Canadians Victimized Abroad
Secure Canada is working to close the gap between what Canada owes its citizens victimized abroad by terrorism and what it actually provides.
Secure Canada was founded by the families of Canadian victims of the September 11 attacks. This September 11, a quarter century later, we return to where we began, with a two-part commemorative initiative.
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Canadians have been victimized outside Canada for decades, and Canada still has no standing policy for them and no office responsible for them. The Canadians Victimized Abroad Fund covers counselling only to a maximum of $5,000 over five years, pays nothing for lost earnings, and excludes anyone victimized before April 2007. The Canadian Victims Bill of Rights applies only to offences investigated or prosecuted in Canada, so Canadians attacked abroad often have no rights under it at all. Victims are left to deal with multiple jurisdictions and with officials on all sides who do not know what to do with them.
Canadians Victimized Abroad: Closing the Policy Gap for Cross-Border Victims of Terrorism, War, and Mass Violence, authored by Sarah Teich and Isabelle Terranova and published on September 11, 2026 as a joint publication of Secure Canada and Human Rights Action Group, updates and consolidates our original research on cross-border victims of terrorism.
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That research was carried out by our predecessor organization, the Canadian Coalition Against Terror, in partnership with the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime. The new report brings it into a single publication. It traces what the literature establishes about the needs of cross-border victims, compares Canada's framework with those of its Five Eyes allies, draws out best practices, and charts the reforms owed to Canadians victimized abroad.
Closing the Policy Gap
Enforcing a 9/11 Judgment on Canadian Soil
Also on September 11, 2026, an application was filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice by our co-founder Maureen Basnicki and her two children to have the United States terrorism judgments against the Islamic Republic of Iran recognized and enforced in Canada. Maureen’s husband, Ken Basnicki, was murdered in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and she has been fighting for justice ever since.
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The application is brought under the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, the landmark legislation Secure Canada campaigned for, which allows Canadian victims of terrorism to sue state sponsors of terrorism in Canadian courts and requires Canadian courts to recognize qualifying foreign judgments.