How Distinct Limitations Apply To Assault Claims

Previously published in The Lawyers Weekly

Legislatures have relaxed the application of limitations defences to claims of sexual assault since the Supreme Court of Canada's landmark decision in the incest case, M. (K.) v. M. (H)., [1992] S.C.J. No. 85, in recognition of the unique nature of the wrongful conduct and the resulting harms that often delay victims from coming forward to claim compensation.

As a result, unique statutory limitations schemes now apply in virtually every province and territory, most of which render basic and ultimate limitation periods inapplicable to sexual assault claims.

Quebec and P.E.I. stand alone in having no limitations provisions specific to sexual assault. However, as the Supreme Court of Canada demonstrated in Christensen v. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Québec, [2010] S.C.J. No. 44, courts will intervene to mitigate the effects of potentially harsh limitations provisions. In Christensen, the court allowed an appeal from a