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<!DOCTYPE html><html data-wf-domain="www.fosterllp.ca" data-wf-page="5c05e60da70b98d3c1cc7bbc" data-wf-site="5b623e28a5fc3a41c7d16cff" lang="en" data-wf-collection="5c05e60da70b9868fdcc7ab1" data-wf-item-slug="what-is-an-emergency-protection-order"><head><meta charset="utf-8"/><title>What is an Emergency Protection Order? | Foster LLP</title><meta content="What is an Emergency Protection Order? | Foster LLP" property="og:title"/><meta content="What is an Emergency Protection Order? | Foster LLP" property="twitter:title"/><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" name="viewport"/><link href="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5b623e28a5fc3a41c7d16cff/css/foster-2-0.70701d64d.min.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/><link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com" rel="preconnect"/><link href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" rel="preconnect" crossorigin="anonymous"/><script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/webfont/1.6.26/webfont.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">WebFont.load({ google: { families: ["Nunito Sans:regular,600,700","Roboto Slab:300,regular,700"] }});</script><script type="text/javascript">!function(o,c){var n=c.documentElement,t=" w-mod-";n.className+=t+"js",("ontouchstart"in o||o.DocumentTouch&&c instanceof DocumentTouch)&&(n.className+=t+"touch")}(window,document);</script><link href="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5b623e28a5fc3a41c7d16cff/5c09bfe8ec4e8aa2ce3f6f6a_Foster%20LLP%20Favicon.png" rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon"/><link href="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5b623e28a5fc3a41c7d16cff/5c09bfec6a4181de154b09a5_Foster%20LLP.png" rel="apple-touch-icon"/><script async="" src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-QQBZ6TCZT8"></script><script type="text/javascript">window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}gtag('js', new Date());gtag('set', 'developer_id.dZGVlNj', true);gtag('config', 'G-QQBZ6TCZT8');</script><script src="https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-KDKPKKG');</script> </head><body><div data-collapse="medium" data-animation="default" data-duration="400" data-easing="ease" data-easing2="ease" role="banner" class="nav-bar w-nav"><div class="wrapper nav-bar-wrapper"><a href="/" class="brand w-nav-brand"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5b623e28a5fc3a41c7d16cff/64419f6634032fbc1e604424_Foster%20LLP%20Calgary%20Family%20Lawyers.png" width="178" alt=""/></a><div class="navigation"><nav role="navigation" class="nav-menu w-nav-menu"><a href="/services" class="nav-link w-nav-link">Services</a><a href="/partners-associates" class="nav-link w-nav-link">Our Team</a><div data-hover="true" data-delay="300" class="nav-dropdown w-dropdown"><div class="nav-link w-dropdown-toggle"><div class="nav-dropdown-icon w-icon-dropdown-toggle"></div><div>Resources</div></div><nav class="nav-dropdown-list w-dropdown-list"><a href="/blog" class="nav-dropdown-link w-dropdown-link">Blog</a><a href="/family-law-terms" class="nav-dropdown-link w-dropdown-link">Family Law Terms</a><a href="/interview-preparation" class="nav-dropdown-link w-dropdown-link">Interview Prep</a><a href="/important-cases" class="nav-dropdown-link w-dropdown-link">Important Cases</a><a href="/reported-decisions" class="nav-dropdown-link w-dropdown-link">Reported Decisions</a><a href="/helpful-links" class="nav-dropdown-link w-dropdown-link">Helpful Links</a><a href="/community-work" class="nav-dropdown-link w-dropdown-link">Community Work</a></nav></div><div data-hover="true" data-delay="300" class="nav-dropdown w-dropdown"><div class="nav-link w-dropdown-toggle"><div class="nav-dropdown-icon w-icon-dropdown-toggle"></div><div>Contact</div></div><nav class="nav-dropdown-list w-dropdown-list"><a href="/contact-us" class="nav-dropdown-link w-dropdown-link">Contact Us</a><a href="/careers" class="nav-dropdown-link w-dropdown-link">Careers</a></nav></div></nav><a href="/contact-us" class="button small w-hidden-small w-hidden-tiny w-button"><strong class="bold-text">Book a Free Consult</strong></a><a href="tel:403-261-5333" class="button small call-button w-hidden-tiny w-button"><strong>Call: 403-261-5333</strong></a><div class="menu-button w-nav-button"><div class="w-icon-nav-menu"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="progress-bar"></div><div class="page-wrapper"><div class="section page-header white"><div class="wrapper side-paddings"><div class="post-info"><a style="background-color:#ff704d" href="/blog-categories/family-law" class="badge">Family Law</a><h1 class="post-heading">What is an Emergency Protection Order? </h1></div><img alt="" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5b623e28a5fc3a0afad16d06/62956d5a06f976c7737650f4_Emergency%20Protection%20Order%20Calgary.jpg" sizes="(max-width: 479px) 93vw, (max-width: 767px) 96vw, (max-width: 991px) 97vw, 92vw" srcset="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5b623e28a5fc3a0afad16d06/62956d5a06f976c7737650f4_Emergency%20Protection%20Order%20Calgary-p-500.jpeg 500w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5b623e28a5fc3a0afad16d06/62956d5a06f976c7737650f4_Emergency%20Protection%20Order%20Calgary-p-800.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5b623e28a5fc3a0afad16d06/62956d5a06f976c7737650f4_Emergency%20Protection%20Order%20Calgary-p-1080.jpeg 1080w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5b623e28a5fc3a0afad16d06/62956d5a06f976c7737650f4_Emergency%20Protection%20Order%20Calgary.jpg 1200w" class="image-5"/><div class="post"><div class="post-author"><img alt="" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5b623e28a5fc3a0afad16d06/61ddea6e539094d5a23b70d3_Lourdes%20Garcia%20Family%20Lawyer%20Calgary%20(1).jpg" class="post-author-avatar"/><h5 class="post-author-name">Lourdes Garcia</h5><a href="/blog-authors/lourdes-garcia" class="post-author-link">See All Posts</a></div><div class="post-content w-richtext"><p>An Emergency Protection Order (“EPO”) is a court order intended to provide safety in cases of family violence in emergency situations. It is used to restrain a family member from being near you, contacting you, and attending your place of work or study. Children may be subject to EPOs in certain circumstances. Importantly, if an EPO is breached the party breaching the EPO may be charged criminally and arrested. </p><p>An EPO is issued by a Judge or a Justice of the Peace where immediate protection is needed as a result of family violence. Section 1 (1) (e) of the <em>Protection Against Family Violence Act </em>defines “family violence” as:</p><ul role="list"><li>Property damage</li><li>Intimidation that causes a reasonable fear of property damage</li><li>Intimidation that causes a reasonable fear of injury</li><li>Forced confinement</li><li>Sexual abuse </li><li>Stalking </li></ul><p>‍</p><h3><strong>What is a Restraining Order? </strong></h3><p>A Restraining Order is an order which protects the complainant from a person or persons who were harassing or interfering in some aspect of the complainant’s life/business. Restraining Orders can be applied for regardless of the relationship with the complainant to cease contact/harassment. </p><p>If you breach a Restraining Order the Court can impose financial penalties, impose a finding of contempt, or confine you to jail for period of time. </p><p>‍</p><h3><strong>What happens after an EPO is granted?</strong></h3><p>The responding party has the opportunity to respond to allegations made by the complainant against them within 9 days of the EPO being granted. This review takes place in the Court of King’s Bench. Upon review, the Court has the ability to vacate (remove it) or extend the EPO (keep in place). The Court has the direction to impose a less intrusive order such as a Restraining Order or No Contact Order, neither of which permit the breaching party to be criminally charged.</p><p>Emergency Protection Orders and Restraining Orders carry serious legal consequences if they are breached.</p><p><a href="/contact-us">Contact the team</a> at Foster LLP for legal advice, or for more information on Emergency Protection Orders and Restraining Orders.</p></div></div></div></div><div class="section grade no-padding-top"><div class="wrapper"><div class="section-intro big-text"><h2 data-w-id="7d51ce5b-ff16-e9a8-48ef-83833de2f96b" style="opacity:0">You Might Also Like</h2><div data-w-id="7d51ce5b-ff16-e9a8-48ef-83833de2f96d" style="opacity:0" class="divider center"></div><div data-w-id="7d51ce5b-ff16-e9a8-48ef-83833de2f96e" style="opacity:0" class="intro-big-text">More Posts</div></div><div data-w-id="bb4fca09-684d-3757-5357-dcf2969b8153" style="opacity:0" class="full-width place-top w-dyn-list"><div role="list" class="blog-v2 w-dyn-items"><div role="listitem" class="post-item-v2 w-dyn-item"><a href="/blog/one-size-does-not-fit-all" class="post-card-v2 w-inline-block"><img alt="" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5b623e28a5fc3a0afad16d06/5fc55b1d4cc23d996a07e3fa_Chloe%20Cartwright%20(A)%20v.%20Rocky%20View%20County%20Subdivision%20and%20Development%20Appeal%20Board.jpg" sizes="(max-width: 479px) 93vw, (max-width: 767px) 47vw, (max-width: 991px) 48vw, 29vw" srcset="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5b623e28a5fc3a0afad16d06/5fc55b1d4cc23d996a07e3fa_Chloe%20Cartwright%20(A)%20v.%20Rocky%20View%20County%20Subdivision%20and%20Development%20Appeal%20Board-p-800.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5b623e28a5fc3a0afad16d06/5fc55b1d4cc23d996a07e3fa_Chloe%20Cartwright%20(A)%20v.%20Rocky%20View%20County%20Subdivision%20and%20Development%20Appeal%20Board-p-1080.jpeg 1080w, https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5b623e28a5fc3a0afad16d06/5fc55b1d4cc23d996a07e3fa_Chloe%20Cartwright%20(A)%20v.%20Rocky%20View%20County%20Subdivision%20and%20Development%20Appeal%20Board.jpg 1200w" class="full-width"/><div class="post-card-v2-info"><div style="background-color:#525b73" class="badge post-card-v2-category">Decisions</div><h4>One Size Does Not Fit All</h4><div class="post-card-v2-description">The Court of King’s Bench published Ross v. 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