Restraining Orders in Nova Scotia: The Emergency Protection Order Explained

If you are in immediate danger in Nova Scotia, call 911 first. For everything else, the province's only civil family-violence order is the emergency protection order (EPO) under the Domestic Violence Intervention Act, which a specially designated justice of the peace can grant by phone, usually within 24 hours, and which can now last up to one year following a 2026 amendment that raised the previous 30-day cap.

Information last verified on 2026-08-15. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

If You Are in Immediate Danger

An emergency protection order is a legal tool, not a physical barrier. It is enforced after someone breaches it, and it cannot stop a determined person from showing up before police respond. If you are in danger right now, call 911. Do not confront an abuser or rely on a piece of paper to keep you safe in the moment.

Nova Scotia's Department of Justice lists several other numbers worth saving: 211 (call or text) for crisis and community-service referrals, 1-855-466-4994 as an alternate crisis line, the EPO application line 1-866-816-6555 (which also connects you to your nearest transition house or police service), the Neighbour Friends and Family line at 1-855-225-0220, the human-trafficking hotline at 1-833-900-1010, and Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 for children and youth.

Nova Scotia's Domestic Violence Intervention Act

The governing law is the Domestic Violence Intervention Act, S.N.S. 2001, c. 29, in force since April 1, 2003 and most recently amended by 2026, c. 4. It creates a single order type, the emergency protection order. Section 6 of the Act is headed "Emergency intervention order," but the operative text underneath that heading grants an "emergency protection order," and the Act's own definitions section (s. 2(f)) confirms that is the order's actual name. A full read of the Act's 22 sections found no second order type, no "victim assistance order," and no general civil restraining order created separately from the EPO. (New Brunswick, discussed on its own page, has a similarly named but legally distinct order called the emergency intervention order; the two provinces' order names are easy to mix up, but each runs under its own statute.)

Who Qualifies for an Emergency Protection Order

Under section 2(g), a "victim" is a person at least 16 years old who has been subjected to domestic violence by someone who:

• has cohabited or is cohabiting with the victim in a conjugal relationship, or
• is, with the victim, the parent of one or more children, regardless of their marital status or whether they ever lived together.

The Act sets no minimum length of cohabitation or relationship before it applies. Its language is gender-neutral throughout, which points toward same-sex partners being covered, though no section states that explicitly. Dating partners who never cohabited and have no children together, along with other family members such as siblings, parents, roommates, or adult children, fall outside this Act entirely. If your relationship with the other person was a common-law partnership, see common-law relationships in Nova Scotia for how that status is defined elsewhere in provincial law.

What an Emergency Protection Order Can Require

Section 8(1) lets a justice include any combination of the following: exclusive occupation of the victim's residence for a set period; a directive for police to remove the respondent from that residence and to supervise removal of the respondent's belongings; a no-contact provision covering the victim or another named person; a requirement that the respondent stay away from a specified place; temporary possession of specific personal property such as a vehicle, chequebook, bank or health cards, identification, or keys; protection of property from being taken, converted, or damaged; a prohibition on further domestic violence; a ban on publishing the victim's name, address, or identifying information; a police-executed seizure of weapons and any weapon-authorization documents; and temporary care and custody of a child. A catch-all clause lets the justice add any other condition considered necessary.

An EPO's custody and access terms prevail over an existing order under the Divorce Act or Nova Scotia's Parenting and Support Act, but not over an order made under the Children and Family Services Act. For the general rules on how Canadian courts decide custody and access outside an emergency order, see parenting time and decision-making.

How to Apply

Applications are made by telephone only, and the justice is required to record the call. A victim applying directly can only do so between 9 am and 9 pm. That window does not apply to a "designated person" applying on the victim's behalf, which includes a peace officer, a Department of Justice, police, or RCMP victim-services worker, or a designated transition house employee; a designated person can apply at any time, which is what makes the process effectively available around the clock. The order is granted by a justice of the peace specially designated for this purpose by the Chief Judge of the Provincial Court, and the hearing must be concluded within 24 hours of the application being made. To start an application, call 1-866-816-6555 or contact your nearest transition house or police service.

After the Order Is Made: Forwarding and Review

Once an EPO is granted, the justice must forward it, along with supporting documentation including the recording, to the court within two working days. A judge then reviews it within 7 business days of the court's receipt. If the judge is satisfied there was sufficient evidence, the order is confirmed or varied; if not, the judge directs a full hearing, at which the order can still be confirmed even if the respondent does not attend.

How Long an Emergency Protection Order Lasts

This is the point where current and outdated information genuinely conflict, so it is worth stating plainly: under section 8(2), as amended by 2026, c. 4, s. 10, a justice may grant an EPO for a period of up to one year. That is a significant, recent change. Before this amendment, the maximum was 30 days, and a Nova Scotia Department of Justice news release from February 25, 2026 specifically noted that the prior 30-day maximum was, at the time, the shortest EPO duration of any jurisdiction in Canada. A Department of Justice public-education brochure that predates the amendment still states "up to 30 days"; that brochure has not caught up to the current statute, and readers should treat the 30-day figure, wherever they encounter it, as superseded.

An EPO can also be extended: under section 12(4), a judge may extend an order for up to a further one year from the original order's expiration date. A court can otherwise vary, terminate, or revoke any part of an order at any time after it has been served.

Fees

A full read of the Domestic Violence Intervention Act Regulations found no fee provision for an EPO application, and Nova Scotia's general Costs and Fees Act regulations contain no reference to domestic violence or emergency protection matters either. That absence strongly suggests applying is free, but no Nova Scotia source affirmatively states that in so many words, so this page treats it as a documented absence of a fee rather than a confirmed "free" guarantee.

What Happens If Someone Breaches the Order

Under section 18, it is an offense to fail to comply with an EPO, to apply for one falsely or maliciously, to obstruct someone carrying out an authorized function under the Act, or to publish information the order prohibits. On summary conviction, a first offense carries a fine of up to $5,000, up to three months in jail, or both; a second or later offense carries a fine of up to $10,000, up to two years in jail, or both. Section 19 gives police the power to arrest someone without a warrant on reasonable grounds that they breached an order. A separate provision, section 20, covers contempt of or resistance to the court's process under the Act, carrying a fine of up to $5,000 or up to 90 days in jail. For the broader criminal-law picture around domestic violence in Canada, see domestic violence laws in Canada.

Peace Bonds and Other Options

A peace bond is a separate, criminal-court route. Nova Scotia's own family-law public legal education materials describe applying at Provincial Court, note that Supreme Court (Family Division) usually does not handle peace bonds, and explain that a peace bond requires giving the other person notice and a chance to respond, which makes it slower than an EPO for a genuinely urgent situation. Peace bonds are commonly understood to be issued under Criminal Code section 810, though the specific Nova Scotia source describing the process does not cite that section number directly. For a fuller explanation of how peace bonds work across Canada, see peace bonds in Canada.

Orders From Other Provinces

A full read of the Domestic Violence Intervention Act found no provision addressing recognition, registration, or enforcement of a protection order issued by another Canadian province or territory. No companion Nova Scotia statute covering this specifically was located either. This is not the same as an exhaustive search of Nova Scotia's entire statute book for some unrelated general reciprocal-enforcement law, so it is presented here as a documented gap rather than a certainty that no such mechanism exists anywhere in provincial law.

Related Nova Scotia Resources

If your situation also involves separating from a spouse or common-law partner, see common-law relationships in Nova Scotia, divorce in Canada, and separation agreements in Canada. For how a Nova Scotia court file, including an EPO forwarded to the court after the emergency stage, is handled once it becomes part of the court record, see court records in Nova Scotia. For how Nova Scotia's approach compares to the rest of the country, see the Canada-wide restraining order ladder.

Disclaimer

This article is informational only and is not legal advice. Nova Scotia's family-violence laws change, most recently in 2026 when the emergency protection order's maximum duration was extended from 30 days to one year, so figures on this page should be checked against the current Domestic Violence Intervention Act before you rely on them. This page also flags what could not be confirmed from a primary source: whether same-sex partners are explicitly covered (implied by gender-neutral drafting, not stated outright), whether applying is formally free (no fee provision was found, but no source affirmatively says "free"), and whether any Nova Scotia law recognizes another province's protection order (no provision was found in the Act itself, though the province's full statute book was not exhaustively searched). If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For an emergency protection order, call 1-866-816-6555 or contact your nearest transition house or police service.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an emergency protection order in Nova Scotia?

It is the only civil family-violence order created by Nova Scotia's Domestic Violence Intervention Act. A specially designated justice of the peace can grant one by phone, usually within 24 hours, to a qualifying victim of domestic violence.

How long does a Nova Scotia emergency protection order last?

Up to one year, following a 2026 amendment to the Act. The previous maximum was 30 days, a figure that still appears in some older Nova Scotia materials but is no longer current.

Who can apply for an emergency protection order in Nova Scotia?

A qualifying victim, someone at least 16 who has cohabited with the other person in a conjugal relationship or shares a child with them, can apply directly by phone between 9 am and 9 pm. A police officer, victim services worker, or transition house employee can apply on the victim's behalf at any time.

Does it cost money to apply for an emergency protection order in Nova Scotia?

No fee provision was found in the governing Act or its regulations, which strongly suggests applying is free, though no Nova Scotia source explicitly states that in so many words.

What happens if someone breaches a Nova Scotia emergency protection order?

It is an offense. A first breach carries a fine of up to $5,000, up to three months in jail, or both. A second or later breach carries a fine of up to $10,000, up to two years in jail, or both, and police can arrest a suspected breach without a warrant.

Will Nova Scotia recognize a restraining order from another province?

No provision addressing this was found in the Domestic Violence Intervention Act itself. This is a documented gap in what was reviewed, not a confirmed statement that no other Nova Scotia law addresses it.