Coercive Control Is Now Actionable in Canada: What Ontario Women Should Start Documenting Today

By Kathryn Smithen, Smithen Family Law

Yes, coercive control now carries legal consequences in Canada, even where there has never been a bruise. In May 2026 the Supreme Court of Canada recognized a new civil claim for intimate partner violence that is built on coercive control, and in June 2026 Parliament passed a law that will make coercive control a crime.

If your partner tracks where you go, decides what you may spend and makes you pay for seeing your own family, both developments matter to you. So does what you write down this week.

What Is Coercive Control?

Coercive control is a pattern of behaviour that one partner uses to dominate the other. It removes her freedom to make ordinary choices about her money, her time, her friendships and her body. The Supreme Court described the harm as an injury to a person’s dignity, autonomy and equality inside the relationship.

From the outside it rarely looks dramatic. It can look like this:

• A partner who holds the bank cards and asks for receipts
• Your phone being checked, or a location app you never agreed to
• Rules about who you may see, and a price to pay when you break them
• Threats to take the children, harm a pet or hurt himself if you leave
• Pressure to have sex after you have said no
• Insults that are later described as jokes

Any one of these can be explained away. The law is now concerned with the pattern.

What Changed in 2026?

Two things changed, and they work differently.

Can I Sue a Former Partner for Coercive Control?

Yes. On May 15, 2026, in Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized a new tort of intimate partner violence. A tort is a civil wrong that allows the person harmed to sue for money damages. The case came from Ontario. The wife had been physically and emotionally abused during a 16 year marriage, and her claim for damages was decided in the same trial as her support and property claims. The Supreme Court left in place an award of $100,000.

To succeed, a person must prove three things:

1. The abusive conduct took place in an intimate relationship or after it ended.
2. The other person engaged in that conduct intentionally.
3. Viewed objectively and in context, the conduct amounts to coercive control.

The Court was careful about the limits. A painful, angry or high conflict breakup does not qualify. The claim exists for conduct that controls, isolates or entraps.

Is Coercive Control a Crime in Canada Yet?

Not yet. The Protecting Victims Act (Bill C-16) received Royal Assent on June 18, 2026. It creates a Criminal Code offence of engaging in a pattern of coercive or controlling conduct toward an intimate partner. Most of the Act took effect on July 18, 2026, but the coercive control offence did not. Justice Canada’s summary of the Protecting Victims Act states that the coercive control provisions come into force no later than two years after Royal Assent, which means by June 2028. The delay is meant to allow time for training.

Until that date, police cannot lay that specific charge. Assault, uttering threats and criminal harassment remain offences today, as they were before.

Does Coercive Control Affect Parenting Decisions in Ontario?

Yes, and it has since March 1, 2021. The Divorce Act defines family violence to include a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour, whether or not the conduct would be a crime. A judge deciding parenting time and decision making responsibility in Ontario must consider family violence when working out what is in a child’s best interests. Ontario’s Children’s Law Reform Act takes the same approach for parents who were never married.

This means one careful record can serve more than one purpose. It can support a safer parenting arrangement and a claim for damages, and it may later be relevant to a criminal investigation.

Why Does Documentation Matter So Much?

A judge can only rule on what is put in front of her. Family and civil claims are decided on a balance of probabilities, which means the judge must find it more likely than not that events happened as you describe them.

Coercive control usually happens in private, with no witnesses and no injuries. A general statement that your partner was controlling carries little weight in a courtroom. Dates, amounts, exact words and documents carry a great deal.

What Should I Start Documenting Today?

Safety comes first. Keep records only where your partner cannot find them. Assume that a shared phone, tablet, computer or cloud account can be read. A new email account opened on a device he has never used, or a trusted friend who holds copies for you, is safer than a notebook in the house. If keeping records would put you at risk, do not keep them. Your safety matters more than any piece of evidence.

With that in place, these are the records that help most:

• A dated log. Write down what happened, when, where, the words used and who was present. Write it the same day where you can. Keep it short and factual.
• Messages. Save texts, emails, voicemails and social media messages in full, with the date and sender visible. Do not edit or crop them.
• Financial records. Keep statements that show who controls the accounts, cards that were cancelled, wages that were redirected and debts taken out in your name.
• Signs of monitoring. Take screenshots of tracking apps, shared location settings and notices of logins to your accounts.
• Health records. Tell your family doctor or counsellor what is happening. Notes they make at the time can later confirm your account.
• Witnesses. Note the names of people who saw an incident, or who noticed that you were being kept away from them.
• Police contact. Record occurrence numbers, officer names and the date of any call, even where no charge was laid.
• Effects on the children. Record what they saw or heard and how they reacted, in plain terms.

Two cautions apply. Do not go into your partner’s phone, email or accounts to collect proof. That can create legal problems for you, and a court may refuse to consider what you find. Speak with a lawyer before you secretly record a conversation, because family courts are wary of recordings and they can count against the person who made them.

Kathryn’s Note

Women often tell me in a first meeting that they are not sure what happened to them counts. There was no hospital visit and no police report. There were years of small rules, and a life that kept getting narrower. For a long time the law had no good name for that. It has one now. The name will not do the work for you, though. What persuades a judge is the record, and the record is something you can begin quietly, before you have decided anything else.

What Should I Do Next?

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. The Assaulted Women’s Helpline is available at all hours across Ontario at 1.866.863.0511 and can help you plan for your safety.

When it is safe to do so, speak with an Ontario family lawyer before you announce a separation, sign an agreement or leave the home. Time limits can apply to civil claims, and the order in which steps are taken matters. Bring what you have documented. A lawyer can tell you what it supports and what is still missing.

This article provides general information about the law in Ontario and is not legal advice. Every situation depends on its own facts.

About the Author. Kathryn Smithen is a family lawyer and the principal of Smithen Family Law in Toronto. Practising since 2011, she represents women across the Greater Toronto Area in separation, divorce, parenting and support matters, including cases involving intimate partner violence.