Why the National Scorecard?

Economic Abuse is a form of domestic abuse or intimate partner violence that involves controlling, coercive, or manipulative behaviour related to a person’s finances and economic resources. It can be a subtle yet highly effective way to exert power and control over a victim. CCFWE created the “Provincial-Territorial Scorecard on Economic Abuse” as a visual tool to illustrate the legislative response of Economic Abuse on individuals and communities. The Provincial-Territorial Scorecard on Economic Abuse explores current laws and policies by identifying model policies and adverse policies which create barriers for survivors.
The map can help raise awareness, highlight areas of concern, and identify potential solutions.

The purpose of the scorecard is to examine provincial-territorial legislation relating to Economic Abuse. The scorecard serves several key purposes:

1. Identification of Gaps: The scorecard helps identify gaps in the legal and government response to Economic Abuse.
2. Advocacy Tool: The scorecard can be used as an advocacy tool by activists, organizations, and community groups to raise awareness about the importance of addressing Economic Abuse and pushing for reforms.
3. Enhancing Support for Victims: Improving provincial-territorial legislation and policy can lead to better support and protection for victims of economic abuse. Stronger legal protections may provide victims with the means to seek help and access resources to escape abusive situations.
4. Data Collection and Progress Monitoring: The scorecard collected data on provincial-territorial legislation, exploring avenues for continued advocacy to support survivors. The data collection also allows for CCFWE to begin tracking changes over time to legislation.

Learn more about the National Score Card launch event

• Breaking Barriers: Unveiling the National Scorecard on Economic Abuse Press Release
• Breaking Barriers: Unveiling the National Scorecard on Economic Abuse Event Page

Methodology:

CCFWE focuses their work on Economic Abuse. The focus of the scorecard is on Economic Abuse within intimate partner violence. The map can be a useful visual tool to illustrate the impact of Economic Abuse on individuals and communities. This map can help raise awareness, highlight areas of concern, and identify potential solutions for provincial and territorial legislation and safety for survivors. The current map is phase 1. A comparative analysis was conducted to highlight the similarities and differences in legislation across provinces and territories. Through the research several areas of legislation have been identified as having the potential to impact survivors and improve the lives of survivors of intimate partner violence and economic abuse. There are several areas where additional protections such as banking and employment insurance could support survivors however these policies are federal which will be incorporated into phase 2 of the scorecard.

The categories are as follows:

• Does the legislated definition include economic abuse?
• Are work policies & leave inclusive of the complexities of intimate partner violence?
• Do the policies include litigation abuse protection?
• Are there designated intimate partner violence torts?
• The inclusivity of victims of crime compensation?
• The process of rental protections of survivors?
• Lastly, are there alternatives to law enforcement which are funded by the government outside of shelters and women’s organizations?

There are two main contributors to the calculation, model, and adverse policy. Model policies are defined as policies that would provide the client survivor the support and protection when they have experienced economic abuse in an intimate partner violence relationship. Adverse policies are harmful to the survivor. If an element is identified as a model element of the policy, a score of 1 is added. If an element of the adverse policy is identified, a score of 1 is subtracted. In summary, the calculation is the presence of a model policy(ies) subtracting any adverse policy(ies).

Table 1 is the summary of the scorecard. The first column is the category, the second column is the ideal score. The ideal score is the total of the elements of the model policies. The number under the province/territory is how they scored in each category. The total score is the sum of the categories, the score variance is the difference between the ideal score and the total for each province/territory. Lastly, the score as a percent is the total provincial/territorial total divided by the total ideal score (36) represented as a percentage.

The information for the completion of the scorecard came from provincial/territorial legislation based on the category. The researchers read through the relevant legislation to see if the model or adverse policies are present in the legislation. The legislation used in the study was informed by the specific laws and regulations of each respective province and territory available online through searches of various sources such as Canadian Legal Information Institute (CANLII), academic databases, and provincial/territorial websites. A full list of the sources is available after each category table.

DATA COLLECTION: Between March 2023 and September 2023, legislation and policies were collected by staff and the University of Ottawa law students who generously volunteered their time. Each piece of legislation was reviewed to determine if model or adverse policies were contained within the document. The sources for the information included provincial and territorial websites, legal service organizations and CANLII(The Canadian Legal Information Institute).

To what extent does your state provide assistance to ensure the economic  stability of survivors?

We have created an accessible technology tool that offers easy and effortless navigation for users, decision-makers, policy makers, program developers, advocates, and stakeholders.

Please click and explore the interactive map for each province below to gain insights into how each region is addressing Economic Abuse.