IVAC reform: first victims will see their benefits cease

Victims of crime will stop receiving benefits intended to compensate for their loss of income on Monday.

The 2021 Criminal Injuries Compensation (IVAC) reform has indeed expanded access to financial assistance, but it also imposed an expiration date of three years in certain cases. The first benefits expire on October 13.

Marie-Élyse Guertin is one of the people whose benefits should end. She was sexually assaulted at an equestrian center over a two-year period, between the ages of 13 and 15, and sought help from theIVAC 20 years after the events, in 2019, after everything came back to him.

I discovered while reading the newspaper [qu’un de mes] attackers had been arrested for other sexual assaults. That’s when I really understood what had happened.

She is still suffering the repercussions of this post-traumatic shock. The smell of my main attacker’s perfume […] remained engraved. I had a follow-up with a psychologist to try to desensitize me. But if I smell this perfume I have a panic attackshe confides.

In March 2024, the same week she received the letter fromIVAC who informed her of the imminent end of her financial assistance, she learned that her attackers were going to be released on parole. I was almost a month not functionalshe emphasizes.

Setting a deadline like that is not helpful for a victim, because it adds stress to us when we are already on the ground.

Same story from Cynthia Courteau, also a victim of criminal acts and a recipient ofIVAC. When she received the call about the end of her benefits, she collapsed, to the point where she could no longer continue the discussion on the phone.

The lady got worried and sent the police to the house, as well as a support team for suicidal people to make sure I didn’t try to end my life, she says. I found it delicate on his part and at the same time telling [au sujet de mon état].

We already have insomnia compared to our own injuries, to what we work on every day. And there, the fact of adding stress, insecurity, it really undermines my healing processshe adds.

Women mainly affected

These two victims are far from being the only ones in this situation which mainly affects womendeplores Me Sophie Mongeon, a lawyer in labor law and administrative law.

In fact, some 1,700 victims could sooner or later lose financial assistance from theIVAC.

78% of people who seek help from theIVAC are women and they are often mothers who take care of children. […] There, we put these people on the street.

Several other programs, such as those of the Commission on Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) and the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), offer help up to age 68 and sometimes even beyondunderlines Me Marc Bellemare, a lawyer who represents victims ofIVAC.

Previously, the benefits ofIVAC could be paid for as long as the victims needed it.

The government wants to save money. I understand that there are financial considerations and it is important that governments take an interest in public finances. But there, we cut it to three years, which is very shorthe believes, adding that this deadline is not based on no scientific study.

The lawyer would like more consistent compensation regimes with regard to the duration of incapacity and compensation.

Administrative vagueness denounced

The Ministry of Justice specifies that financial assistance could continue to be paid to victims, under certain conditions. These people must still have an employment relationship, participate in professional reintegration or be unable to carry out most of their daily activities, for example washing or moving around.

It is difficult, however, to get the facts straight for the providers of this financial assistance. The officials are confused and don’t know what to do. They don’t know what the new law mandates for them. And the mixed messages are abundant, which creates enormous stress and anxiety for victimsinsists Me Bellemare.

According to Me Sophie Mongeon, the people who received the letters announcing the end of their benefits were not informed of the possible extensions of this program.

Marie-Élyse Guertin, whose attackers were released at the beginning of October, tried it, but despite months of efforts, it was impossible for her to have confirmation as to whether or not she would continue to receive benefits from theIVAC.

Dave Lysight, social worker and executive director of the Crime Victims Center (CAVAC), in Mauricie, is categorical: These people are not ready to return to work.

They still have flashbacksnightmares and sometimes even tremors. For some, these are physical symptomshe emphasizes.

It’s as if, for the government, we were profiteers: “Stop complaining and go to work!” But that’s not it. There are plenty of victims who need it.

I don’t want to depend on the system all my life. But here, what I’m being asked to do is start a never-ending battle again. I risk losing my apartment, because with social assistance, the amounts that will be paid will not be enough for mesaid Cynthia Courteau.

In 2021, the reform of the IVAC broadened the eligibility conditions for the scheme by allowing victims of any offense against the person to have access to it, even if this offense took place abroad. It also abolishes the deadlines for submitting a request in cases of sexual, domestic or childhood violence.

According to a report by Elyse Allard