This article provides general information about peace bonds and restraining orders in Ontario as of November 2026 and is not legal advice. It was researched from the primary texts, read on 4 November 2026: the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, ss. 2, 127, 787 and 810 to 811 (current to 19 October 2026), the Family Law Act, the Children's Law Reform Act and the Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015 (current Ontario consolidations), and published guidance from the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Court of Justice, Justice Canada, Legal Aid Ontario and Steps to Justice. No lawyer reviewed it. A licensed Ontario lawyer can advise on your own situation.
Peace bond Ontario law gives anyone who is afraid of another person a criminal court order to ask for. Whether a family restraining order is also on the table depends on one fact that most guides bury: who that person is to you. The order that sounds stronger doesn't decide it. Your relationship to the other person, and whether a child is involved, decides which doors are open at all.
Consider two people at the same Brampton courthouse on the same Monday. Dana was married to the man she is afraid of. Marcus has only ever shared a fence line with his. Both can ask the criminal court for a peace bond. Only Dana can also ask the family court for a restraining order, because the Family Law Act names the relationships it covers and a neighbour is not one of them.
One thing before anything else: a peace bond cannot be made today. The Ontario Court of Justice's own guide says it "cannot be issued right away". A family restraining order can be made quickly on an urgent motion without notice, for those who qualify, but not instantly. If you are in danger now, call 911.
Peace bond Ontario: the answer starts with who the other person is
A peace bond is a criminal court order, available against anyone, that binds a person to keep the peace and follow conditions, for up to 12 months under section 810. A restraining order is a family court order, available only in the family relationships the statutes name.
- Two courts, two statutes: a peace bond comes from section 810 of the Criminal Code and is made in the Ontario Court of Justice. A restraining order comes from section 46 of the Family Law Act or section 35 of the Children's Law Reform Act and is made in family court.
- The test is similar: both ask whether you have reasonable grounds for your fear. A restraining order covers your safety and your children's; a peace bond also covers your partner, your property and an intimate image of you.
- Length is the biggest practical difference: a section 810 peace bond lasts at most 12 months. The family statutes set no maximum, and a final restraining order can have no end date.
- Breaking either one is a crime: breach of a peace bond carries up to four years in prison (s. 811), and ontario.ca describes disobeying a restraining order as a criminal offence too.
- Neither one is a conviction, but a peace bond can print on two of Ontario's three police record checks. A family restraining order prints on none of them.
Which doors are open to you
Start with the relationship. Ontario law sorts protection orders by who the other person is, so the same fear can open four doors for one reader and only one for another.
Pick your relationship, say whether a child is involved, and choose what you are afraid of.
Two courthouses, four doors: which Ontario protection orders are open to you
Answer three questions. Each door opens or stays shut, with the reason and the section that decides it.
1Who is the person you are afraid of?
2Do you share a child, or is there a family case about a child in your care?
3What are you afraid of? Pick all that apply.
Open against anyone, whatever your relationship, if your fear is reasonable. It is the only door here that covers property and intimate images.
- Where:
- Criminal service counter of an Ontario Court of Justice courthouse, or the court's electronic application
- How long:
- Up to 12 months
Open because the person is, or was, your intimate partner and you fear injury to you or a child.
- Where:
- Same criminal counter; the application form asks which type you want
- How long:
- Up to 12 months, or 2 years after a prior conviction for violence used, threatened or attempted against an intimate partner, or a partner's or their own child
Not available against a dating partner you never lived with. The Act names spouses, former spouses and people you have lived with as a couple.
This one lives inside a family case about a child. Answer yes to the child question to see it.
2 doors are open to you. You can use more than one: the family court has to consider any criminal order already in place (Family Law Act s. 47.4).
A neighbour, coworker, roommate, relative or stranger
Usually only the criminal court is open (the exception is a family case about a child, covered below). A peace bond under section 810 of the Criminal Code can be sought by anyone who fears on reasonable grounds that another person will injure them, their intimate partner or their child, damage their property, or share an intimate image of them. The Government of Ontario's peace bond page gives a neighbour or a coworker as examples. A roommate falls here too: the Family Law Act's word "cohabit" means living together as a couple.
A dating partner you never lived with
This is the gap that surprises people. Say you are 27, in Ottawa, and an ex-boyfriend you dated for a year but never lived with keeps turning up outside your work. The Family Law Act lets a restraining order be made only against a spouse, a former spouse, or someone you live with or have lived with as a couple. He is none of those, so the family court door stays shut unless you share a child.
Two criminal doors are open instead. Besides the ordinary section 810 peace bond, section 810.03, in force since 8 April 2025, creates a peace bond for fear of domestic violence by an intimate partner, a term the Criminal Code defines to include a current or former spouse, common-law partner or dating partner.
A spouse, an ex-spouse or a partner you lived with
Every door can be open. The family court can make a restraining order under the Family Law Act (the steps are on ontario.ca's restraining order page) if you have reasonable grounds to fear for your own safety or a child in your lawful custody, and the criminal court can make a peace bond. Married spouses can also ask for exclusive possession of the matrimonial home under section 24, a separate order.
Someone you share a child with
The Children's Law Reform Act allows a restraining order "against any person", but the section sits inside the Act's part on decision-making responsibility and parenting time, so it is asked for inside a family case about a child. Our guide to child custody in Ontario explains those parenting cases, including how family violence weighs in the best-interests test.
Using more than one door is allowed. Section 47.4 of the Family Law Act requires a family court to consider any criminal order or recognizance already in place, so the family court is meant to know about any criminal order. It helps to tell each court about the other's orders. Our guide to seven situations where a family lawyer helps sets this inside the wider separation picture.
Two courts, two tests, side by side
A peace bond Ontario courts make and a family restraining order answer the same fear, but differ on the court, who can be named, cost, notice, length and record checks.
| Peace bond (s. 810) | Family restraining order (FLA s. 46, CLRA s. 35) | |
|---|---|---|
| Court | Ontario Court of Justice, criminal side | Family court (Ontario Court of Justice or Superior Court of Justice) |
| Who it can be against | Anyone | Spouse, former spouse or someone you lived with as a couple (FLA); any person, inside a parenting case (CLRA) |
| What you show | Reasonable grounds to fear injury to you, your intimate partner or child, damage to property, or sharing an intimate image | Reasonable grounds to fear for your safety or a child in your lawful custody |
| Filing fee | None (Steps to Justice) | Maybe (Steps to Justice) |
| Without telling the other person first | No | Sometimes, on an urgent motion without notice |
| How long | Up to 12 months (longer only for some other s. 810 orders) | Temporary or final; the Act sets no maximum |
| Breaking it | Criminal offence, s. 811: up to 4 years | Criminal offence (ontario.ca); Criminal Code s. 127: up to 2 years |
| Police record checks | Can print on two of three checks | Never disclosed (excluded by name from the two checks that show court orders) |
If a family case is already underway, Steps to Justice's comparison notes a restraining order can come faster than a peace bond. Our guide to filing for divorce in Ontario shows how a family case is opened.
What the court looks for: "reasonable grounds" for the fear
Nobody needs to prove a crime happened. The question is whether a justice of the peace or judge is satisfied, on the evidence, that your fear of what this person will do is reasonable.
That is the test in section 810 (3): the court must be "satisfied by the evidence adduced" that the person has reasonable grounds for the fear. Justice Canada's peace bond fact sheet puts it plainly: a peace bond is for a person who appears likely to commit an offence where there are no reasonable grounds to believe one has already been committed.
The Ontario Court of Justice's Guide for Applying for a Peace Bond lists what it helps to bring:
- Photo identification with your signature.
- Anything that records the incidents: dates and times, hospital records, photographs, police occurrence numbers or reports.
- Copies: the original plus two copies of your documents, one for the defendant and one for the court.
- The other person's address, so the summons can be served.
A domestic violence peace bond under section 810.03 asks the same question with a narrower scope. It covers fear of personal injury to the intimate partner or a child, not damage to property. Where either person is Indigenous, the justice is required to consider whether recommending Indigenous support services would be more appropriate than an order.
From the counter to the courtroom
A peace bond Ontario courts make starts at the criminal service counter of a local courthouse, or electronically, and often takes more than one court date. Justice Canada says it can take weeks or even months.
- The application. You fill in the application form, in person or through the court's electronic procedure, and either meet a justice of the peace that day or hear back later.
- The screening. The justice decides whether there are enough grounds. If so, staff prepare an "information", a sworn statement of your fear, which you sign under oath.
- The summons. The justice summons the defendant, or issues a warrant if they pose a danger. Police serve it in some regions; elsewhere you hire a process server.
- The first appearance. The defendant says whether they consent. If they do, they sign and it is over. If you miss this date, ontario.ca says the case is discontinued.
- Mediation, in some courthouses, before any hearing.
- The hearing. You testify under oath and can bring witnesses (subpoenas are free at the counter). The Crown attorney may prosecute; if not, you present the case yourself or with a lawyer or paralegal.
Some applications start with the police instead. Justice Canada describes police investigating, drafting conditions and asking the defendant to consent, and notes that in most cases defendants consent to avoid going to court. Either way, it is the same Ontario Court of Justice that hears charges such as impaired driving, running on criminal procedure, not family rules.
A justice may suggest a mutual peace bond, binding both people. Steps to Justice suggests legal advice before agreeing, because the other person could then try to provoke contact and report you.
What the defendant agrees to, or is ordered into
A peace bond is a promise to "keep the peace and be of good behaviour", plus whatever reasonable conditions the court adds. The defendant either signs it by consent or is ordered to after a hearing.
The Criminal Code lists conditions the court may add, and requires it to consider three of them (no contact, staying away and a weapons ban) before making the order:
- No contact, directly or indirectly, with you, your intimate partner or your child (s. 810 (3.2)).
- Staying away from places where you are regularly found, or keeping a set distance (s. 810 (3.2)).
- Weapons: before making the order, the court is required to consider banning firearms, crossbows, ammunition and other weapons, and if it decides not to, it is required to record its reasons (s. 810 (3.1), (3.12)).
- Alcohol and drugs: abstaining, and giving samples on demand (s. 810 (3.02)).
- A pledge of money: Steps to Justice says the amount promised is usually $500 or $1,000, usually not paid up front, and can be forfeited after a breach.
- Anything else reasonable to secure good conduct. For a domestic violence peace bond, s. 810.03 (6) adds treatment or counselling programs, staying in a set area, and electronic monitoring with the Attorney General's consent.
Agreeing is not a confession. Steps to Justice explains that a defendant who consents accepts that the applicant has a reasonable fear, which does not necessarily mean they did anything against the law. A defendant ordered to enter a peace bond who refuses can be jailed for up to 12 months (s. 810 (3.01)).
How long it lasts, and what happens after
An ordinary section 810 peace bond lasts no more than 12 months. Some other peace bonds can run two years, or five, but only after a specific prior conviction. Family restraining orders have no statutory maximum.
How long each Ontario protection order can last: the Criminal Code's ceilings on one ruler (2026)
Months, 0 to 60. Every Criminal Code peace bond starts at 12. Turn on the extensions to see which ones can run longer, and why.
- Peace bonds. 810Injury to you, your partner or your child, damage to property, or an intimate image12 months
- Domestic violence peace bonds. 810.03Injury by a current or former intimate partner12 months
- Sexual offence against a childs. 810.1A sexual offence against anyone under 1812 months
- Family restraining orderFLA s. 46 · CLRA s. 35Your safety or a child's, against a spouse, a partner you lived with, or anyone in a parenting caseNo maximum in the Act: the order sets its end
A defendant ordered into a peace bond who refuses to enter it can be jailed for up to 12 months (s. 810 (3.01)).
There is no automatic renewal. If the fear continues, the person protected applies again, and ontario.ca says they need not wait for the first bond to expire.
There is no automatic renewal. If the fear continues, ontario.ca says the protected person applies for a new peace bond and does not have to wait for the first to expire. The informant (usually the person protected, sometimes a police officer) or the defendant can ask the court to vary the conditions while it runs (s. 810 (4.1)), which is also how conditions get loosened when circumstances change.
Restraining orders run differently. Steps to Justice says they last from a few days to long-term, sometimes permanently, though most are temporary. A temporary one ends on its date or at the next hearing, where the judge can continue it, make it final or end it.
Breaking one: what a breach means
Breaking any condition of a peace bond is a criminal offence. For a section 810 peace bond, section 811 lets the Crown proceed by indictment, with up to four years in prison, or summarily.
On a summary conviction, the general maximum under section 787 is a $5,000 fine, two years less a day in jail, or both. A breach also risks the money pledged and, Steps to Justice notes, a conviction for breach can affect bail on a later charge. Police anywhere in Canada can enforce a peace bond, so ontario.ca suggests carrying a certified copy and giving one to a child's school if a child is covered.
One variation matters if you are offered a peace bond to resolve a charge. Steps to Justice explains that some are "common law" peace bonds rather than section 810 ones, and these can last more than a year. Breaking one can be charged as disobeying a court order under section 127 (up to two years) rather than under section 811, which covers recognizances under section 83.3 and sections 810 to 810.2, not common law peace bonds.
Restraining orders are enforced through the same criminal system. The Family Law Act no longer contains a penalty of its own; ontario.ca calls disobeying a restraining order a criminal offence, and the general offence of disobeying a court order, section 127 of the Criminal Code, carries up to two years on indictment. Either way, a broken order is a call to the police.
Record checks, work and travel
A peace bond is not a conviction. Whether a police record check shows a peace bond Ontario courts made depends on which of the province's three checks is run and how the bond came about.
Ontario's Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015 has a schedule that tells police exactly what may be released on each check. Court orders never appear on the basic criminal record check. They do appear on the criminal record and judicial matters check and the vulnerable sector check, with two exceptions that matter here: orders "made in relation to a charge that has been withdrawn", and restraining orders under the Family Law Act, the Children's Law Reform Act and the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017.
Will it show up? What prints on each Ontario police record check (2026)
Pick a situation. Each slip shows the line printed, or blacked out, as the Police Record Checks Reform Act schedule directs.
A peace bond made at a hearing, or agreed to when no charge was laid, is a court order. Court orders never print on the basic criminal record check, and do print on the other two.
Outside these checks: police record peace bonds on the national CPIC database and can see it during an investigation, and the Act does not govern some searches at all, including those under the federal Firearms Act.
Two limits apply. The Act covers screening for jobs, volunteering, licences and schools, and does not govern some searches, including those under the federal Firearms Act. And police record peace bonds on the national CPIC database, which officers can see during investigations.
Inside Canada, a peace bond limits travel only if a condition does, for example a condition to stay within a set area. Crossing a border is a different question, decided by the other country under its own rules, and worth raising with a lawyer before booking anything while a peace bond or a charge is open.
If you have been asked to sign one
Most peace bonds are not won at a hearing. Legal Aid Ontario says the most common situation is an accused person agreeing to one because the Crown will withdraw their charges if they do.
Say you are a 34-year-old warehouse supervisor in Hamilton, charged with uttering threats after an argument with a former friend. The Crown offers to withdraw the charge if you enter a 12-month peace bond: no contact, stay 100 metres from his home, no weapons, a $500 pledge. You avoid a trial and the risk of a conviction. In exchange, an ordinary text message to him becomes a criminal offence for a year.
The record check is part of that calculation, and it is less settled than it looks. The Act's schedule says court orders "made in relation to a charge that has been withdrawn" are not released on any of the three checks. That wording covers a withdrawn charge, not a stayed one, and Steps to Justice says the Crown may withdraw or stay the charge, warns that a peace bond resolving a charge appears on some checks while it is active and may still be included in a vulnerable sector check after it expires, and notes that police services have different policies.
It can help to ask whether the charge will be withdrawn or stayed, and to check with the police service that will run your check. A lawyer can explain how that plays out with a particular employer or licensing body, and whether the conditions on offer are ones you can live with.
Saying no is also a choice. If you are charged and decline, Steps to Justice says the Crown will likely continue the case, which you can resolve by pleading guilty or by going to trial, where the Crown has to prove the charge. If someone applied for a peace bond against you with no charge laid, the choices are mediation diversion where it is offered, or a hearing where the applicant has to show reasonable fear. Legal Aid Ontario describes both common routes, and Steps to Justice notes that a lawyer or duty counsel can help you decide. Our guide to criminal lawyers in Canada covers defending a charge from start to trial.
When it helps to talk to a lawyer
Neither order requires a lawyer, and court staff and justices of the peace cannot give legal advice. Advice tends to matter most when the stakes, the evidence or the other side's response raise the temperature.
Situations where many people get help:
- You are deciding between the two courts, or using both, and want the conditions to line up rather than conflict.
- Children or immigration status are involved. Ontario.ca and Steps to Justice both single these out as complicating factors.
- The other person has a lawyer, or has said they will fight the application.
- You have been offered a peace bond to resolve a charge, or asked to sign a mutual one.
- Your job, a licence or volunteering depends on a record check, or you hold firearms.
- An order is in place and you want it changed, ended or extended.
On cost, our guide to how much a lawyer costs in Ontario explains hourly, flat-fee and limited-scope pricing, and the Toronto family lawyer cost guide gives local rates. The Law Society Referral Service offers a free consultation of up to 30 minutes (see our guide to the lawyer referral service in Ontario), and ontario.ca notes Legal Aid Ontario may offer two hours of free advice after family violence. A quick lawyer lookup in Ontario confirms any licence.
How Olanur helps
We built Olanur so a person in a frightening situation can describe it once and be matched with a verified Ontario lawyer who handles it, without phoning a list of firms. Matching is free. Lawyers on our platform include criminal and family lawyers who can act on either side of a peace bond Ontario courts hear, for the person asking for protection or the person asked to sign, and on restraining orders in family court.
Our criminal law page and family law page set out the Ontario rules in brief and are the quickest way to start. If a court date is days away, our guide to finding a lawyer urgently in Canada sets out what to do first.
Frequently asked questions
No. The Government of Ontario says a defendant who enters a peace bond does not receive a criminal record of conviction. It is recorded on the national CPIC police database, and under Ontario's Police Record Checks Reform Act it can appear on a judicial matters check or a vulnerable sector check, never on the basic criminal record check. Breaking it can lead to a record.
A peace bond under section 810 of the Criminal Code lasts no longer than 12 months, and the court can set a shorter term. A domestic violence peace bond under section 810.03 can run up to two years, but only if the defendant was previously convicted of an offence in which violence was used, threatened or attempted against an intimate partner or a partner's or their own child. To continue protection after it ends, the protected person applies again.
A peace bond is a criminal court order under section 810 of the Criminal Code, available against anyone, for up to 12 months. A restraining order is a family court order under the Family Law Act or Children's Law Reform Act, available against a spouse or ex-spouse, a partner you live or lived with as a couple, or any person inside a parenting case, with no maximum term. Breaking either is a crime.
Ontario's Family Law Act and Children's Law Reform Act set no maximum term for a restraining order. A temporary order ends on the date in the order or at the next hearing, and a final order can be made with no end date. Steps to Justice notes that most restraining orders are temporary, while some are long-term or permanent.
No. People can apply for a peace bond and represent themselves at the hearing, and the Crown attorney sometimes takes over the prosecution. Court staff and justices of the peace cannot give legal advice, so many people speak with a lawyer or paralegal about evidence and conditions, especially when the other side has a lawyer.
For a person who is afraid, a peace bond Ontario courts make is free to apply for, can be made against anyone, and is enforceable by police across Canada, but it takes weeks or months, and a section 810 peace bond lasts at most 12 months. For a person charged with an offence, agreeing to one often means the Crown withdraws or stays the charge. Whether that trade is worth it depends on the evidence, the conditions and record-check consequences.
Breaking any condition of a section 810 peace bond is a criminal offence under section 811 of the Criminal Code. If the Crown proceeds by indictment, the maximum is four years in prison; on summary conviction it is a fine of up to $5,000, up to two years less a day in jail, or both. The defendant can also lose the money they pledged, and a conviction can print on every police record check.
The informant (usually the person protected, sometimes a police officer) or the defendant can apply to the court to vary the conditions of a section 810 peace bond while it is in force (Criminal Code s. 810 (4.1)). Otherwise it ends on its own when its term runs out, which for an ordinary peace bond is no more than 12 months after it was made.
Not as a separate order. Ontario passed a Domestic Violence Protection Act in 2000 that would have created emergency intervention orders, but it never came into force and was repealed in 2009. Urgent protection comes from the police, and, for those who qualify for a family restraining order, from family court on an urgent motion without notice. A peace bond cannot be issued right away.
This week, whichever side you are on
If you are the one who is afraid, the first step is safety: 911 in an emergency, and Ontario's Victim Support Line at 1-888-579-2888 (416-314-2447 in the GTA) for support and referrals. Then write down every incident with its date while it is fresh, gather photos, messages and police occurrence numbers, and use the board above to see which courts are open to you.
If you rent, a section 810 peace bond or family restraining order against a spouse, ex, partner, dating partner or relative living in the unit, with conditions protecting you, your child or the home and issued within the last 90 days, lets you end the tenancy on 28 days' notice (Residential Tenancies Act ss. 47.1 and 47.3); our N9 form guide explains that Form N15 route. If you are separating as well, a separation agreement deals with property and support, but it is not a protection order.
If you are the one asked to sign, read the proposed conditions line by line before your next court date, and get advice on what each would mean for your work, your home and your record. On either side, Olanur can match you with an Ontario criminal lawyer or family lawyer for free.
Priya Kapoor
Family, Real Estate & Criminal Law Contributor
Priya focuses on family law, real estate transactions, criminal defence, and civil disputes, guiding Canadians through some of the most consequential legal moments in their lives.
