Glossary
In Family Law
Filing your court documents means giving your court forms and documents to a court clerk at the courthouse to add to your court file. Every court form you fill out and all relevant documents you want a judge to look at have to be filed in court.
To file something means giving it to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and following the rules about how to do this.
If you’re a temporary foreign worker in Canada, financial abuse means that your employer does things like:
- not pay you when they’re supposed to
- take your money
- make you do something with your money or credit cards that you don’t want to do
- charge you fees for to hire you or to find you other work
In Employment and Work, Income Assistance
Financial assistance is money you get from Ontario Works (OW) to help pay for living expenses, like housing and food.
It also helps pay for some prescription drugs and may help pay for some dental services. And some people can get:
- extra money to help pay for a special diet
- other benefits, such as costs for travelling to medical appointments
In Family Law
A financial statement is a court form that has details about your income, expenses, assets, and debts. Usually, you and your partner each need to fill out a financial statement form if either of you are asking for a court order for one or all of the following:
- child support
- spousal support
- property division
First aid means treating yourself or having someone at work treat you. Some examples are:
- cleaning minor cuts, scrapes, or scratches
- treating a minor burn
- applying bandages, a cold compress, or an ice bag
- putting on a splint at your workplace
First aid also includes changing a bandage at a follow-up appointment if this does not lead to further treatment.
In Housing Law
A fixed-term tenancy is an agreement to rent a place for at least a certain length of time. The agreement is often called a lease, and the length of time is called the term. The most common term is one year, but it can be shorter or longer. When the term is over, the tenancy automatically continues as a month-to-month tenancy unless the landlord and tenant agree to another fixed term, or one of them takes legal steps to end the tenancy.
In Criminal Law, Types of Offences, Bail, Probation, and Court Attendance, Assault, Driving, Drugs, Firearms, Gender-based violence, Harassment, Mischief, Theft, Threats, Victims and witnesses
Forcible confinement is holding someone in a place without their permission. The confinement can be done using physical force. It can also be done using threats or intimidation to get someone to stay. The confinement must last longer than a few minutes for it to be a criminal offence. Forcible confinement often happens in the context of family violence or domestic assault. Examples of forcible confinement include locking someone in a room, tying them up, or threatening to hurt the person if they leave.
A foreign national is anyone who is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. For example, a refugee claimant, a visitor, or a person in Canada without any immigration status is a foreign national.
Fraud is when you lie, cheat, improperly use someone else’s personal information, or break the law to get money or a personal benefit. Committing fraud is a crime.
If you have debts that you owe because of fraud, you cannot get rid of them by filing for bankruptcy. For example, if you lie to a bank about your income to get a credit card and do not pay for what you bought with it, you still have to pay your credit card balance after your bankruptcy has been discharged.
