Many people have asked me this question over the years, which is an interesting question, do you have to open the door for the police in Canada? Wow, that’s an interesting question. A lot of people assume you do, the police come knocking, well, you have to open the door and talk to them, and that’s completely wrong.
Here’s the bottom line, if the police attend your house, unless they have a warrant for your arrest, a search warrant for your home, unless a suspect ran into your home and they are in hot pursuit of that suspect, or you are the suspect and they are in hot pursuit of you, or unless there’s an emergency situation going on in the home, if someone’s in imminent distress that 911 was called, you have the absolute right to say no, and that’s totally up to you. I mean, if the police are showing up, let’s say you’re a witness to a crime and they want to interview you, if you want to speak them about that, that’s your right. You also have the right to remain silent, not say anything and politely tell them to leave your property.
You could speak, for example, to the police, the police come knocking, “it’s the police”, well, you could talk to them through the door. You could ask them, oh, what are you here for? Do you have a search warrant, are you here to arrest me? No, then please politely leave. You’re not pursuing a hot pursuit. I’m not a suspect.
There’s not an emergency going on, please leave. So, in this situation, if you don’t want them on your property, just talk to them through the door. You don’t even have to answer the door. You don’t have to let them in under any circumstances. It’s a very common situation. I mean, people are under the myth or misconception and it’s from TV shows, because people always talk to the police on TV shows. Well, if you don’t want to, don’t talk to the police.
Now, in this situation, if you’re placed under arrest, let’s say they are there to arrest you. Make sure to exercise your right to remain silent. They’re going to give you a right to call a lawyer. Get that advice. The lawyer’s going to tell you to shut up frankly. You don’t want to be talking to police in this situation. But of course, you know there’s many citizens who want to help the police. You could be a witness to a crime and you may want to tell the police what you saw. That is completely up to you.
If they are coming to house for a valid reason, that’s totally up to you. I’m simply here to answer the question, do you have to open the door for the police in Canada? Subject to the exceptions I said, the absolute answer is no, and if you don’t want to open the door, just tell them to politely leave.
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