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- Published: 03 February 2026
OTTAWA, ONTARIO – On February 4, 2026, the Elder Justice Coalition will be on Parliament Hill meeting with MPs, senators, and staff in relation to Bill C-16, which proposes to create a standalone coercive control offence. The Coalition welcomes the bill’s focus on coercive control by intimate partners and views this reform as an important step forward.
These meetings are intended to contribute constructively to Parliament’s consideration of how protections can be strengthened for older victims of coercive control who are harmed by relatives, informal caregivers, and others in relationships of trust and dependence.
Tabled by Justice Minister Sean Fraser in December 2025, Bill C-16 signals recognition by the government that a pattern of non-physical forms of abuse, such as manipulation, isolation, intimidation, and threats, can constitute serious harm warranting criminal consequences. It makes clear that abuse does not need to be physical to cause profound harm, reflecting a broader and more contemporary 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 also experience coercive and controlling behaviour by relatives and informal carers. “As currently drafted, Bill C-16 overlooks how coercive control is experienced by older adults outside intimate partner relationships,” said Dr. Samir Sinha, a geriatrician and the director of health policy research at the National Institute on Ageing. “In caregiving relationships, control is frequently exerted through personal care, whether by withholding medication, restricting food, blocking visitors, or threatening abandonment, resulting in profound physical and psychological harm.”
Coercive control can trap older people, particularly older women, in relationships where they lack access to money, housing, care, or independence. Those with cognitive impairments such as dementia may be particularly unable to seek help. “When control is exercised through caregiving or family relationships, it can be devastating and invisible,” said Dr. Gloria Gutman, an internationally respected gerontologist, past president of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, and board director of the BC Community Response Networks. “Older adults may depend on the very person causing the harm for daily care, medical access, or basic survival.”
Recent data highlight some concerning realities:
- Since 2018, family violence against older persons in Canada has increased by 49 percent, according to Statistics Canada.
- When a woman is killed by a family member, more than half the time, the accused is her own son (55%), according to 2024 statistics released by the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability.
- A Seniors First BC report (2024-25) shows that in nearly two-thirds of calls made to the Seniors Abuse and Information Line, the alleged abuser was an adult child (32% sons and 32% daughters).
- Alberta Elder Abuse Awareness Council service data (2024–25) shows that when older adults seek elder abuse support, 55% involve immediate family members (parent, child, sibling), compared with 24% involving intimate partners.
“These numbers show us that abuse in later life often comes from those closest to us, making it especially difficult for older adults to escape or report,” said Joanne Blinco, executive director of the Alberta Elder Abuse Awareness Council. “Recognizing this in the criminal law is essential to protecting their safety, autonomy, and wellbeing.”
Bill C-16 may raise a constitutional concern, as the offence could potentially be vulnerable to a challenge under section 15 of the Charter, which guarantees equality rights. “The proposed law protects a victim if the abuser is a spouse, but it offers no protection if the abuser is a son or daughter,” said Heather Campbell Pope, a lawyer and the founding director of Dementia Justice Canada. “This equality gap must be closed to ensure all older adults can live safely and with dignity.”
The Elder Justice Coalition urges parliamentarians to follow the example of jurisdictions such as England & Wales and Queensland, Australia, by creating a coercive control offence that applies beyond intimate partners. Expanding Bill C-16 in this way would better reflect the realities of many older victims and help ensure elder abusers are held accountable.
The Coalition looks forward to meeting with MPs, senators, and staff to share our perspectives and advocate for stronger criminal law protections for older Canadians.
ABOUT THE ELDER JUSTICE COALITION
The Elder Justice Coalition is an ad hoc group of organizations from across Canada calling for a coercive control offence to protect elder abuse victims.
More information
For more information on the 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
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 a 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.
Sagesse works to disrupt the structures of domestic violence by addressing the underlying social norms, inequities, and patterns of coercive control that limit autonomy and shape people’s lived experiences. We understand abuse as a purposeful pattern of controlling and coercive behaviours that erode a person’s agency, relationships, and sense of self, and our values of courage, vulnerability, curiosity, and equity guide us in challenging those conditions.
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.
