News

Saskatchewan’s Cyberstalking and Coercive Control Act

Saskatchewan introduced The Cyberstalking and Coercive Control Act today (November 6). This legislation amends the definition of interpersonal violence to include a pattern of coercive or controlling behaviour, or cyberstalking and online harassment. https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/news-and-media/2025/november/06/government-introduces-legislation-to-expand-definition-of-interpersonal-abuse

Passing this legislation will make provisions within The Victims of Interpersonal Violence Act available to those experiencing coercive or controlling behaviour or online stalking and harassment. Provisions in provincial legislation provide protections for victims of interpersonal violence, including Emergency Intervention Orders and the ability to end long-term tenancies when a survivor is at risk of future violence. This change will increase options and enhance safety for victims and survivors in Saskatchewan.

What is coercive control?

Coercive control is a pattern of behaviour, consisting of various actions by the perpetrator. Behaviours occur on a continuum and may or may not occur in conjunction with physical and sexual violence.

The Saskatchewan Police Commission (2018) includes coercive control on the Domestic Violence Risk Indicator Checklist, with the definition: “May include acute jealousy, degradation, micro-regulation of daily life, social isolation, disallowing independent thinking or decision-making, deprivation, surveillance, forced sex, sexual exploitation, shaming, forced adherence to a belief system that condones IPV, intimidation, [and] threats.”

Resources

The Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale (RMFVVC), a provincial association for domestic violence shelters in Quebec, has developed several resources relating to coercive control (https://coercive-control.ca/), including the coercive control toolbox (https://coercive-control.ca/content-library/toolbox-justice).

On October 27, PATHS Director of Research, Crystal Giesbrecht, spoke to CBC’s Blue Sky with Sam Maciag about expanding the definition of interpersonal violence (https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-189-blue-sky/clip/16177939-expanding-definition-interpersonal-violence).

In 2024, Crystal Giesbrecht wrote an article regarding the need for a Canadian Criminal Code offence of coercive control. This article includes definitions of coercive control, examples from research, risks to children, and gendered implications (https://www.journalcswb.ca/index.php/cswb/article/view/362).