24-hour help
Call 911 if you or someone you know is in immediate danger.
Family violence help line
Trained staff can provide information about family violence and domestic violence programs and services, as well as advice and support.
About Clare’s Law
The Disclosure to Protect Against Domestic Violence (Clare’s Law) Act gives people who feel at risk of domestic violence a way to get information about their partners so they can make informed choices about their safety and relationships.
Alberta’s version of Clare’s Law is named after Clare Wood, a United Kingdom woman killed by an ex-partner who had a reported history of violence against women that she was unaware of.
People who may be at risk can find out if their current or former partner has a history of:
- domestic violence
- stalking or harassment
- breaches of no contact orders
- sexual violence
- other related acts (such as physical violence towards people outside of their intimate partner relationships)
There are 2 online applications available in order provide people with information about potentially harmful intimate partners:
- right to know, an online application for police only
- right to ask, an online application for all Albertans
Person at risk – an individual who may be at risk of domestic violence, and/or is eligible to receive disclosure under Clare's Law.
Person of disclosure – the person whose information is being disclosed to a person at risk.
Disclosure – a summary of available domestic violence and related information provided verbally to a person at risk by a police service.
For more information, see Disclosure to Protect Against Domestic Violence (Clare’s Law) Act protocol.
Right to know – for police use
Police can submit a right to know application online through the government of Alberta to proactively provide relevant information to an individual (person at risk) when:
- police have reason to believe an act of domestic violence is reasonably likely to occur (for example, if police know your new partner has an extensive history of domestic violence, they can apply to disclose this information to you)
Right to know process and disclosure
After the police submit their right to know application, if there is domestic violence related information identified by the Government of Alberta, this will be shared with police who will then provide disclosure to the person at risk.
- A person at risk will typically not be aware this application has been submitted by police.
- Police will contact the person at risk, explain Clare’s Law, and offer to provide disclosure.
- The person at risk has the right to either receive disclosure or decline.
- They will also be offered domestic violence supports and services by police.
Right to ask – for public use
Albertans who feel at risk of domestic violence can submit an online right to ask application to receive information about their current or former intimate partner’s history of domestic violence and related acts. Third parties with consent of the person at risk, parents of a minor, or substitute decision makers with proper legal authority can also apply on behalf of an individual they feel is at risk.
Eligible applicants can find out if the person of disclosure has a history of:
- domestic violence
- stalking or harassment
- breaches of no contact orders
- sexual violence
- other relevant acts
The person of disclosure will not know or be told about your application requesting their information.
Information you receive at disclosure is confidential and cannot be used in legal proceedings or shared with anyone else.
Eligibility
To be eligible to receive information through the right to ask process the person at risk must:
- reside in Alberta
- be in, or previously have been in, an intimate partner relationship with the person of disclosure (this is a relationship between 2 people of any gender that is physically and/or emotionally close and includes current of former dating, common-law and marriage relationships)
- be concerned the person of disclosure might cause you emotional or physical harm in the future (you must detail on the application why you are concerned)
- have met the person of disclosure in person
- be willing to talk to and meet with police to receive the disclosure information
After application, it will take around 4 to 6 weeks to receive disclosure information
Application and disclosure process
Make an application
It takes about 30 minutes to fill out the form.
Reminder: monitoring a person’s internet activity is a common controlling behaviour. You may want to clear your browsing history.