In Canada, spousal or domestic violence is also known as intimate partner violence (IPV). It is a form of gender-based violence (GBV) and refers to refers to multiple forms of harm caused by a current or former intimate partner or spouse.

 IPV can include:

• coercive control
• criminal harassment
• stalking
• emotional/psychological abuse
• economic abuse
• physical abuse
• reproductive coercion
• sexual violence
• spiritual abuse
• technology-facilitated violence (also referred to as cyberviolence

You can now sue for “Intimate Partner Violence”

On May 15th, 2026, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled 6-3 in favour of recognizing a new legal means for a victim of intimate partner violence (IPV) to seek financial damages. The new tort of Intimate Partner Violence will allow people to sue for damages when they have been subject to abuse in a relationship.

A tort is a legal term for a civil claim that allows a person to ask for damages because someone else caused them harm.

What can you sue for?

The new Supreme Court ruling now allows victims of intimate partner violence to pursue damages against their past or current romantic partners for a range of conduct beyond physical violence, instead of only having broader grounds such as assault as an option.

This conduct includes:

• isolation,
• humiliation,
• surveillance,
• financial control,
• sexual coercion, and
• intimidation

Case of Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia

The landmark decision to create the new tort is a result of the case of Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia, in which a husband abused his wife during their 16-year marriage through “physical assaults, humiliation, intimidation and conduct intending to inflict emotional distress.”

Justice Nicholas Kasirer wrote in his summary that “the husband’s conduct had coerced and controlled the wife in order to break her will and condition her to obey him from the beginning of their marriage.”

What is an intimate partnership?

Justice Kasirer defined intimate partnership as “a relationship of close personal connection, sustained over a period of time, and marked by mutual interdependence, care or commitment, and the presence of domestic, emotional, financial or physical intimacy.” An intimate partnership is not necessarily defined by sexual relations, cohabitation, marriage, but rather by “the substantive qualities of the relationship and the fact that it reflects social, financial, and affective interdependence in a manner that is relevant to both partners’ agency, sense of self and personal dignity, as well as material and physical well-being”.

Moreover, intimate partner violence is centred on coercive control, and coercive control limits a person’s dignity, autonomy, and equality.

How is intimate partnership violence proven in court?

The justice determined that a defendant is liable for intimate partner violence when the case meets three criteria:

1. The defendant’s wrongful conduct must have occurred during or after an intimate partnership,
2. The defendant must have intentionally engaged in the abusive conduct, and
3. The conduct must constitute coercive control.

A limitation period for the new tort has not been set.

Information on what you can do if you are a victim of abuse can found from What to do if you are a victim of domestic assault. More information on intimate partner violence can be found at Canada.ca.

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.

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

								
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