Stronger Victim Rights and Online Abuse Rules

Summary#

• The Protecting Victims Act makes many changes to Canada’s criminal and correctional laws to better protect victims, especially in cases of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, child exploitation, and stalking.

• It creates new crimes, raises some penalties, strengthens victim rights, adds safeguards for private records in sexual offence cases, and sets clearer rules to reduce court delays.

• Key changes:

  • New crime for coercive or controlling behavior toward an intimate partner (pattern of threats, monitoring, financial control, forced isolation, etc.).
  • Murders linked to intimate partner coercive control, sexual violence, human trafficking, hate, or committed during criminal harassment are treated as first-degree murder; manslaughter in similar contexts can draw life sentences with limited parole.
  • Criminal harassment (stalking) standard updated so prosecutors no longer need to prove the victim actually felt fear; it’s enough that a reasonable person would.
  • Stronger protections in sexual offence trials: tighter limits on using a complainant’s past sexual activity or private therapy records; clearer, faster procedures; publication bans.
  • Wider child-protection measures (e.g., inviting a child to expose sexual organs becomes an offence; tougher rules on child sexual material and “deepfake” intimate images).
  • New adult alternative measures and restorative justice framework; police and prosecutors must consider warnings or referrals in appropriate cases.
  • Courts can go below a mandatory minimum jail term if it would be cruel and unusual for that specific offender (life sentences excluded).
  • New rules to manage “unreasonable delay” applications and to consider victims’ interests in adjournments.
  • Victims get stronger rights to information, respect, protective measures, and to present statements; similar changes apply in the military justice system.

What it means for you#

• Victims and survivors

  • Easier access to testimonial supports (a support person or animal; testify behind a screen or by video).
  • More rights to information about cases, offender movements, parole decisions, and your own rights and protections.
  • New court orders can ban an offender from contacting you, possibly for life.
  • Restitution can cover moving costs if you had to leave the offender’s home.
  • Your privacy is better protected in sexual offence cases; therapy records are harder to obtain.

• People in intimate relationships

  • A pattern of coercive or controlling conduct toward a partner can be a crime, even without physical violence. “Safety” includes psychological safety.
  • Criminal harassment laws now clearly cover tracking, monitoring, and threats to pets.

• Parents and children

  • Stronger bans on sexual exploitation, including inviting a child to expose sexual organs.
  • Broader definition of illegal child sexual material and tougher penalties, including for threats to share such material.

• Internet service providers and online platforms

  • Must report suspected use of services for child sexual abuse/exploitation material and preserve related data for one year.
  • For clearly illegal material, you must include transmission data to help police.
  • Broader coverage includes hosting and services that enable interpersonal messaging (like email).

• People charged with offences

  • In sexual offence trials, stricter rules limit use of a complainant’s past sexual activity and private records, with clearer procedures and timelines.
  • Courts may give a sentence below a mandatory minimum if applying the minimum would be cruel and unusual for you (not available where the minimum is life).
  • New unreasonable delay rules clarify what time is excluded and when a stay is allowed.

• Youth and families

  • Police and prosecutors must consider warnings, cautions, and referrals before court, where appropriate.
  • The youth system must better reflect victims’ rights and pay particular attention to the needs of Indigenous and Black youth.
  • Courts can require a youth to enter a recognizance (peace bond) if there’s a reasonable fear of a child sexual offence.

• Gun owners

  • You are ineligible for a firearms licence if a chief firearms officer has reasonable grounds to suspect domestic violence or stalking.
  • If your licence or registration is revoked, you must deliver firearms to authorities within 24 hours (with temporary legal protection while doing so).

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

• Helps prevent intimate partner violence by criminalizing coercive control and strengthening stalking laws, including harms to psychological safety.
• Better protects children by closing gaps on sexual exploitation, deepfake intimate images, and online abuse reporting.
• Puts victims at the centre: more information, more safety tools, and less retraumatization through tighter rules on private records and sexual history.
• Clarifies procedures to reduce delay, while ensuring stays of proceedings are used only as a last resort.
• Restorative justice and alternative measures allow quicker, more tailored responses for lower-risk cases, freeing courts to focus on serious crime.
• Allows judges to avoid unjust outcomes from mandatory minimums in rare, extreme cases, while keeping life sentences intact.

Opponents' View#

• The coercive control offence and revised harassment standard may be vague, risking overreach or inconsistent enforcement in intimate relationships.
• Added procedures around sexual history and private records could lengthen trials and create new delay, despite the bill’s delay framework.
• Expanded reporting and data preservation duties may burden internet providers and raise privacy concerns.
• Making more murders first-degree and allowing life sentences for certain manslaughter cases may be overly harsh and increase prison costs.
• Letting judges go below mandatory minimums could weaken Parliament’s sentencing policy or create uneven sentences across cases.
• Firearms licence denials based on “reasonable suspicion” (not convictions) may be seen as unfair without robust appeal safeguards.