Top 5 Myths About Defencing Your Property In Canada

A stranger comes onto your property. Can you chase them away using force? Can you use a weapon to chase them off your property? Can you hit them? What are your rights in this situation?

Well, there’s a lot of myths about this and what you can do and not do as a homeowner or order of property and under Section 35 of the Criminal Code, and if you apply the wrong myth, you can wind up getting charged. And we’re going to talk about the five top myths.

So what are the top five myths about defending your property in Canada? Number one and first and foremost is using, “oh, I can use unlimited force.” A person comes home to my property and they break into my home. It’s a home invasion. I can do whatever I want, wrong, certainly under our laws under Section 35 defending your property, your force has to be reasonable. Under self-defense, it has to be reasonable and somewhat proportionate, and if it’s excessive. Wow, you’re going to get charged with criminal offense.

So, some kid comes onto your property, maybe even breaks your door. It’s a 12-year-old kid. You start punching him in the face repeatedly, or, you know, beat them excessively. That’s obviously an extreme example. Home invasions are another situation which are fraught with difficulty and fear, of course, but unfortunately, our law under Section 34 and 35 still requires you to act reasonably in the circumstances.

So if the person comes in, breaks in, they say, “oh, sorry, I’m scared”, and you start beating them, well, it’s excessive force. They have a ball bat, or a knife or a weapon. Of course, it could be, you know, you’re entitled to defend yourself, but our law tries to be reasonable, under 34 and 35 but the bottom line, you cannot use unlimited force. It has to be reasonable, and it cannot excessive.

Every situation needs to be analyzed. I can’t give you more than you know, extreme examples.

Myth number two, ‘oh, I can always use a weapon to defend my property or myself.” For example, a person breaks into my home, they’ve got no weapon. Okay, what should you do in this situation? Do you just grab your knife and start stabbing them? Well, that’s probably excessive force. If they’re not threatening you, they’re making a motion to leave. They’re scared, as an example, that point, this is a real myth. You cannot just start seeking vengeance on the person. You have to act reasonably and proportionally in the circumstances. And I admit it’s a difficult situation. If someone breaks in your home, that’s a pretty difficult situation to act reasonably. Your adrenaline’s running. I get it.

And people get charged with this all the time. Someone’s walking onto your property. You can tell them to leave. You would escort them off your property, but you know you can’t use a weapon to do that. Pull out a gun for example, I’m just giving you some extreme examples. There’s all sorts of gray areas. You’ve got your extreme examples, obvious examples, and then gray, nuanced areas.

Okay, myth number three, “oh, I can call the police later”. You’re a store owner. You see someone shoplifting. You can do a citizens arrest under 494, the Criminal Code, citizens arrest can detain them, but you got to call the police right away. You can’t simply detain them for hours, maybe even give them a few shots. You should call the police right away. That’s a big problem. You know, people do have rights. Even a shoplifter or a trespasser has rights.

The fourth myth. “I don’t need to call the police at all.” Okay, well, that’s a big one. You absolutely need to call the police in this situation. You need to protect yourself. You know, the person’s stolen somebody. Let’s say you decided to detain them briefly. You’ve used reasonable force. Well, you can’t hold them in your house for hours. What are you going to do with them? You can’t give them a shot, you’ve got to call the police and deal with the situation.

And finally, a lot of people, have a myth that trespassers have no rights. Well, they do. They have Charter rights. You know, it depends what their actions are like. If a person just walking on your property, you can tell them to get off, but they have a right not to be assaulted by you. Breaking into your home is another situation. I mean, you can defend yourself, but they have a right, I suppose, not to you to beat them to death as a as an extreme example. And again, I get it. There are gray areas all in between, and there’s arguments about all these situations. So, you know, in applying these myths, you have to be careful. Do defend your property carefully, you know, get trespassers off your property. But the bottom line is, act reasonably and not excessively in the circumstances. Then you will, avoid being charged yourself. Make sure you call the police if you do arrest someone for stealing your property, try and act reasonably. Don’t, chase them to their home later and make vengeance.

The thing is, when you’re a homeowner and you’re protecting property, you use force in the moment when it’s happening. You can’t then a half hour later, go to their home and start beating them, just as an example. So, these are five myths. It does get people in a lot of trouble. You got to use your head, you got to act safe, and you got to know your rights as a homeowner.