You can get an EPO 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In an emergency, call 911.
An Emergency Protection Order (EPO) is a kind of no contact order that helps protect Albertans from family members committing family violence. They are described in Alberta’s Protection Against Family Violence Act. An EPO can order the person causing harm to stay away from you, stop contacting you and move out of the family home. EPOs are for emergency and urgent situations.
You can apply for an EPO if you are experiencing family violence by a family member that is serious or requires immediate help. To apply, all the following must be true:
- A family member has committed family violence.
- You have reason to believe the family member causing harm (the respondent) will continue or resume carrying out the family violence.
- The situation is serious or urgent such that you need a court order right away to protect you and your family. This usually means the family violence happened recently.
How to Apply for an EPO | Contents of an EPO | Review Hearings | Frequently Asked Questions | Important Contact Information
How to Apply for an EPO
You can get an EPO 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A Provincial Court judge or justice of the peace can grant an EPO in person or over the phone. The process to apply is different in each city or town. Besides the options listed below, you can also contact your local police or RCMP station, or a Victim Services’ Unit in your area. You can contact your lawyer if you have one.
In Edmonton
- during business hours, contact Legal Aid Alberta’s Emergency Protection Order Program (by phone or in person)
- after hours, weekends or statutory holidays (by phone or in person), contact the Edmonton Hearing Office (till midnight only) or the Calgary Hearing Office (midnight to 8am)
In Calgary
- during business hours, contact Legal Aid Alberta’s Emergency Protection Order Program (by phone or in person)
- after hours, weekends or statutory holidays, contact the Calgary Hearing Office (by phone or in person)
TIP | If you live in Calgary, review maps about applying for an EPO and the review hearing, created by the Calgary Domestic Violence Collective.
Elsewhere in Alberta
- during business hours, go to the nearest Provincial Court building
- after hours, weekends or statutory holidays, contact the Hearing Office for your part of the province (till midnight) or the Calgary Hearing Office (24 hours)
Applying by Phone
If you are applying for an EPO by phone, you must fill out a Telephone Application for an Emergency Protection Order form. You must email the form and a copy of your government-issued identification (front and back) to the Hearing Office you contact.
TIP | See below for important contact information for Legal Aid Alberta, the Hearing Offices and more.
Family members and family violence are specifically defined for the purposes of an EPO.
The Protection Against Family Violence Act says the following are family members for the purpose of an EPO:
- someone you are or were married to
- someone you are or were in an adult interdependent relationship with
- someone you live with or have lived with in an intimate relationship
- a parent of your child, regardless of whether you have lived with that person
- someone you are related to by blood, marriage, adoption or an adult interdependent relationship (including adult children and in-laws)
- a child in your care and custody
- someone you live with who has care and custody over you
You cannot get an EPO against someone you are dating UNLESS you live together in an intimate relationship or you have children together. You also cannot get an EPO against someone you live with but are not intimate with (such as a roommate). You can still report violence to the police or get other orders to keep these people away.
The Act says that family violence includes:
- actions that injure someone or damage property AND that intimidate or harm a family member
- any act or threat of an act that intimidates a family member by creating a reasonable fear of property damage or injury to a family member
- forced confinement (such as being locked in a room with no way out)
- sexual abuse
- stalking (including repeated, harassing contact)
Family violence does not include a parent correcting a child by using force if the force is reasonable in the situation.
Contents of an EPO
A judge or justice of the peace decides whether to grant you an EPO and what it should say, all based on the situation.
An EPO can:
- require the family member causing harm to stop entering or going near your home, workplace, children’s school or any other places you regularly go
- require the family member causing harm to stop contacting and communicating with you and other people named in the order
- give you exclusive possession of your family home, even if your name is not on the lease or title
- give police authority to remove the family member causing harm from your family home
- give police authority to seize and store weapons used or threatened to be used to commit family violence
Review Hearings
Within 9 working days of the order being granted, a justice in the Court of King’s Bench will review the EPO at a review hearing. The EPO will say the date of the review hearing.
The respondent can attend the review hearing and share their story. The court will review all the evidence, including the transcript of your application for the EPO.
At the review hearing, the court will do one of four things:
- cancel the order
- confirm the order (so that it continues)
- order you and the respondent to attend an oral hearing (a court appearance where you and the respondent will give oral evidence), or
- cancel the order and grant a King’s Bench Protection Order to replace it.
The review hearing will go ahead even if you or the respondent are not there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the family member causing harm know about the order?
The family member causing harm (the respondent) will not know right away that you have applied for an EPO. Unlike some requests for court orders, you can apply for an EPO without notice to the respondent. This means you do not have to tell the respondent beforehand that you are applying for an EPO.
However, an EPO is not enforceable until the respondent receives a copy of it. They must know what rules to follow. A police officer or other third party, like a process server, will give a copy to the respondent. Do not give a copy to the respondent yourself.
What does the judge think about?
The judge or justice of the peace must consider the following when deciding whether to grant an EPO:
- history of family violence by the respondent toward you and other family members
- if the respondent’s behaviour has been controlling towards you or other family members
- if the family violence is ongoing or getting worse
- any immediate danger to people or property
- how elder adults are more vulnerable to violence
- the effect on your children
- the best interests of you and your children
- your need for a safe environment to arrange for longer term protection from family violence
How long does an EPO last?
An EPO can last for up to one year. The clock can start from:
- the date you get the EPO,
- the date of the review hearing, or
- the date of an oral hearing.
What happens if the family member does not follow the EPO?
Call the police. Always keep a copy of your EPO with you so you can show it to the police when necessary.
The police will decide whether to arrest and charge the family member with breaching the order. If the family member is charged, they will appear in court and be prosecuted by a Crown prosecutor. If the family member pleads guilty or is convicted of breaching the EPO, they will be fined or receive a jail term. Anyone convicted of more than one breach automatically receives a jail term.
What is the difference between an EPO and a King’s Bench Protection Order (KBPO)?
The key difference between an EPO and a KBPO is that an EPO is for urgent, serious situations. You may not be eligible for an EPO but still eligible for a KBPO.
There are a few more differences:
- You can apply for an EPO without the family member’s knowledge, but not a KBPO. When you apply for a KBPO, you must give a copy of the application to the family member you are asking for the order against.
- You can apply for an EPO by telephone or in Provincial Court. A hearing for a KBPO must be in the Court of King’s Bench.
- A KBPO can include more terms than an EPO. For example, a KBPO can say the family member must pay you expenses incurred because of the violence.
- An EPO is reviewed after 9 working days and stays in place until it expires. A KBPO can stay in effect for up to one year and can be renewed.
Sometimes at the review hearing for an EPO, the court will cancel the EPO and grant a KBPO instead.
Important Contact Information
Legal Aid Alberta’s Emergency Protection Order Program
- Edmonton: call 1.780.422.9222 or go to the Edmonton Law Courts building
- Calgary: call 1.403.297.5260 or go to the Calgary Court Centre building
Edmonton Hearing Office (for everyone north of Wetaskiwin)
- Open 8am to midnight
- Phone: 1.780.422.3699
- Email: hearingoffice.edmonton@gov.ab.ca
Calgary Hearing Office (for everyone in Wetaskiwin and south)
- Open 24 hours a day
- Phone: 1.403.297.4444
- Email: hearingoffice.calgary@gov.ab.ca
Provincial Courts in Alberta
Find a location near you on the Alberta Courts website.
Victims Services Units
To find support near you, call 310.0000 or search online.
