Separation is supposed to end the conflict. For some people it changes the form instead: relentless messaging dressed up as co-parenting communication, appearances at work or the school, campaigns aimed at a new partner, or pressure exerted through the children. This is the single most common harassment pattern we see, and it sits at the intersection of two areas we practise daily: civil harassment claims and family law.
What post-separation harassment looks like
Courts assess the pattern, not each message in isolation. Conduct we regularly act on includes high-volume messaging that continues after boundaries are set; misuse of parenting communication channels for abuse, monitoring, or control; showing up uninvited at your home, workplace, or the children’s school and activities; harassment of your new spouse or partner; and enlisting others, including the children, to carry messages or gather
information. Where the conduct forms part of a broader pattern of coercion and control, it may also ground a claim under the intimate partner violence tort recognized in Ahluwalia v Ahluwalia, 2026 SCC 16. See our Intimate Partner Violence Litigation pillar.
Why the civil claim matters alongside the family file
Family court can adjust parenting arrangements and communication terms, but it does not compensate you for the harm harassment causes. A civil harassment claim can: damages for the distress, the disrupted work, the counselling, and the fear, plus an injunction with teeth. Running the two proceedings in coordination matters. Evidence gathered in one informs the other, positions taken in one bind you in the other, and timing decisions in one can strengthen or undercut the other. We handle both, together, under one strategy.
Protection now, compensation after
Where there is a safety risk, protective orders come first; a damages claim never takes priority over your immediate safety. We advise on the full sequence, from urgent protective relief through to the civil claim. See our Restraining Orders and Injunctions page.
Frequently asked questions
Necessary coparenting communication is not harassment. Using that channel for volume, abuse, surveillance, or control is. Courts routinely distinguish the two, and structured
communication tools make the record clear.
Your spouse has their own claim; the tort protects the person targeted. We regularly act where the harassment is aimed at a new partner as a way of reaching the former one, and the claims can proceed together.
A properly grounded claim, brought on a documented record, generally does not. A weak or tactical claim can. This is exactly why the two files need one strategy, and we will give you an honest assessment before anything is filed.
Talk to Us
Keystone Legal serves clients across Alberta in English and French, with appearances at the Calgary Courts Centre.
