1. Figure out if you’re eligible

The rules about who can qualify for help are very strict. To get most kinds of help from the Victim Quick Response Program+ (VQRP+), you must:

• be a victim of a violent crime that took place in Ontario
• live in Ontario
• report the crime
• show that you have no money to pay for the expenses and that there are no publicly-funded programs that can meet your needs

Types of violent crimes

Some examples of a violent crime include:

• serious assaults
• sexual abuse
• child abuse
• criminal harassment
• elder abuse
• murder and attempted murder
• intimate partner violence
• human trafficking
• hate crimes

You can make an application if the crime happened to you, to someone in your immediate family, or if you witnessed the crime. If you’re under 16 years old, your parent or guardian can make the application for you.

Report the crime

You must report the crime to the police.

But if you’re the victim of child abuse, you can report the crime to a child protection agency.

And, if you’re the victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, criminal harassment, elder abuse, or a hate crime, you can report the crime to a community victim support agency such as:

• a domestic violence shelter
• a sexual assault centre
• a hospital
• an Indigenous social service provider, or a community agency providing services to victims in Ontario

The rules about who can qualify for help are very strict. For example, an adult victim of childhood sexual assault who reported the crime to the police or a social services provider more than 90 days after it took place does not qualify.

And, a victim of a crime other than a direct victim of human trafficking, who is also charged by the police for anything related to the crime cannot get help from the VQRP+. For example, in cases of intimate partner violence, both partners are sometimes charged by the police. If you’re also charged, then you don’t qualify for help.

No money

In most cases, you must show that:

• you have no money to pay the expenses that you’re asking the VQRP+ to cover, and
• there are no publicly-funded programs that can meet your needs.

There are different rules if you’re asking for to help pay for expenses related to a serious injury, or as an immediate family member of a homicide victim, or as a victim of human trafficking.