Project Overview and Status

The Law Commission of Ontario’s Improving Protection Orders project is examining why protection orders are failing to prevent intimate partner violence and family violence in Ontario.

According to Ontario’s Domestic Violence Death Review Committee, at least 434 people were murdered in acts of intimate partner violence across the province between 2003 and 2021. Most victims were women and children. The overwhelming majority of these murders were preceded by a history of violence – and in a quarter of cases, the perpetrator was known to have breached an existing protection order or other court order.

Protection orders are tools in Ontario’s legal system that are supposed to protect people from violence. Protection orders are designed to reduce violence by placing specific conditions on someone who is causing harm. For example, a protection order might limit where that person can go, what they can do, and who they can contact.

Many different types of protection orders are used in cases of intimate partner violence and family violence in Ontario. Protection orders can include restraining orders, peace bonds, bail release orders or undertakings, exclusive possession orders, and criminal sentences (like conditional sentences or probation and parole orders) with protective conditions. Some First Nations also have their own protection orders. We define the different types of protection orders and other project terms in our Project Glossary.

We know that when protection orders are working well, they can save lives. But in Ontario, reports about the inaccessibility and ineffectiveness of protection orders suggest that the promise of safety they offer is an elusive one. It can be impossible for victims-survivors to navigate the patchwork of protection order laws and processes, and enforcement is inconsistent. The LCO has heard that Ontario’s protection order landscape is too complex, too outdated, too slow, too expensive, and too biased to provide meaningful protection to everyone who needs it.

The LCO is working to untangle and modernize the maze of laws and policies governing protection orders in Ontario. Our final report will recommend changes to help make protection orders more accessible and effective for everyone affected by intimate partner violence and family violence.

What Issues Are Being Looked At?

The LCO is exploring issues relating to access, process, evidence, conditions, duration, and enforcement of different types of protection orders. We are also exploring whether Ontario should have standalone civil protection order legislation, and how to strengthen coordination across the protection order landscape.

We are considering topics like:

  • Whether the definitions of who can apply for protection orders should be expanded
  • The appropriate timeframe for protection order applications to be heard and decided
  • How well the reasonable fear standard is working
  • Alignment between the conditions and duration of protection orders and the safety needs of victims-survivors and their families
  • Conditions that are “impossible to comply with” or perpetuate cycles of violence (e.g. drug and alcohol prohibitions for people with substance use disorders; conditions that render respondents unhoused)
  • The benefits and drawbacks of a protection order database
  • The impact on victims-survivors’ autonomy and safety when protection orders are imposed without their request or application (e.g. most criminal law protection orders, as compared to family law and child protection law protection orders)
  • Avoiding conflicting court orders and expectations
  • Oversight mechanisms to improve compliance and enforcement

The LCO’s Approach

The LCO’s Improving Protection Orders project is a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary and multi-jurisdictional study on how the law can be improved to help keep people safe. Our project is grounded in the reality that some communities of women and children experience disproportionately high rates of intimate partner violence and family violence, especially those who are marginalized within Canadian society because of historical and ongoing oppressions. Our project seeks to center the voices and experiences of those individuals and communities who suffer most from the inaccessibility and ineffectiveness of protection orders in Ontario.

The LCO is using mixed research methods and public engagement processes to inform our findings and recommendations. Our work includes:

  • A case law analysis of protection order decisions,
  • A comparative review of protection order strategies outside Ontario,
  • Academic research,
  • Consultations,
  • Data collection from authorities and organizations working with protection orders,
  • Interviews,
  • Focus groups, and
  • Surveys for people who wish to share their personal and/or professional experiences with protection orders and their ideas for change.

We are guided in our work by an expert Advisory Committee. We are also supported by specialized consultants like Dr. Salina Abji, who is working on the survey, interview, and focus group components of the project.

The LCO will publish our Community Survey, our Professional Stakeholder Survey, and Consultation Paper in 2025 and begin broad public consultations.

Project Lead and Contacts

The LCO’s Project Lead is Laura Snowdon. She can be contacted at LSnowdon@lco-cdo.org.

The LCO can also be contacted at:

Email: LawCommission@lco-cdo.org

Web: www.lco-cdo.org
X (formerly Twitter): @LCO_CDO
LinkedIn: Law Commission of Ontario | Commission du droit de l’Ontario

Tel: (416) 650-8406
Toll-free: 1 (866) 950-8406

Law Commission of Ontario
2032 Ignat Kaneff Building
Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
4700 Keele Street Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3

Project Documents

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