Toronto, Ontario: May 15, 2026 –
Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic applauds the long-awaited decision from the Supreme Court of Canada today, introducing an important development in law that now recognizes a tort of intimate partner violence in Canada. With this decision, survivors of violence from an intimate partner will now be able to sue their abusers for financial compensation arising from ongoing abuse and coercive control that violates their right to “dignity, autonomy and equality”.
The Court recognized that intimate partnerships create a special relationship of trust that enables the abuser to exert control, calling this “domination and control of an intimate partner” a “distinct harm.” Importantly, the Court also identified the broad scope of abuse that existing torts cannot adequately recognize or compensate. Coercive control can result from discrete incidents of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, and can also include more subtle forms of subjugation, such as financial control, harassment, denigration and social isolation which undermine their partner’s security and long-term independence.
The Clinic intervened in this case at both the Supreme Court of Canada and the Ontario Court of Appeal to argue for this timely and necessary recognition of the contextual nature of abuse in intimate relationships.
The Court acknowledged the arguments raised by the Clinic, along with other interveners, that the intersectional experience of each survivor must be understood. In the experience of the Clinic’s clients, intersectional factors such as migration status, language barriers, experiences of racism, economic challenges, disability, and mental wellness can leave individuals vulnerable to coercive control and other forms of abuse captured by this new tort of intimate partner violence.
“This decision marks an historic shift in how the justice system will identify and respond to intimate partner violence,” says Deepa Mattoo who was the Clinic’s Executive Director when the case was heard. “The decision contributes to the growing public understanding and condemnation of intimate partner violence and will hopefully be a deterrent against future violence.” Until now, only specific incidents of abuse could fit into the limited elements of previously recognized torts such as assault and battery.
The new tort of intimate partner violence enables courts to better address the lived realities of survivors of intimate partner violence and to order compensation to make abusers accountable.
Survivors of intimate partner violence will face fewer barriers to accessing justice, as they will no longer have to piece together claims based on torts that did not properly recognize the scope of the harms they lived through. In 2021, women and girls represented 69% of family violence victims1 and rates of family violence appear to be on the rise.2
The full Court agreed that intimate partner violence is a widespread evil that deserves public condemnation and appropriate legal response. The Clinic also commends Justice Karakatsanis in her concurring opinion that identifies the extended harms of family violence that may not include coercive control.
The Clinic views this as an open door, to further advance the law to protect survivors of intimate partner violence. The Clinic celebrates the efforts of feminist spaces who support survivors of violence every day and the many organizations who took their knowledge to the Court leading to this landmark judgement.
The Clinic is also deeply grateful for the courageous survivors, including Kuldeep Ahluwalia in this case, who tell their stories that lead to change. Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic is a specialized clinic for women and gender-diverse people experiencing violence, established in the memory of Barbra Teena Schlifer.
The Clinic is a multidisciplinary, front-line service provider that assists more than 4,000 women a year to build lives free from violence through trauma-informed counselling, legal services, and language interpretation. www.schliferclinic.com Anna Matas and Archana Medhekar represented the Clinic.
