Text Message and Online Harassment Laws in Canada

The short answer

Texts, calls, emails and social media messages can all lead to criminal charges in Canada. Repeated messages can be criminal harassment if they could reasonably make the person believe their safety is threatened (s. 264). Repeated messages sent with the intent to harass can be a separate offence, even without any safety concern (s. 372(3)). A single threatening message can also be a crime on its own.

When messages become criminal harassment

Repeated communication is one of the types of conduct covered by s. 264. It includes texts, calls and emails, social media messages and comments, messages sent through friends or family, and messages from new or fake accounts.

The Crown must also prove that you intended to harass, or knew or were reckless about it, and that the messages could reasonably make the person believe their safety was threatened. Safety includes psychological safety.

For example, a few angry texts after a breakup may not meet the test. Dozens of messages after being blocked, sent from new accounts and mentioning where the person is, are much more likely to meet it.

Monitoring and tracking

Since July 18, 2026, criminal harassment has also covered monitoring a person's location, movements, actions or social interactions (s. 264(2)(a.1)). That can include tracking someone's phone, using a hidden location tag or closely watching their online activity. See criminal harassment law changes in 2026.

Harassing communications: a separate offence

Repeatedly communicating with someone by phone, text or online, without a lawful excuse and with the intent to harass, is an offence under s. 372(3). It does not require any fear for safety, and it carries up to 2 years by indictment. See harassing communications vs criminal harassment.

Other online offences to know

• Uttering threats (s. 264.1): A single message threatening death, bodily harm or damage to property can be a crime. See our uttering threats page.
• False information (s. 372(1)): Sending information you know is false, to injure or alarm someone, is an offence.
• Indecent communications (s. 372(2)): Sending an indecent message to alarm or annoy someone is an offence.
• Intimate images: Sharing intimate images without consent is a separate offence, and so is threatening to share them.

How these cases are proven

• Screenshots and phone records: These are often the main evidence in online harassment cases.
• Account records: Police can obtain court orders for records showing who controls an account.
• Timing and volume: The court looks at how many messages were sent, how often and after what warnings.
• Context: The full conversation matters, including the other person's messages.

Keep your full message history. A screenshot of one message can look very different from the whole exchange.

Proving who sent the messages

In online cases, the Crown must prove that you were the person behind the account or phone number. Accounts can be shared, hacked or opened in someone else's name, and fake accounts can be created by anyone, including people who want to cause trouble for the person named on the account. Police usually need records from the platform or the phone company, obtained through court orders, to connect an account to a person. Gaps in those records can create reasonable doubt.

What happens after you are charged

1. Release: You will usually be released with conditions banning contact with the complainant, including through social media.
2. Disclosure: The Crown provides screenshots, account records and statements.
3. Review: Your lawyer compares the screenshots with the full message history and checks how the account was linked to you.
4. Resolution or trial: The case may resolve through a withdrawal, a peace bond or a plea to a lesser charge, or go to trial.

Social media and release conditions

No-contact conditions usually cover all forms of online contact. Liking, commenting on, tagging or viewing the complainant's posts, or messaging their friends about them, can be treated as a breach. When in doubt, avoid anything that could reach the complainant, and ask your lawyer.

What to do now

• Do not delete messages, accounts or apps, because that can look like hiding evidence.
• Do not post about the complainant or the case online.
• Save your complete message history in a safe place, because the full record often tells a different story than a few screenshots.

The evidence in a typical case

The Crown's evidence in an online harassment case often includes screenshots from the complainant, records from phone companies and social media platforms, police notes about any warning, and the complainant's statement. Police may also seize and search your phone with a warrant. Each type of evidence has weaknesses. Screenshots can be cropped, platform records may not show who was actually typing, and a phone search must stay within the limits of the warrant.

Possible outcomes

Effects beyond the sentence

A conviction for criminal harassment brings a mandatory weapons prohibition, can affect immigration status because of the 10-year maximum, and can make it harder to pass a background check or enter the United States.

When contact is necessary

Some people charged with online harassment still need to communicate with the complainant about children, property or a shared business. In those situations, release conditions often allow contact only through a lawyer or a third party, or only for specific purposes. Read your conditions carefully, and if they do not allow any contact at all, ask your lawyer about a variation before you send any message, even a practical one.

How we can help

We can review the full message history, test whether the Crown can prove who sent the messages, and look at the context that the screenshots leave out. Call (647) 223-1980 for a free consultation.

Frequently asked questions