Coercive control law will help survivors, but comes with risk of backlash, MPs told

OTTAWA – Groups representing women’s shelters are praising the government’s move to criminalize coercive control, but some women’s organizations are also warning there is a risk of backlash.

Bill C-16, which was introduced last year, would outlaw engaging in patterns of coercive or controlling conduct against an intimate partner. The House of Commons justice committee is studying the bill.

Crystal Giesbrecht, director of research at a group representing shelters in Saskatchewan, said criminalization would make it easier for survivors to report the conduct and get protection.

“I see this through my work with front-line professionals and also with victims and survivors of coercive control, that many of them do not report to police because there’s currently no chargeable offence occurring,” she told the committee Monday.

“Victims and survivors are told, well, there’s nothing we can do here … or come back when something criminal, i.e. a physical or a sexual assault, occurs.”

The Department of Justice defines coercive control as a pattern of abusive behaviour used to control or dominate a family member or an intimate partner. It can include intimidation, threats to harm the victim or themselves, isolating victims from other family and friends, emotional abuse — including constant criticism — and economic abuse and control that forces the victim to be financially reliant on their abuser.

A group of Quebec women’s shelters says criminalization would provide a new tool to address domestic violence and send a clear message that such behaviour is unacceptable. The shelters also stressed there must be adequate training for police officers and prosecutors.

Louise Riendeau, co-lead of political affairs at the Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale, said criminalization would allow the criminal justice system to respond to domestic violence more effectively. She added it would also help break the cycle of violence earlier, since coercive control is a predictor of homicide.

“Some women’s rights advocates fear that the criminalization of coercive control could backfire on the victims themselves. In particular, there is concern that more women will be charged than is currently the case, in cross-complaints,” Riendeau said in French, according to simultaneous translation.

Karine Barrette, a lawyer and project manager with the same group, told MPs the solution to that concern is to properly train and equip police officers and prosecutors.

Suzanne Zaccour, director of legal affairs at the National Association of Women and the Law, warned a provision involving care of children could lead abusers to accuse victims of being the controlling ones.

“Family courts, we’ve seen, have already started labelling survivors of domestic violence as engaging in coercive control because their attempts to keep themselves and their children safe are seen as controlling or alienating,” Zaccour said.

“So if this paragraph is not removed from the offence, abusers will exploit it to threaten survivors with criminalization, and that will make it more difficult to leave an abusive situation.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2026.