When an authoritarian government reaches into Canada to silence a critic, the person it targets is often left to absorb the costs alone: a new phone after theirs is compromised, a locksmith after a break-in, a therapist.
These expenses may look small, but they fall on some of the most vulnerable residents of this country.
Transnational repression is commonly used to describe the targeting of individuals by foreign actors. It includes the harassment, surveillance and intimidation of specific people, rather than the targeting of institutions or elections. It refers to the ways authoritarian states reach across borders to stalk, threaten and sometimes assault the dissidents, journalists and diaspora members who have fled their own jurisdictions.
The targets live here. The governments pursuing them do not.
In 2023, Human Rights Action Group interviewed 18 victims of transnational repression across seven Canadian cities. A consistent theme emerged: many had come to Canada as refugees or asylum seekers, arrived with limited means, and then faced surveillance and intimidation from the same regimes they had escaped.
Several said they could not afford professional help, such as therapy. One woman described replacing a cell phone — a routine expense for most Canadians — as a cost she struggled to shoulder.
But the harm goes beyond money.
Stephanie Carvin, an associate professor at Carleton University, notes that one of the most successful intimidation tactics used by foreign governments is to make people feel isolated, which leaves them more vulnerable. And because the threats originate abroad, there is often little domestic enforcement that can be brought to bear.
Canada has systems to support victims of crime, but they were not designed for this specific problem. Most provinces and territories operate victim compensation funds, but their coverage varies widely.
Every province except Quebec requires that a crime have occurred within that province. Their guidelines are also often available only in English, creating a barrier for communities whose members may be unable to describe what happened to them in English.
At the federal level, the only compensation mechanism that exists — the Canadians Victimized Abroad Fund — was designed for a different situation entirely. It applies only to crimes committed outside Canada, and it is restricted to people who were Canadian citizens when they were harmed. This excludes the many victims of transnational repression who are refugees, asylum seekers or permanent residents.
The federal scheme also only covers a short list of serious violent crimes, such as homicide and sexual assault. And the expenses it reimburses are oriented toward travel and repatriation. On every measure, it is the wrong tool for this kind of harm.
The result is a gap.
People targeted on Canadian soil by foreign states, often as a direct consequence of their political activity, have no reliable source of support for the practical harms they incur. Many also cannot prove a crime in the conventional sense, because the perpetrators are beyond the reach of Canadian courts.
The fix is affordable and specific.
Canada should create a dedicated federal fund for victims of transnational repression. Impacted communities themselves have called for one. In its concluding submissions to the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions, the Human Rights Coalition said that a specialized fund should cover expenses such as “emergency housing, personal security, new phones or laptops, and physical and mental health treatment.”
That recommendation was made in 2024. It is time for Canada to act on it.
How the fund is administered matters as much as its size. Above all, it should involve minimal bureaucracy so that people can access help quickly. A months-long application process is of little use to someone who needs to change a lock tonight.
There is also a case for involving trusted community leaders in decisions about when the fund should be used. Victims interviewed by the Human Rights Action Group described deep distrust of Canadian authorities, often rooted in experiences of being turned away or told to arrange their own protection. Routing support through trusted community leaders may help reach more of those who need it most.
The threat itself is not in dispute.
In 2020, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians identified China, Russia, and Iran as foreign interference threats to Canada. The people those regimes pursue inside our borders are currently paying for that threat out of their own pockets.
A dedicated, accessible fund would be a concrete way to ensure that victims of transnational repression are no longer left to pay for their own safety.
