Coercive Control Is Becoming a Crime: What It Means in BC

Author: SiLaw Group Family Lawyers
Published: Aug 10, 2026

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Canada is adding a new offence to the Criminal Code: coercive control of an intimate partner. Parliament passed the change this spring as part of Bill C-16, the Protecting Victims Act, which received royal assent on June 18, 2026. The offence itself is not yet in force. Status as of August 10, 2026: the bill is law, but the federal government has said the coercive control provisions will begin later — no more than two years after royal assent — to allow time for training police and courts.

That gap matters. It gives everyone — people living with controlling behaviour, and people worried about being accused of it — time to understand what the new offence says, and what it does not.

What Parliament passed

Bill C-16 was introduced in the House of Commons on December 9, 2025 and moved through both chambers by June 2026. Among many other changes, clause 28 of the act adds section 264.01 to the Criminal Code: coercion or control of an intimate partner.

The heart of the offence is a pattern. It is not aimed at a single argument or one bad day. It targets repeated or combined conduct toward an intimate partner that falls into three streams:

• using, attempting or threatening violence against the partner, their child, someone they know, or an animal they know;
• coercing the partner into sexual activity; and
• other conduct that could reasonably be expected to make the partner believe their safety — physical or psychological — is threatened.

The bill gives examples of that third stream. They include monitoring a partner's movements, actions or social interactions, and controlling their finances or property, their work or schooling, their appearance, diet or health decisions, or how they express their thoughts, beliefs or culture. Threats of self-harm and damage to property are also named. The person must intend the conduct to make their partner fear for their safety, or know or not care that it could have that effect. On indictment, the offence carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

Those elements come from the bill as passed. How police, prosecutors and judges will apply them is something no one can honestly say yet.

BC family law already recognizes coercive control

For BC families, the idea itself is not new. British Columbia's Family Law Act already treats coercive and controlling behaviour as a form of family violence. The act's definition reaches well beyond physical harm. It includes psychological and emotional abuse — things like intimidation, coercion, threats, and unreasonable limits on a person's financial or personal independence — and it can apply whether or not the person meant to cause harm.

That definition does real work in family cases today. When a court decides parenting arrangements, family violence is part of assessing what arrangement protects the child's safety and well-being. The act also has a dedicated part on protection from family violence, under which a court can make a protection order limiting contact and communication where safety is at risk. None of this waits for the new criminal offence. These tools exist now.

What a criminal offence could change in family files

Once section 264.01 is in force, some separations may involve two courts at once. A few points are worth understanding early, and they apply no matter which side of an allegation you are on.

The two systems ask different questions. A criminal court asks whether the Crown has proven an offence beyond a reasonable doubt. A family court asks, on a balance of probabilities, what happened and what orders protect a child or a family member. Because the standards differ, behaviour might be treated as family violence under the Family Law Act even where no charge is laid or no conviction follows. The reverse is also true: a charge is an allegation, not a finding, and a family court weighs the evidence for itself.

Criminal conditions could shape family arrangements. If a person is charged, release conditions — such as no-contact or stay-away terms — may limit where they can live and how they see their children while both cases proceed. Family orders would then have to work around those conditions.

Evidence may travel. Messages, financial records and statements gathered for one proceeding can surface in the other. Careful, accurate record-keeping — and careful, considered communication — matter in both directions.

There is also a quieter shift. A national definition of coercive control gives people words for patterns that were hard to describe: the slow narrowing of money, movement and contact with others. It also raises the stakes of the language used in affidavits and pleadings. Allegations of this kind deserve precision, from the people raising them and the people answering them.

Where things stand

Status as of August 10, 2026: Bill C-16 has received royal assent, and the coercive control offence is on the books but not yet in force. The federal government has said those provisions will take effect no later than two years after royal assent. We will post an update when an in-force date is set.

If controlling behaviour is part of your separation — or you have been accused of it — calm, informed steps help more than quick reactions. Learn how we approach family violence & protection, or Book a free consultation to talk through your situation.

This post is legal information, not legal advice.