A Guide for Survivors in Ontario
Before Anything Else
You get to decide what happens next — whether that means talking to a lawyer, going to police, both, or neither, and on whatever timeline feels right to you. This guide explains how compensation works in Ontario if and when you decide to explore a civil claim. It is written to be read at your own pace, and you do not need to read all of it at once.
There Is No Time Limit on Your Right to Sue
One of the most common reasons survivors believe they can no longer make a claim is the mistaken assumption that too much time has passed. In Ontario, that is not the case.
Since 2016, section 16(1)(h) of Ontario’s Limitations Act, 2002 has removed the two-year limitation period entirely for any civil proceeding based on a sexual assault. This applies no matter how long ago the abuse occurred, and it applies retroactively — including to claims where an old limitation period would previously have expired.
Related provisions extend the same removal of limitation periods to any other misconduct of a sexual nature, where you were a minor at the time, the person responsible had charge of you, held a position of trust or authority over you, or you were financially, emotionally, physically, or otherwise dependent on them. A similar extension applies to assault itself where you were a minor at the time, you were in an intimate relationship with the person responsible, or you were dependent on them in one of those same ways.
Who Can Be Held Responsible
A civil claim can be brought against the person who committed the abuse directly. In many cases, though, the more meaningful source of compensation is an institution connected to that person, such as:
- schools and school boards
- churches or religious organizations
- youth or sports organizations
- employers
- hospitals and care facilities
- camps
- other organizations that exercised responsibility over the survivor or the perpetrator
Direct liability
An institution can be found independently negligent where it knew, or ought to have known, about a risk and failed to act — for example, by failing to screen an employee properly, ignoring earlier complaints, failing to supervise, or maintaining inadequate policies.
Vicarious liability
Separately, an institution can be held vicariously liable for abuse committed by someone in its employ, even without any negligence on the institution’s own part. The leading Canadian authority is the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Bazley v. Curry, which asks whether the institution’s enterprise — the authority, intimacy, or power it gave the perpetrator over the survivor — materially increased the risk of abuse occurring. The Supreme Court refined this framework further in K.L.B. v. British Columbia, and Ontario courts, including in school board cases, continue to apply it today.
The Court applied this test to find a religious institution vicariously liable in John Doe v. Bennett, where a diocese was held responsible for a priest’s abuse because of the degree of power and psychological intimacy his position gave him over parishioners. By contrast, in E.B. v. Order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in the Province of British Columbia, the Court found a residential school not vicariously liable for abuse by a support-staff employee, because that employee’s actual role did not carry the kind of authority or intimacy the test requires. Read together, the two cases show that vicarious liability is not automatic simply because abuse occurred within an institutional setting — it depends closely on the specific power and access the institution gave the individual.
In practice, this means an institution does not need to have done anything wrong itself to be held financially responsible — the question is whether it created the conditions and access that made the abuse possible.
How a Sexual Abuse Claim Can Be Proven
Many survivors worry they have “no proof,” particularly when the abuse happened years or decades ago. A civil claim does not automatically fail because there were no eyewitnesses, no police report, or no criminal charges.
Every case is different. Evidence a court may consider includes:
- your own testimony
- medical, counselling, or therapy records
- police or criminal court records, if any exist
- school, employment, or institutional records
- people you disclosed to at the time or afterward
- admissions made by the person responsible
- evidence that similar conduct occurred with other survivors
Courts weigh all of the evidence together. The legal standard in a civil claim is whether it is more likely than not that the events occurred — a lower threshold than the criminal standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
What Compensation May Include
Every claim is different, and no two survivors’ losses look the same. Compensation in a successful claim can include several distinct categories, awarded together:
- General (non-pecuniary) damages — compensation for pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life.
- Aggravated damages — an additional award recognizing the particular breach of trust, humiliation, or psychological harm involved, distinct from general damages.
- Punitive damages — awarded in some cases against a defendant whose conduct is found to be truly reprehensible, intended to punish and deter rather than compensate.
- Pecuniary damages — out-of-pocket losses such as the cost of therapy and counselling, lost income or diminished earning capacity, and future care costs.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Blackwater v. Plint is a useful illustration of how courts approach these categories together in institutional abuse cases, including an award of aggravated damages layered on top of general damages to reflect the specific nature of the harm. That said, punitive damages are the exception rather than the rule — they depend heavily on the specific conduct of the specific defendant, and are assessed separately for each party found responsible.
Criminal Proceedings vs. Civil Claims
Many survivors are uncertain how the criminal justice system relates to a civil lawsuit. Although both can arise from the same events, they serve different purposes and proceed on different rules:
| Criminal Proceeding | Civil Lawsuit |
|---|---|
| Prosecuted by the Crown | Controlled by the survivor |
| Purpose is punishment and public protection | Purpose is financial compensation |
| Guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt | Liability is proven on a balance of probabilities |
| May result in imprisonment or probation | May result in financial compensation |
| A conviction is not required before starting a civil claim | A police report is not required before starting a civil claim |
Some survivors pursue both processes; others pursue only one. Either approach can be appropriate, depending on your circumstances and what you want out of coming forward.
Other Financial Supports Outside a Civil Claim
A civil claim is not the only avenue, and pursuing one does not necessarily rule out other supports.
- Victim Quick Response Program+ (VQRP+) — Ontario’s current one-window program for victims of crime, which can help with emergency and essential expenses, including counselling costs. This replaced the former Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, which stopped accepting new applications in 2019.
- Criminal proceedings — if charges are laid and result in a conviction, a court can order restitution, though this is separate from and typically much narrower than a civil claim.
- Workplace-connected abuse — where the abuse occurred in the course of employment, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act may affect whether a civil action can be brought against an employer or other workplace parties, and this needs to be assessed early.
These programs operate on different rules, timelines, and evidentiary standards than a civil claim, and a lawyer can help you understand how they fit together in your particular situation.
Confidentiality and How Settlements Work
Most civil sexual abuse claims that settle do so with some form of confidentiality attached to the terms, though the scope of that confidentiality is negotiable and does not have to silence you about your own experience. You are entitled to understand exactly what you would be agreeing to — what can and cannot be discussed, with whom, and for how long — before you sign anything.
Settlement is also never mandatory. You retain the right to take a claim to trial, and a lawyer’s role is to explain the realistic range of outcomes so that whatever you decide is genuinely your decision.
What to Expect When You Reach Out
An initial conversation is about understanding your options, not committing to a process. At Kotak Law, that conversation is confidential, at your pace, and focused on what you want to know — whether that is about limitation periods, who might be held responsible, what evidence matters, or simply what a claim would involve.
You are welcome to bring a support person, and you can pause or stop the conversation at any point.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Do I need to have reported the abuse to police to bring a civil claim?
A. No. A civil claim is a separate process from the criminal justice system and does not require a police report, charges, or a conviction, though any of those can sometimes support a civil case if they exist.
Q. What if the person or institution responsible has died or closed down?
A. It depends on the circumstances — claims can sometimes proceed against an estate, a successor organization, or an insurer. This is worth discussing directly, as it turns on specific facts.
Q. Will I have to testify in court?
A. Most civil claims resolve before trial. If a matter does proceed to trial, there are ways to give evidence that reduce direct contact with the person responsible, and a lawyer can walk you through what that would look like before you decide how to proceed.
Q. Is there a cost to speaking with a lawyer?
A. An initial consultation can be arranged without any financial commitment, and many sexual abuse claims are handled on a contingency basis, meaning legal fees are only payable if the claim succeeds. Ask directly so you know exactly where you stand before proceeding.
This guide reflects Ontario law as of July 2026 and is provided for general information only. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Every situation is different — please speak with a lawyer about the specifics of yours.
