Legal Options

• Victims have more than one option when it comes to pursuing justice and reparations for their experiences. The two main options are Criminal and Civil action, which have unique pros and cons respectively.

Criminal Court

• For sexual assault and offence cases, judicial proceedings follow the same process as any other type of crime. The one difference is that there are specific rules regarding evidence management which apply to any sexual offence case given the sensitivity of the types of evidence collected.
• As soon as the sexual assault incident is filed with police, a series of steps, much like any other criminal case, begin. First an investigation starts, and the evidence collected from this is used to inform court proceedings. These court proceedings often end with a sentence from 1 or more of the three tiers of sexual offences under the ‣ . All provinces follow this process with the exception of Quebec. In Quebec, the police are not the ones to make the decision on whether to prosecute the case. Instead, the Crown prosecutor decides whether the case is brought to court following a review of the evidence gathered by police.
• Burden of Proof

Civil Court

• Civil court provides an important and alternative mechanism to the criminal justice system to receive compensation and recognition for victims’ experiences and trauma. Plaintiffs can initiate a lawsuit against a defendant for alleged wrongful conduct. In the past 20 years, civil action has become a popular and more frequent avenue for sexual assault cases as it allows victims to have more control over their case. This has resulted in the development of a body of case law to guide lower courts on how to assess non-pecuniary damages (eg. intangible losses, pain, suffering). Compared to Criminal Court, instead of proving guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt”, the plaintiff must prove its case on a “balance of probabilities”, which assesses who is a jury more likely to believe, an easier test than the burden of proof.
• Increased Victim Control

Financial Options

Victims Fund

As outlined in the The Department of Justice pages’ Federal Victims Strategy section, the Victims Fund contributes to amplifying the voices of victims. This section will focus on more recent and practical uses of the fund.

Starting 2021-22, Budget 2021 provides $85.3 million to Justice Canada over a span of five years. This funding is allocated to fulfill two purposes.

Firstly, it will fund national programs for independent legal advice and representation for sexual assault victims.

• The following table presents a comprehensive summary of the costs of victimization of adults who were sexually assaulted or otherwise sexually victimized by persons other than a spouse in 2009

• the “Victim Costs” category is significantly larger than other categories and includes costs such as: medical costs, lost productivity costs, intangible costs, and counselling costs. The Victims Fund will help cover a large portion of the legal costs associated.

Funding will also support pilot projects for intimate partner violence victims. Various other projects can apply for funding as well. Some examples include: