Economic abuse

About economic abuse

Economic abuse can happen once or many times over a period of time.

Economic abuse and financial violence are not the same thing. Financial violence is one type of economic abuse. Financial abuse happens when someone directly controls, misuses, or takes another person’s money or property. Economic abuse is a broader term. It includes all the ways someone’s financial freedom or independence can be controlled or harmed.

Both forms of abuse can make it hard for a person to leave an abusive situation, rebuild their life, or take part fully in the economy.

Examples of economic abuse include:

• Taking money or property without permission, or by force or threats
• Withholding, controlling, or limiting access to money
• Pressuring or forcing someone to sign documents, such as cheques or contracts
• Forcing someone to buy or sell items
• Misusing joint bank accounts, or forcing someone to open or use a joint account
• Refusing to return borrowed money or property
• Preventing someone from working or making it hard for them to keep a job, which is called employment sabotage

Economic abuse can happen:

• in current or past intimate relationships
• within families
• between friends or acquaintances
• between strangers
• in person or online

Anyone can experience economic abuse, but some people are at higher risk:

• Women who experience intimate partner violence are more likely to experience economic abuse. In these cases, abusers use economic abuse to control and isolate the other person
• Indigenous women are at even higher risk of economic abuse
• 2SLGBTQI+ people experience higher rates of economic abuse than non-2SLGBTQI+ people
• Women living with disabilities experience economic abuse more often than women living without disabilities
• Economic abuse is the most common form of elder abuse in Canada

People who experience economic abuse are often afraid or unwilling to report it to police or other authorities. Reasons include:

• fear of retaliation or harm
• dependence on the abuser
• shame, embarrassment, or feeling powerless
• not understanding their rights or not knowing how to report abuse
• not knowing how banks or financial organizations can help

Impacts of economic abuse

Economic abuse can have serious and lasting effects that are not just financial. These effects can include:

Physical effects, such as:

• stress-related illnesses (heart problems, stomach issues, weaker immune system)

Mental health or emotional impacts, such as:

• depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• feelings of shame, stress, and fear

Economic effects, such as:

• potential loss of income
• negative impacts on credit score
• lower credit score
• dependency on the abuser, making it harder to leave

A 2021 survey by the Canadian Centre for Women’s Empowerment found that 78% of participants said their partner’s control over finances during COVID-19 had a negative impact on their mental health.^{Footnote 1}

How to respond to economic abuse

If you experience or witness economic abuse, there are safe ways to respond.

If you are experiencing economic abuse: 

• talk to someone you trust
• get help from a local victim service
• speak with your financial institution
• report the abuse to the authorities

If you see someone else experiencing economic abuse: 

• reach out to offer support and resources
• talk to someone you trust
• report the abuse to the authorities

For more information, visit the resources section below.

Facts and statistics on economic abuse

There is growing awareness of economic abuse, but there is still little research or recent government data on this issue in Canada.

Self-reported data from the 2018 Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces shows that some groups, including women, Indigenous women, women living with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQI+ women, experience higher rates of financial abuse:

• Since age 15, 6% of women said they were forced to give money or possessions to their intimate partner compared to 4% of men. Similarly, 5% of women reported that their intimate partner kept them from having access to a job, money, or financial resources compared to 2% of men.^{Footnote 2}
• Financial abuse was almost three times more common among Indigenous women than non-Indigenous women. Specifically, 16% of Indigenous women have been forced to give their partner money or possessions (compared to 6% of non-Indigenous women); and 13% of Indigenous women said their partner kept them from having access to a job, money or financial resources (compared to 5% of non-Indigenous women).^{Footnote 3}
• Women living with disabilities reported high levels of financial abuse in their lifetimes; 1 in 10 women living with disabilities said they were forced to give their partner money or possessions (compared to 4% of women living without disabilities), and 8% of women living with disabilities said their partner kept them from having access to a job, money or financial resources (compared to 3% of women living without disabilities). ^{Footnote 4}
• LGB+ women were twice as likely to experience financial abuse as heterosexual women. Over their lifetime, 17% of LGB+ women said they were forced to give their partner money or possessions (compared to 6% of heterosexual women), and 10% said their partner kept them from having access to a job, money, or financial resources (compared to 5% of heterosexual women).^{Footnote 5}

Intimate partner violence includes many behaviours, including economic abuse. Many regional surveys show that economic abuse often occurs in situations of intimate partner violence.

Results from the 2019 General Social Survey on Victimization found:

• 2.2% of people reported financial abuse by their spouse, such as being prevented from accessing family income or being forced to give money, possessions, or property.
• financial abuse was more common for women (2.7%) than men (1.6%).^{Footnote 6}

A Statistics Canada survey from 2022–2023 found that financial abuse was common (49%)^{Footnote 7}  among women admitted to residential facilities for victims and survivors of abuse.

Resources for victims and survivors of economic abuse

• WAGE's Get Help Now page provides resources for immediate support
• Canada Revenue Agency helps victims and survivors of GBV and economic abuse to access their tax and benefit credits
• The Public Health Agency of Canada’s Stop Family Violence webpage provides resources and information for anyone experiencing abuse
• Explore the STEAR (Support Tool for Economic Abuse Recovery) App from the Canadian Centre for Women’s Empowerment (CCFWE)
• This Economic Abuse Screening Tool from CCFWE helps shelter staff have shame-free conversations about finances with victims and survivors of intimate partner violence
• Visit CCFWE’S website for Information for victims/survivors of Economic Abuse

Learn more about GBV and economic abuse

• Learn more about Gender-based Violence
• See what economic abuse can look like from WAGE’s It’s Not Just campaign (Bank details scenario)
• Learn what every Canadian should know about economic and financial abuse - Brochure from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)
• Explore the Royal Canada Mounted Police’s Seniors Guidebook to Safety and Security
• Learn about Technology-Facilitated Economic Abuse from the Canadian Centre for Women’s Empowerment (CCFWE)

Other GBV-related fact sheets

• Technology-facilitated gender-based violence
• Intimate partner violence
• Family violence