Improvements to Restraining Orders in Ontario Proclaimed on October 15th!

After more than a decade of work, including extensive consultations by the provincial government with violence against women advocates and activists, the Ontario government has proclaimed those sections of Bill 133 that deal with restraining orders. These changes to the law will significantly increase safety for women and children who are fleeing violent situations.

Abused women and their advocates in Ontario have long been frustrated by the restraining order legislation provided under family law. Restraining orders often contain conditions that are difficult to understand, the police are often reluctant to enforce the orders and the consequences to an abuser who has breached a restraining order are frequently minimal. As a result, women and their children do not get the safety they deserve, and abusers are not held accountable for their actions.

Breaches of restraining orders will now lead to charges being laid under the Criminal Code, rather than under the Provincial Offences Act, as was the case before October 15th. A man who breaches a restraining order could be arrested by the police, charged with a criminal offence and held for a criminal bail hearing. His case would then proceed in criminal court and, if he is found guilty, he would be liable to potentially more serious penalties.

Also new as of October 15th is an expansion of who can apply for a restraining order. In the past, the Family Law Act restricted restraining orders to spouses, former spouses or people who have cohabited for at least three years. Now, people who have lived together for any period of time may apply for a restraining order. This will ensure that women, no matter how short-lived their cohabitation arrangement, can have access to the safety of a restraining order.

Restraining orders will now be made "in the form prescribed by the rules of court." In other words, all restraining orders will appear on a standard form order, which will make them more easily understood by women and will simplify enforcement by the police.

To support these changes to the legislation and in recognition of the fact that increasing numbers of women are handling their family law cases without legal representation, the government has produced a plain language guide to restraining orders.

These changes are important because they are the result of a meaningful consultation process between government and women’s advocates.

I think it is safe to say that for those of us who were involved in this very lengthy consultation process, from time to time we had doubts about the outcome. Of course, we did not see everything we wanted incorporated into the new legislation. For example, we lobbied for restraining order legislation to apply to dating as well as common-law relationships, but the government chose not to take this step.

However, the changes that were proclaimed on October 15th are important and substantive and they will have an immediate and positive impact on women’s lives.

Note: Further sections of Bill 133 that amend child custody and access, pension division and child support legislation are expected to be proclaimed over the next several months.

See my submission to the Ontario Standing Committee on Social Policy.