Free resources
A free workbook and a plain-language guide for anyone going through this or representing themselves, and two short tools for lawyers and clinicians. Nothing here costs anything.
If you are going through this
Nothing here asks for your name or email. Open it, read it, close the tab — or print it, if a paper copy is safer than a file on your phone. If you want to talk about your own situation, send a short enquiry or book a consultation. No lawyer? Start here.
Organising Your Own Account
Free
Workbook
A private workbook for getting what happened onto paper: prompts for each kind of control, a way to put it all in date order, the part people leave out, and how to hand it to a lawyer, duty counsel or a legal clinic. For anyone representing themselves, or getting ready to see a lawyer.
Opens straight away. No email needed. General information, not legal advice.
Want to be walked through it? Your Account, In Order is a short course built on this workbook ($127). When it's time to put it in a sworn affidavit, there's Writing Your Family Court Affidavit ($77). To keep everything in one place, there's a printable Family Court Binder ($24). For the messages and handovers in the meantime, there's Communicating Safely With Your Ex ($47).
What the Supreme Court Decided
Free
Plain-language guide
What the Ahluwalia decision said, what the new criminal offence will mean, and why it matters in an ordinary family case — written for people, not lawyers.
Opens straight away. No email needed. General information, not legal advice.
For lawyers and clinicians
You enter your name and email once, and the tool is yours to keep and to share with colleagues.
The Counsel Screen
Free
For lawyers
Six questions to run on a file before you commission an expert. Is the evidence likely to show coercive control? Will the court need help seeing it? What should you preserve now, before it disappears? Two pages; ten minutes.
When a Client's File Goes to Court
Free
For counsellors, therapists and social workers
If a client’s separation is heading to court, your notes may be subpoenaed and read aloud by opposing counsel. What to write, what to leave out, and what to do when the summons arrives — so your records help your client rather than hurt them.
Where to find help and legal information
These are independent organisations. Coercive Control Canada is not affiliated with them and does not provide legal advice.
Legal Aid Ontario
Legal help, duty counsel, and referrals across Ontario.
Luke’s Place
Support and resources for people leaving abusive relationships and navigating family court.
Steps to Justice
Plain-language legal information for everyday legal problems in Ontario.
