Can You Use Force To Remove Someone From Your Property?

Thanks so much for joining me today. I’ve got a great topic for you today, and it’s something that a lot of our YouTube followers have been asking, can you use reasonable force to remove someone from your property? Wow, that’s a really loaded question, isn’t it?

Under Section 35 of our Criminal Code, yes, you can use reasonable force to remove someone from your property. I’m going to give some examples. Let’s say a person is trespassing on your property. I think the best thing to do in that situation, first of all, is to ask them to leave. They may be a non-violent trespasser, and you could escort them off the property. If they are using some degree of violence, you can do a proportional response, which becomes a self-defence situation. You may have an unwanted guest in your home. Maybe you got into an argue with a friend or something, and you ask them to leave, and if they resist leaving, you can again use reasonable proportional force to gently push them out. You do not want to not escalate the situation.

And the Supreme Court of Canada has said in this situation that you should use the least amount of force possible to remove them from their property. So if you escalate it too far, for example, you could be charged. Now, there are situations where a person is on your property, and you have to act in not only protecting your property, but you are also able to defend yourself. So, if the person is attacking you, you could, of course, use reasonable force to defend yourself and remove them from their property. And the whole thing is proportionality. I mean, if someone’s coming at you with their hands, for example, you don’t immediately pull out a gun.

There may be situations, where you would be able to pull out a gun if your life’s in imminent danger, or a knife and that sort of thing. It all boils down to common sense, and the Criminal Code amendments now sets this all out much better compared to the previous sections of the Criminal Code. The Criminal Code was revamped a number of years ago to make self-defense and trespassing situations more user friendly for juries and judges. Now let me give you an example or two. So, let’s say you have a friend over for dinner, and you’re getting into an argument. You have asked them to leave. They’re not leaving. Well, in that situation, maybe it’s best to call the police and have them removed, and that avoids the situation quite easily. But if you decide to take matters into your own hands, you have to use the least amount of force to remove them from your property.

You, for example, you could say, “Look we want you to leave. I’m going to gently escort you to the door.” If that person escalates the situation, you can use proportional force if they start attacking you and you could act in self-defence. So that’s one situation. Another situation might be someone comes onto your property, again, just firmly but politely tell them that they are on my land, please leave. If they don’t leave again, you can use reasonable force to remove them from your property.

Perhaps escorting them using a gentle push would be okay. In that situation, you don’t want to escalate it. And perhaps again, the best situation, if there are nonviolent trespasser and refuse to leave, just phone the police. I mean, you have rights under the Criminal Code, but situations get escalated, and you could find yourself getting charged with a Criminal Code offence. You know, that person could say they attacked you, etc. So, the simple answer to the question then under section 35, yes, you can use reasonable force to remove trespassers, to remove unwanted people from your property, but you have to be very careful. You must use the least amount of force possible to get the task done. The force you used must be reasonable. And in responding to defend yourself, your response must have some degree of proportionality compared to how they are attacking you. In other words, if you are acting in self-defence, your response to your attacker must be proportional.

An example might be, if you’re a 100-pound woman and a man’s coming at you with his fists, well, that may be a situation where you could use a gun or a knife. If your life is in danger, you would be acting in self-defence. So, it’s a tricky question. I’ve seen people charged. We’ve won cases in this situation, but situations can be difficult defend in court if you did not use reasonable and proportional force to defend yourself. My advice to you as a lawyer regarding trespassers is, if they’re nonviolent, don’t escalate the situation, just ask them to leave, and perhaps just phone the police. That’s probably the best route to take, and the police will attend and take care of the situation. Maybe the trespasser will get the message once you’re picking up the phone to ask the police to come; maybe they’ll just leave. But you have to be very careful with your response and how you conduct yourself and act reasonably in the circumstances, which is really a common-sense thing which boils down to proportionality and reasonableness of your conduct, doesn’t it?

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