckless about whether it would harass another person. In the circumstances, the conduct must be something that could reasonably be expected to make them believe their safety, or the safety of someone known to them is threatened.

Safety includes psychological safety. Imagine an acquaintance repeatedly follows your commute and uses accounts to monitor your movements. The current law expressly addresses monitoring location, movements, actions or social interactions, including through technology.

Repeated following and repeated communication remain listed conduct. Watching places and threatening conduct are also covered. Do not assume every category needs the same number of incidents. Explain the whole pattern to police. A general peace bond is preventive.

You must have reasonable grounds to fear personal injury to you, your intimate partner or child, property damage, or the intimate image offence specified in the code. A prior conviction is not required. If the court is satisfied, it may impose conditions for up to 12 months.

That is this general route, not the maximum for every kind of peace bond. The court can consider no contact and stay away terms, including indirect communication and appropriate weapons restrictions. Identify the places and people needing protection. Starting an application does not itself create those conditions.

Ask about immediate safety arrangements while the case proceeds. A peace bond is not itself a criminal conviction, but breaching it can be a criminal offence. Civil options differ. Manitoba's stalking legislation can protect someone without a family relationship, if its own stalking, continued risk and urgency requirements are met.

Quebec's civil protection procedure can address threatened life, health or safety, including harassment, without requiring a criminal offence. Some family law restraining orders have relationship qualifications. Do not choose a form just because its title sounds right.

An ordinary civil injunction may be another option, but it needs a proper legal basis. For urgent relief, the evidence must satisfy the applicable court test. Asking someone to take positive action can require a stronger case. Ask a provincial lawyer about the claim, urgency, notice, costs and alternatives.

Alleging a crime does not automatically establish a right to a civil injunction. If safe, keep original messages, account details, voicemails, and a factual log of dates, places, and conduct. Note witness details. Keep your police file number. Explain threats, monitoring, and any existing orders.

Avoid meeting or confronting the person to obtain more evidence. Ask police or victim services for help with a safety plan and protecting your personal information. Get a copy of every order. Check when it binds the person, how notification happens, its exact terms and expiry.

Report suspected breaches promptly and seek emergency help if danger is immediate. Enforcement and changes depend on the legal route. A private agreement does not by itself rewrite a court order, and the paperwork is only one part of a safety plan. For free general legal information, Legal Hotline's Canada number is on your screen now.

Legal Hotline is not a law firm. Its information line uses AI. Lawyer matching is a separate service, subject to availability and acceptance. For advice on your own situation, speak with a lawyer in your province. In immediate danger, contact emergency services.

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