r/canadianlaw

Hi, I am a Toronto father navigating an international child abduction case under the Hague convention. My 3yo daughter has been wrongfully retained in a Eastern Europe. I have lawyers here and there. Been navigating the international court for ~8 months.

Looking to connect with people that have experience in this situation or any organizations that might provide support.

Looking for a chat, links or a call. I think i have done everything I can, I want to make sure I have used all available resources. My future relationship with my daughter depends on it.

Also writing from a throwaway, my job is public facing and it has personal identifiable information. Because of the anonymous nature of reddit, happy to provide some proof (linkedin, court case number, etc) via message.

On Canada Day, I attended a bbq at the bottom of my country road. It was put on by good family friends.

I drove home (without having had any alcohol that day), and got home at midnight or just after. When I did, I made some food and then sat down and opened Facebook. At that point, I saw that an acquaintance from childhood (who lives 3 doors down from me) was posting strange things. He posted a selfie where he looked tired, and under it he commented things about relationship issues, being tired, being done, wanting to find someone to homestead with, and more. I thought he was potentially having a nervous breakdown or suicidal.

I messaged him, and asked him if he was ok. He asked if he could come over, so I said of course. He walked up, and was at my house in minutes.

When I opened the door, he came in and took his shoes off, then asked where to put them. After that, I asked if he wanted to sit inside or outside. He said inside, so we sat in the formal living room. I sat at the end of the couch, and he moved the big coffee table and sat right beside me. Oddly close. Then, he laid his head on my chest and put his arm on my stomach as if we were cuddling lovers. I’m a man, and I’m not gay. He was in a relationship with a woman.

I offered him a drink, got him one and used that as a chance to move and sit elsewhere when I came back. I sat in my dad’s leather chair, and faced him on an angle. He put his bare feet up on the coffee table, and we talked for a while.

During the conversation, he kept saying strange things about how he and I are millennials, and how us millennials have been screwed over by the world, and how we were screwed over by our junior high school, because they told us that if we worked hard and got good grades, then we would be successful and could do anything with our lives. He told me that he had an apprenticeship in 2003, then got fired for no good reason two years later. He told me they still live with his parents, and I know his mother who’s very nice. He also said they hadn’t had much luck in the job field, but was working as a tool and I maker at a manufacturing place in town. However, he’s been on sick leave due to depression. I asked him if he had been dealing with mental health issues and he told me that. Said that he’s been staying in bed a lot. As someone who’s dealt with depression and OCD, I did that for years.

He then went on to say that he doesn’t agree with this world, and doesn’t believe in the whole LGBT thing, which came out of left field. Right after that, he said something around the lines of, “however, I would like you to take your pants off.” I said sorry. That’s not happening.

At one point, he told me about how they had been born in Ireland, he and his siblings, and how they had moved to Canada and he wonders what life would be like if they hadn’t moved.

He also said something strange when he said that when he was seven years old, he had an infection, and was taken to the hospital. He told me that this was a difficult story to get through hi Kitty, so I told him he didn’t need to talk about it, but he said that he would anyways, he said that when he was seven, he had an infection in his parents took him to the hospital, where he was circumcised, and he never recovered from that mentally.

I told him that I didn’t think he was acting like himself, and that I worry that he was having a mental breakdown or something similar, which I have experienced with from dealing with one of my dad, however, his was very different. I told him that I didn’t think he was someone who should be left alone, and that I wasn’t going to force him to stay, but that I would be more than happy to drive him to a mental health hospital or the local emergency department, so that he could speak with someone, and I would stay with him. He originally agreed to that, and said he would appreciate that, but when I asked if he had his health card, he said no. I asked him if it was at home and he said yes. I asked if we could go get it and he said no so then I asked if it would be OK if I called 911 and had the cops come with a mental health professional so they could do a welfare check. He told me that he didn’t really want me to do that, because he had talked to people before and they had just dismissed him and sent him home.

Not long after, he decided to leave kind of just out of the blue. I walked him to the door, he left, and then I locked the door.

Shortly after that, I got messages on Facebook messenger, saying things like he wanted to come back for my circumcise cock, and I said no. Then, he was sending messages about how he wanted my dick and how he wanted me to put my dick in his ass. I said sorry, but that’s not happening. Then, he said that I should pretend that he’s a girl. I said I was going to bed because I had an appointment coming up in the morning that I had to take my grandpa to at that point, I turned off all the lights and acted as if I had gone to bed.

However, I sat at the kitchen table and ate a bag salad. I stopped taking medication recently, so I’ve been very hungry. I also called my good friend who’s female, and who I used to date, and we both have experience with mental health. I told her that what had gone on had just happened, that I experienced the weirdest night of my life, and told her that I didn’t feel comfortable with him being alone. I told her that I thought I should call the police to do a welfare check. She agreed. She said that maybe he was on something, but even though he asked if he could come visit another time when he was less than inebriated when he left, I asked if he was drunk and he said no. I also asked if he was a danger to himself, but he also said no. That said, he was acting very strange.

This is someone that I went to elementary school with, but he was two years older than me. He was an acquaintance who I would ride bikes to school with, and that was about it. I don’t think I’ve spoken to him in about a decade, except maybe to say hi when I walk down the road or to wave to him when he was out on his bike when I walk down the road or drove down the road. The last time I remembered having a real conversation with him was almost a decade ago when my mom passed away, and he came up the road to give us his condolences. He knocked on the door, and we talked at the front door, my dad he and I. I brought that up and said that I wanted to make sure it was OK because I liked him and respected him for doing that. I always remembered it and appreciated it.

But I never expected him to do something like this.

Anyways, I did end up calling 911, and talked to a paramedic for a while. They said they were going to send someone out to try to talk to him. They said that they were going to come to my house if they couldn’t get a hold of him or needed any information.

Not long after, I saw flashlights at my front door and opened it to the police. We spoke outside, and they asked for my information and his information, and wanted to know what happened.

They explained that I was on body cam.

I told them what happened, and about the messages. They said that I could have the messages on record if I wanted to share them, but I said I didn’t want to negatively affect his life, but that I could show them. I know I essentially said that I didn’t want to press charges, because I didn’t, as I thought maybe he was dealing with a mental breakdown. Now I wonder if it was just sexual assault and he was on something.

I eventually went back in and got my phone, and invited the cops in, and showed them my messages on my phone. I handed the lady COPE, my phone, and she read them, and then she showed them to her partner who was male. At that point, the lady COPE asked me if I’ve ever been in a relationship with them, kind of accusing me of being gay or provoking this. I said no, definitely not. I told her that I couldn’t remember speaking to him for a decade. I told them my last remembered conversation with him.

They told me that they had tried to knock on his door, but that nobody answered. Then they left to go try again. And at 3 AM I saw an ambulance so they crawl up the road. It slowed down by my house, but continued on.

I finally fell asleep at 7 AM, and was awoken to two other cops knocking on my door. I spoke to them and told them everything that it happened, and they said they were going to try to make contact with him too. However, they thought that I was him originally, because they were only given my address. The one COPE didn’t seem to believe me, but the other one was very nice. When I looked out the window, the one COPE had his hands up in the air like he didn’t know what to do or what was going on, but they talked in my driveway for a bit and then left.

I haven’t heard anything since, but I’ve kept my doors locked and noticed that he blocked me on Facebook. I blocked him as well…however he lives three doors down.

I am nervous in a little bit, afraid, and I can’t believe it happened to me because I’m not attractive, I’m not sexually active, and I don’t hit on people. I never thought that he was gay or anything like that.

Since the event happened, I’ve spoken with some people, including the boyfriend of my friend who told me to call the police. It turns out that they work together at the shop, and the guy who tried to assault me, crashed some sort of machine or vehicle in the shop and then went home and pretended he didn’t know anything about it. He ended up being fired the next day when they looked at the camera.

My friend’s boyfriend said that the two of them are more went out to a bar a couple of times, and that this guy in question would drink as much as my friend’s boyfriend and then he would do something weird, like grabbing something off the bar and then whipping it at a wall.

He also told me that the last time he had seen this guy, he was coming out of a bank in town, and saw the guy walking down Main Street on the sidewalk, in bare feet. He was carrying a water bottle, with no label, but my friend grabbed it and noticed it was straight vodka.

My friend texted me and told me that her boyfriend didn’t tell me that they’d also gotten a DUI, because they were drunk and the guy who came to my house was in the driver seat, waiting for his brother and threw a wine bottle onto the road and alerted a cop.

I’m still in disbelief, so I told family friends down the road who know him, those being the people I had the barbeque with. They’re shocked. They went to school with him too.

I also talked about it with my dad‘s friend‘s daughter, who I speak with a lot. She messaged me later, and said that he works at the plant that her sister works at and is a manager at. He’s a tool and I make her there, and she wondered if she should tell her sister to talk to HR about it and warn them that he’s a predator. However, I said that I didn’t think that would be a very good idea for my safety and that I didn’t think I wanted to get a fire. I have no idea what to do though.

Was that sexual assault? Can I still press charges if I decide to?

I am in Ontario

My lease expired on 31st may 2026. And we continued living there and of course paid rent for it for june as well.
But today July 5 owner asked us to move out because lease expired and gave 5 days notice.

Rental agreement says : At the end of agreement , the tenancy will continue on a month-to-month basis, or another fixed length of time, unless the Tenant gives notice to end tenancy at least one clear month before the end of the
term.
We are living peacefully not creating problems no damage to property.
What are my options? Can he legally do something about it.
Push us out?

​

This post is intended to share my personal experience as a tenant and is provided for informational purposes only.

Prospective renters may wish to thoroughly inspect any unit before signing a lease and ask detailed questions about building maintenance, ventilation, moisture, and repair history.

During my tenancy, I experienced concerns including:

Persistent moisture and condensation issues.

Odours that I perceived as stale air, tobacco/cigarette smoke, and poor ventilation.

Concerns regarding mould and potential fungal growth.

Water leakage originating from another unit, which resulted in damage and what appeared to be fungal or mushroom growth near my bathroom area.

These conditions negatively affected my enjoyment of the unit and raised concerns about the overall living environment.

I encourage prospective tenants to conduct their own due diligence, inspect units carefully, document any concerns, and request information regarding previous repairs, water damage, mould remediation, and building maintenance before renting.

This statement reflects my personal experience and observations. My health has significantly declined as a result of being exposed to a toxic living environment that nobody should have to endure. This is a public warning for anyone wanting to rent here.

My father has passed away. I have been estranged from him for several years due to many factors. He never cared to reach out to me or mend the relationship although I always held my breath waiting for him. I told my sisters I want to help with the aftermath of his death like cleaning his apartment, attending the celebration of life and they told me he stated in his will (which was actually just a text message) that he doesn't want them to include me. Is that legally enforceable? Do they have to actually do that or are those types of things up to the discretion of the people carrying out the funeral ect? I'm in Alberta Canada

Hi everyone

So I made a huge mistake. I was working for a big corporate grocery store for more than a year. I worked at the food department. Over the period of 3 months me and my colleagues were undercharging ourselves for some chicken tenders and wedges almost every day we worked. The company knew and called loss prevention to talk us through the process and then called the police to place charges on me. I was taken to the police station for fingerprints and paperwork. I cooperated completely with them. I don't have ANY criminal record of any sort my record is 100% clean. I am a university student for 2 years. They told me that the approximate amount was a thousand dollars of my doing. The first court date is in last week of August and I have an internship starting in September. The company did not do a background check on me yet. My question is will the charge show on the background check and what possible consequences will I face or If I should hire a criminal lawyer to push for diversion. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated. I don't want my life and my first intership to be ruined just because of this. The company said they will do the background check close to my starting date. Is there anything I can do to resolve this before the court date?

Thank you

Condo board (2 of 3) and management of townhome units have been hiking fees and now want to do a special assessment (significant amount) or a loan to complete new roofing.

Many of us owners met and we all feel a decision this big has not had enough transparency, scrutiny, and there's plenty of opportunity for some corruption/not making decisions in the best interest of owners. We decided to submit a request for meeting.

Where I'm at now is how to structure the request? What's best practice? Are we asking to have a quote to amend/add bylaws? These will require >50% vote of all owners.

What we decided:

1. We want a board of 5 not 3.

2. We want to stop the process in procurement for roofing. We want the ability to select the contractor and do it in batches (not all roofs at once).

3. We want details on how the decisions were made so far, including quotes, specifications on work, schedule, history of the roofs, number of leaks , etc.

Please advise. Many of us feel that if this is just pushed through it will financially burden us. The property value will plummet with the loan. There's no faith in the 2 board owners as they may have no mortgage or never plan to sell.

I could really use some advice about an old car debt in BC, Canada.
Back in 2019, a court judgment was entered against me for about $10,500 related to a car debt from 2018. I had to leave Canada after my study visa was expired and I did not have a job or money to pay for my car and I had to leave Canada. Later I again come back after 5 years on study visa and I’m currently on a work permit and have been trying to get back on my feet financially.
Lately, a collection agency has been calling me almost every day. I haven’t agreed to anything or made any payments yet because I’m trying to understand my rights before I do anything.

I had no idea about the judgement when i came back in 2023 and found this out recently. I still do not have the finance to pay the debt. Please help me out. Also I haven’t went to the BC small court since i came here because i am afraid and know nothing about my rights here.

I recently separated from my common-law spouse. We lived in Quebec for our entire relationship, and the separation was amicable. She has since moved to Ontario.

We don’t have joint property and we don’t have children. We didn’t sign a separation agreement because we thought it was straightforward. However, I’m a federal employee, and I’m trying to understand whether my federal pension could be divided.

Could my ex common-law spouse apply to have a portion of my pension divided? I’m not sure whether I’m right that common-law separation in Quebec means she can’t make a claim, but colleagues gave me mixed answers.

Is there any scenario where she could go to court to seek division of my pension? Would it be advisable to consult a lawyer, and would getting a written agreement (including a waiver of present and future claims to my pension) be worthwhile even if she has verbally said she doesn’t intend to pursue anything?

Hi all,

An employer has recently switched to using a phone app for clocking in and out for shifts and lunch breaks. Many employees are often forgetting one or the other, and the employer has now asserted that any shifts not clocked in for will not be paid. Is this legal?

They are also not paying for time outside of the scheduled shift, ie. the nature of our job sometimes requires we stay a half hour to an hour later, but because it isn't part of the scheduled shift, it's being removed from pay calculations. I'm 90% sure this part is not legal.

I am a single father in Canada born with a severe lifelong mobility disability. commercial trucking is the only career my physical limitations allow.

My child’s other parent passed away years ago. The family maliciously concealed the death for half a decade to fraudulently obtain custody behind my back. The Alberta system completely failed to verify anything, allowing this deception to stand for years.

I discovered the fraud and I am launching a legal battle to restore my parental rights. However, the chaos of this dispute has trapped my commercial driving credentials in a massive government administrative processing lag. My license is frozen, blocking my ability to work. My physical disability prevents me from doing conventional local labor, my savings are entirely wiped out, and I am facing immediate housing eviction before my next court date on July 6th.

I want to file a major lawsuit against the federal justice system and the Alberta Government for this systemic failure, the violation of my parental rights, and the destruction of my livelihood.

My legal questions are:

1. What specific category of lawyer or law firm in Alberta handles high damages lawsuits against the provincial government/Crown for wrongful administrative freezes on professional licensing?
2. Given that my financial resources are completely frozen by this situation, what legal mechanisms exist in Canada to retain counsel for a systemic government lawsuit on a contingency or pro-bono basis?

(Note: Per group rules, I am not asking for DMs and all discussion must stay in the thread. My full background story and current campaign details are pinned directly on my profile bio for context.)

Location: Alberta, Canada

Just 27 per cent of Nunavut domestic violence charges resulted in a guilty verdict in 2024, newly released data from Statistics Canada shows.

What would be the insurance for the baby born in Toronto with parents on open work permit visa/no job? would helth cost covered by Ontario until parents find a job?

I’m looking for advice.
My international parcel from Ukraine was released by Customs in Richmond, BC, but after that there have been no tracking updates.
I’ve already opened an investigation, submitted a claim, and filed a complaint with the Canada Post Ombudsman. Canada Post told me they cannot locate the parcel and that no physical search will be conducted.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Were you able to get your parcel found? Is there anything else I can do besides waiting?
This parcel is very important to me, so I’d really appreciate any advice or personal experience.
Thank you!

TW: Child Abuse, Mental Illness, Medical Malpractice

In Ontario as a child I experienced a lot of medical malpractice at the hands of a psychiatrist and my parents who were medically abusing me. It’s hard to prove but I have damning documents and a crazy true story. I have medical records writing that I was diagnosed at 8/9 years old with Bipolar quote “largely based on parental reports” while never having symptoms of Mania also reported. I was put on every drug you can think of almost starting as young as 6 to 17. I was on antipsychotics at 10, lamotrigine gave me a skin condition which I was in the hospital at 14, Sertraline, Wellbutrin, Risperidone, Ridellan, Abilify, flo-something. Every medication I was put on it’s reported that it showed no sign of working or helping but all of my dosages would just increase and the intensity of the medication‘s increased. My biggest issue was being put on lithium at 15 which they don’t prescribe to children anymore. I was on 900 mg, probably more I just dont have that in writing yet. I always advocated against my medication because I knew that it was not helpful for me. I was tricked into being put on lithium and my doctor. The one I hope to sue told me that it was the last chance to get better. I did have depression because of my home life. I eventually went into care once my parents just signed me over. Lithium destroyed my thyroid and some nerves in my hands that make it so I shake. All while I was still a minor. Im 20 years old now, in university, successful, and happy. I have tried reaching out to lawyers all have not been interested in my case. Im not sure what I can do now. I want justice. I want something. Anything. I lost my childhood. I got diagnosed as soon as I could at 18 and got bipolar taken off and complex PTSD put on. I want to sue the doctor that allowed this. It’s malpractice, its neglect. I was getting abused at home and then sedated over and over against my will while born with no mental illness for 10 years. 8 to aging out at 18.

Do I have a case? What should I do? Any guidance, words of encouragement, anything is helpful. Theres probably more important information I could provide to add to the strength of my case I just have forgotten to mention. Thank you to whoever is reading this. Everything I have said has writing to go with it.