PARENT JOURNEY
PRIORITIES
Six things Canada needs to get right to better protect children.
PROTECT Canada’s work is organized around six priority areas - places where law, policy, or systems need to change. Here’s what each one means for your family.
PRIORITY 1
Judicial Reform - Courts & the law
When a child reports abuse, the legal system should help them, not hurt them. The court process can be retraumatizing. PROTECT Canada is working to modernize the Criminal Code, make sentencing more consistent, strengthen victim rights, and ensure trauma-informed processes.
What this means for your family: If your child ever needed to report abuse, they should be able to do so without a process that causes more harm than healing.
Read more about Judicial Reform →
PRIORITY 2
Online Safety
Your child’s safety online shouldn’t depend on a social media company’s goodwill. Predators use apps and games to target children. AI is used to create abusive images. Sextortion is a growing problem. PROTECT Canada is pushing for platform accountability and stronger protections.
What this means for your family: Platforms your child uses every day should be legally required to act quickly when abuse happens - not just when convenient.
Read more about Online Safety →
PRIORITY 3
Institutional Accountability
Schools, sports clubs, and other organizations need clear rules - and consequences. Mandatory reporting is inconsistent across Canada. NDAs have been used to prevent survivors from speaking. PROTECT Canada is working to harmonize standards and strengthen accountability.
What this means for your family: Any organization with access to your child should be legally required to report abuse, and face real consequences if they don’t.
Read more about Institutional Accountability →
PRIORITY 4
Survivor Support
Every survivor deserves access to care, no matter where they live. Availability and quality of support depend heavily on postal code. PROTECT Canada is working toward national minimum standards, better portability of care, and sustainable funding.
What this means for your family: Wherever you live in Canada, your child should be able to access consistent, high-quality care if they need it.
Read more about Survivor Support →
PRIORITY 5
Prevention
The best outcome is abuse that never happens. Age-appropriate education about body safety and consent is powerful - but inconsistent across Canada. What children learn shouldn’t depend on their postal code.
What this means for your family: Your child should receive age-appropriate education about body safety, consent, and what to do if something doesn’t feel right - starting early and continuing as they grow.
Read more about Prevention →
PRIORITY 6
Trafficking & Family Violence
Children caught in trafficking or family violence need a coordinated response. Systems that identify and respond are fragmented. PROTECT Canada is working to strengthen cross-sector coordination and survivor-informed pathways.
What this means for your family: Children in vulnerable situations deserve a coordinated system that can identify risk early and respond effectively - not a patchwork of disconnected services.
Read more about Trafficking Response→
These are solvable problems. You can help solve them.
Every priority has a path forward. What they need is sustained public attention and political will - starting with people like you.
