The Intimate Images Protection Act (IIPA), passed in March 2023, gives the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) jurisdiction to resolve claims about non-consensual sharing of intimate images.
The Intimate Images Protection Act (IIPA) came into force on January 29, 2024.
Under IIPA, the CRT can issue protection orders that require an intimate image be deleted, de-indexed, and/or removed from a website or social media platform. If a person or internet platform doesn’t comply with a protection order, the CRT can order an administrative penalty. Administrative penalties are payable to government. The CRT can also award damages of up to $5,000.
If someone shares or threatens to share an intimate image of you without your consent, you can make a CRT claim for “damages.” Damages are money you want a person or company to pay for the harm their sharing or threats caused you, or to punish them. If your claim is successful, the money is payable to you.
You can make a damages claim separately, or at the same time as an application for an intimate image protection order.
Types of damages
There are three types of damages the CRT can order under the Intimate Images Protection Act:
- Compensatory damages, which make up for a loss that you suffered
- Aggravated damages, which make up for mental distress
- Punitive damages, which are a penalty against the person who shared (or threatened to share) the intimate image
It will be up to the tribunal member to decide if you are entitled to the type of damages you ask for.
How much you can ask for
Damages claims are under the CRT’s “small claims” jurisdiction. That means the most the CRT can award is $5,000 total, including all three types of damages.
If you want to claim more, you can make a claim at the Provincial Court or BC Supreme Court instead. The Provincial Court can order damages up to $35,000. The BC Supreme Court doesn’t have a monetary limit.
How much the court has ordered in the past
Here is what Canadian courts (not the CRT) have awarded in cases where an intimate image was shared without consent:
It’s important to remember that every case is different. These cases are examples of successful intimate images damages claims, but they are not a suggestion of what you may be awarded. None of these cases were decided under BC’s Intimate Images Protection Act.
If you decide to make a damages claim at the CRT, you must agree to abandon any amount over $5,000. This means that even if you might have been entitled to more, the CRT can only order the respondent to pay you up to $5,000.
The CRT can’t give legal advice about your case or situation. You may want to get legal advice about the best way to proceed with a claim for damages.