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- Published: 16 December 2025
December 16, 2025
OTTAWA, ONTARIO - The Elder Justice Coalition welcomes the tabling of the Protecting Victims Act (Bill C-16) as a step forward in acknowledging the seriousness of coercive control by intimate partners through a proposed criminal offence. We commend the federal government for its resolve to rapidly address this grave societal problem.
The proposed law signals recognition by the government that non-physical forms of abuse, such as manipulation, isolation, intimidation, and threats, constitute harm worthy of criminal consequences. It makes clear that abuse does not need to be physical to cause serious harm, reflecting a broader understanding of family violence.
At the same time, we hope this important work can continue to evolve to reflect the realities of older adults who experience coercive control in relationships of dependence and trust beyond intimate partnerships. “By limiting the offence to intimate partners only, Bill C-16 does not fully reflect the complex nature of coercive control experienced by many older adults,” said Joanne Blinco, executive director of the Alberta Elder Abuse Awareness Council. “The proposed legislation is an important step forward, and with a broader definition, it could better protect older adults who experience coercive, controlling behaviours from family members or others in positions of trust.”
For these victims, coercive control can have serious and sometimes fatal consequences. This is especially the case for older women: according to 2024 statistics released by the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability, when a woman is killed by a family member, more than half the time (55%) the accused is her own son, a relation that would not be characterized as an intimate partner under Bill C-16, leaving a consequential yet addressable gap.
“This figure is a stark reminder that older women are at dual risk, from partners and children, when it comes to coercion and abuse, too often leading to tragic consequences,” said Bénédicte Schoepflin, executive director of the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse.
Family violence against older men is also rising sharply: recent Statistics Canada data show that since 2018, the rate of family violence against seniors has increased by 49%, with victimization rates rising for both women and men. Among older male victims, adult children were the most common perpetrators (39%). This pattern is echoed in calls to Seniors First BC’s Seniors Abuse and Information Line: in 2024/2025, 64% of abusers were adult children (32% sons and 32% daughters).
As cognition declines, people with dementia are especially vulnerable to abuse. Caregivers who struggle with stress and frustration may try to regain a sense of authority by taking over finances, limiting care, withholding medication, cutting off friends, and making threats, leaving the abuse harder to detect and the victim more vulnerable due to dependency. These realities point to the need to understand coercive control not only as a criminal justice issue, but as a human rights concern.
“Bringing a human rights lens to dementia and disability in older age is essential to ensure that coercive control is recognised and addressed as abuse,” said Dr. Saskia Sivananthan, CEO of the Brainwell Institute, an independent dementia-focused think tank. “International law obligations, including Article 16 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, are clear that people with disabilities must be protected from abuse and exploitation, including when it happens behind closed doors in their own homes.”
The Elder Justice Coalition urges MPs to follow the example of jurisdictions like England and Wales and Queensland, Australia, by creating a coercive control offence that applies beyond intimate partners. Expanding Bill C-16 to apply more broadly to “personally connected” persons (including relatives, as in England and Wales) or to explicitly include coercive control by adult children and others in positions of trust or dependence would better reflect the lived realities of many older victims and make it more likely that elder abusers are held accountable.
The Coalition looks forward to discussing our perspectives with MPs and senators during a Legislative Advocacy Day on Parliament Hill on February 4, 2026.
“While we would have preferred Bill C-16 to go further in the context of escalating violence against seniors, often with few consequences, we recognize it is a beginning,” said Marta Hajek, CEO of Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario (EAPO). “The government’s recognition of coercive control as a criminal offence provides a blueprint for enhancing protections for older adults in coercive relationships.”
ABOUT THE ELDER JUSTICE COALITION
The Elder Justice Coalition is an ad hoc group of organizations calling for a coercive control offence to protect elder abuse victims. A GoFundMe has been launched to support the Legislative Advocacy Day. The goal is $25,000 to help send elder justice representatives to Ottawa and to fund legal research, advocacy materials, and coordination of the event.
More information
For more information on a proposed coercive control offence and elder abuse, please visit Dementia Justice Canada’s webpage.
Contact
Heather Campbell Pope
Founder/Director
Dementia Justice Canada
Email:
Phone: 613-710-0366
Bénédicte Schoepflin
Executive Director
Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse
Email:
Phone: 604-715-1007
Marie-Noël Campbell
Executive Director
Seniors First BC
Email:
Bob Neufeld
Media and Communications
Brainwell Institute
Email:
COALITION MEMBERS
Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE) is the first and oldest legal clinic in Canada with a specific mandate to provide a range of legal services to low-income older adults. Its legal services include individual and group client advice and representation, public legal education, community development, and law reform activities.
Alberta Elder Abuse Awareness Council (AEAAC) is a province-wide network of professionals committed to addressing elder abuse and neglect. AEAAC supports prevention and intervention efforts by providing resources and education, and by strengthening Coordinated Community Response (CCR) teams across Alberta. Through these multidisciplinary teams and its Safe Spaces Initiative, AEAAC helps create safe, trusted environments where older adults feel valued and supported.
BC Association of Community Response Networks (BC CRN) is a provincial non-profit dedicated to fostering safe, inclusive communities where vulnerable adults are valued and protected. Through active coordination, advocacy, education, collaboration, and relationship building, it supports local community response networks to create awareness and prevention of adult abuse, neglect, and self-neglect.
Brainwell Institute is an independent think tank that elevates evidence to ignite change and revolutionize thinking about dementia and brain health.
Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health (CCSMH) focuses on supporting older adults’ mental health through knowledge translation (information, resources, professional development and clinical guidelines) and advocacy. Its mission is rooted in evidence-based approaches, compassionate advocacy, and the unwavering belief that every older adult deserves the best possible mental health care. The CCSMH is under the umbrella of the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatrists.
CanAge is Canada’s national seniors’ advocacy organization, working to improve the lives of older adults through advocacy, policy, and community engagement.
Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (CNPEA) builds awareness, support and capacity for a coordinated pan-Canadian approach to the prevention of elder abuse and neglect. It promotes the rights of older adults through knowledge mobilization, collaboration, policy reform and education.
Dementia Justice Canada is a small non-profit dedicated to advocating for the rights and dignity of people with dementia. A particular focus is criminal justice reform.
Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario (EAPO) is a charitable, non-profit organization, recognized for its leadership in elder abuse prevention, providing awareness raising educational forums, training multi-sectoral front-line service professionals, and creating tools/resources for all to better understand and appropriately respond when supporting older adults at-risk or experiencing increasingly complex issues of elder abuse.
HelpAge Canada is the only registered Canadian charity and international NGO focused solely on partnering with communities to improve the lives of older people in Canada and around the world.
International Longevity Centre Canada (ILC-Canada) is human rights-based organization focused on older persons, created in 2015 and situated in Ottawa, Ontario. Its mission is to propose ideas and guidance for policies addressing population aging based on international and domestic research and practice with a view to bettering the lives of Canadians. It does this through a human rights lens, through knowledge development and exchange, recommendations of evidence-based polices, social mobilization, and networking.
National Institute on Ageing (NIA) improves the lives of older adults and the systems that support them by convening stakeholders, conducting research, advancing policy solutions and practice innovations, sharing information, and shifting attitudes. Its vision is a Canada where older adults feel valued, included, supported, and better prepared to age with confidence.
Prevent Elder Abuse Manitoba (PEAM) is a provincial network dedicated to raising awareness, fostering collaboration, and promoting strategies to prevent the abuse and neglect of older adults across Manitoba.
Seniors First BC is a 31-year old charitable, non-profit society that promotes the dignity of older adults, free from abuse of any kind. It provides information, support, legal advocacy, and referrals to older adults across British Columbia with issues affecting their well-being, as well as those who care for them.
Yukon Council on Aging (YCOA) is an organization whose vision is that all Yukon seniors (55+) can flourish and thrive as they age, and age in place for as long as possible. Its services include a home and yard maintenance program; providing information and assistance in applying for Pioneer Utility Grants (home heating); wills and estate planning; presentations on dementia; and more.
