OTTAWA — Federal legislation introduced today would treat murders driven by control, hate, sexual violence or exploitation as first-degree.
The proposed law, the Protecting Victims Act, would define these murders as femicide when the victim is a woman.
Currently, some murders targeting women may be classified as first-degree murder, while others may be second-degree.
The bill also would outlaw engaging in a pattern of coercive or controlling conduct against an intimate partner.
There is currently no specific Criminal Code offence prohibiting such conduct.
The bill would expand the Criminal Code section prohibiting the non-consensual distribution of intimate images to apply to non-consensual deepfakes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2025.
Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
