Can I Sue Someone for Assault in Ontario?

Yes. You can sue someone for assault in Ontario. A civil assault lawsuit is separate from any criminal charge and can seek compensation for pain and suffering, lost income, treatment expenses, psychological injuries, and other losses caused by the assault.

In some cases, the lawsuit is not limited to the person who attacked you. If the assault happened at a bar, nightclub, restaurant, apartment building, workplace, event venue, school, or another property, a business, property owner, security company, employer, or organization could also be legally responsible.

Our Ontario assault injury lawyers represent assault victims in civil injury claims across Ontario.

Civil Assault Claims Are Separate from Criminal Charges

Most people think about assault as a criminal offence. Under the Criminal Code, assault includes intentionally applying force to another person without consent, attempting or threatening to apply force in certain circumstances, or confronting someone while openly carrying a weapon or imitation weapon.

A criminal case is brought by the Crown. Its purpose is to decide whether the accused person should be found guilty and punished.

Civil assault lawsuits have different goals than the criminal proceedings. They are meant to fairly compensate the injured person intead of punishing the wrongdoer.

This means that a civil claim can still be available even where police do not lay charges, charges are withdrawn, the accused pleads guilty to a lesser offence, or the criminal case has not finished. A criminal prosecution requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Civil lawsuits are decided on a balance of probabilities, meaning whether the claim is more likely than not proven.

Do You Need Criminal Charges Before You Sue?

No, you do not need criminal charges before suing someone for assault in Ontario.

A police report, criminal charge, guilty plea, or conviction can help a civil assault claim, but none of those things is always required. The civil case turns on the evidence available to prove what happened, who was legally responsible, what injuries were caused, and what losses followed.

Important evidence can include medical records, photographs of injuries, police records, witness information, security video, incident reports, text messages, employment records, and counselling or psychology records.

Many assault injury claims involve both physical and psychological harm. Violence can cause post-traumatic symptoms, anxiety, depression, sleep problems, fear of returning to the scene, or loss of trust around other people. Those injuries should be documented early, especially where symptoms continue beyond the immediate aftermath of the assault.

Who Can Be Sued After an Assault?

The most obvious defendant is the person who committed the assault. However, that person may not have sufficient assets to compensate the injured individual for their losses. Consequently, top assault injury lawyers will also examine whether another person, business, or organization shares legal responsibility.

Depending on the facts, a claim could involve the individual attacker, a bar or nightclub, a property owner, a landlord, a security company, an employer, a school, a care facility, or another organization responsible for supervision or safety.

This does not mean every assault creates a potential lawsuit against a property owner or business. But, it is worth exploring if another party failed to take reasonable steps in circumstances where violence was foreseeable.

Assaults at Bars, Nightclubs, and Other Properties

Ontario’s Occupiers’ Liability Act requires occupiers to take reasonable care in the circumstances to see that people entering their premises are reasonably safe.

That does not make a bar, nightclub, restaurant, landlord, or event venue automatically responsible every time violence occurs. The legal question is usually whether the assault was foreseeable and whether reasonable steps could have reduced the risk.

In a bar assault, nightclub assault, or negligent-security claim, a lawyer will often investigate prior violent incidents, whether staff saw escalating conflict, whether security was properly trained and staffed, whether intoxicated patrons were allowed to remain on the premises, whether lighting or crowd control contributed to the danger, and whether the business ignored earlier safety concerns.

These cases depend heavily on evidence that can disappear quickly. Surveillance video can be overwritten. Staff memories fade. Witnesses move on. Early preservation letters and investigation can be important where a serious injury happened on commercial or supervised premises.

Our Assault Injury Lawyers’ Pastink Case

Negligent-security claims can be difficult because defendants often argue that the attacker alone caused the injury. That issue arose in Pastink et al. v. 1190393 Ontario Limited et al., 2023 ONSC 6037.

Our assault injury lawyers represented a plaintiff who suffered a traumatic brain injury after being assaulted outside a bar. The bar asked the Court to dismiss the negligent-security claim before trial. The Court refused to dismiss the claim, allowing the case against the bar to continue. The matter later resolved on confidential terms.

The decision is useful because it shows why an assault lawsuit is not always limited to the person who committed the violence. Where a serious injury happens in connection with a commercial property, security failure, or foreseeable risk of violence, the surrounding facts deserve close investigation.

Our lawyers who handle civil assault injury claims investigate whether the attacker, the property owner, the bar, the security company, or another organization shares legal responsibility for the injury.

What Compensation Can You Claim After an Assault?

Civil lawsuits after an assault seek compensation for the losses caused by the incident. Depending on the injuries and evidence, this can include pain and suffering, lost income, future income loss, medical and rehabilitation expenses, psychological treatment, medication costs, help at home, out-of-pocket expenses, and future care costs.

Some assault injuries are immediately visible, such as fractures, facial injuries, dental trauma, scarring, or orthopedic injuries. Others are less obvious at first. Concussions, traumatic brain injuries, chronic pain, post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and sleep disruption can have long-term consequences.

Where the assault involved a head impact, loss of consciousness, confusion, memory problems, headaches, dizziness, light sensitivity, or changes in mood and concentration, the claim should also be assessed as a possible Ontario brain injury claim. Head injuries from assaults are sometimes minimized at the beginning, especially where the injured person is focused on immediate pain, police involvement, or the shock of the incident.

How Long Do You Have to Sue Someone for Assault in Ontario?

For many civil assault claims in Ontario, the basic limitation period is two years. Under Ontario’s Limitations Act, 2002, a proceeding generally cannot be started after the second anniversary of the day the claim was discovered, unless the Act provides otherwise.

There are important exceptions and special rules for some assault claims. The limitation analysis can be different where the claim involves sexual assault, childhood abuse, incapacity, dependency, an intimate relationship, or delayed ability to start a lawsuit because of the physical, mental, or psychological impact of the assault.

Because limitation periods can decide whether a claim survives at all, anyone considering a civil assault claim should get legal advice as soon as possible. Even where an exception applies, delay can still make the case harder to prove because evidence can disappear.

Talk to a Lawyer About a Civil Assault Claim

If you were injured in an assault, you do not have to wait for the criminal process to finish before understanding your civil options.

Civil lawsuits assist with pursuing compensation for the harm you suffered. It can also identify whether a bar, venue, property owner, employer, security company, or other organization shares responsibility for allowing the assault to happen.

Foster Injury Law is able to represent assault victims across Ontario. We provide free consultations, and our personal injury cases are handled on a contingency-fee basis, meaning you do not pay legal fees unless your claim is successfully resolved.

Contact our firm to discuss your options after an assault.