The Protecting Victims Act, or Bill C-16, Protecting Victims Act: Legislation to protect victims and keep kids safe from predators received Royal Assent on June 18, 2026.

According to Canada’s Department of Defence, the intent of the new Act is to offer better protection to victims and survivors of sexual violence, gender-based violence and intimate partner violence. It also contains new laws to protect children from predators.

Sexual violence, gender-based violence and intimate partner violence

The Act contains reforms to Canada’s Criminal Code. These reforms:

• make coercive control in intimate relationships a criminal offence
• make sharing sexual deepfakes without consent a criminal offence (it is already a crime to distribute intimate images without the consent of the person depicted)
• make it illegal to threaten to distribute intimate images, including sexual deepfakes, without the consent of the person depicted and Increase the maximum penalty to 10 years’ imprisonment, on indictment
• categorize femicides (murders in which women and girls are specifically targeted because of their gender) and murders involving coercive control hate, sexual violence or exploitation as first-degree murder
• amend the current Criminal Harassment offence to:
  • replace the requirement that the victim feared for their safety with a requirement that a reasonable person in the victim’s circumstances would fear for their safety.
  • ensure the offence captures harassing conduct committed through modern technology (e.g., electronic monitoring).
• increase the maximum penalty on summary conviction for sexual assault from 18 months to 2 years less a day
• add an aggravating factor to the extortion offence where that offence is used in sextortion cases

Changes to crimes involving children

The Act also contains reforms that aim to keep children safe from predators. The new reforms:

• create a new offence that prohibits threatening to distribute child sexual abuse and exploitation material (offences that prohibit the distribution of child sexual abuse and exploitation material already exist)
• guarantee that Canadians and permanent residents who are alleged to have committed sexual assault against children abroad can be prosecuted in Canada
• changes to mandatory minimum penalty (MMP) of imprisonment
• changes to the Mandatory Reporting Act
• creation of a new offence that prohibits involving youth in the commission of a crime.

Additional reforms on victim’s rights

Additional reforms are related to victim’s rights and court delays. These reforms:

• create a right to be treated with respect under the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights
• create a right for victims to have their interests considered in the timely resolution of matters under the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights
• make several clarifications to victims’ rights to information and right to protection
• require courts to consider remedies other than a stay of proceedings to reduce the number of cases being thrown out due to court delays.

Coming into force

Most of the reforms will come into force on July 18, 2026, except for the provisions on coercive control which are expected to come into force no later than June 2028. This is so police, prosecutors and judges have time to be properly trained.

More information

For more information, including a full list of changes are also being proposed or will come into force through this law consult the text of Bill C-16.

Additional information can also be found on the Department of Justice Canada’s website, Protecting Victims Act: Legislation to protect victims and keep kids safe from predators, Backgrounder.

Get legal help

If you or someone you know has been a victim of intimate partner violence, if you can, seek help immediately and contact a lawyer for advice and assistance.

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Refer to Lawsuits/Civil Litigation for more information on how to sue someone for intimate partner violence.

								
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