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Glossary

psychiatric patient

In Health and Disability, Mental health

A psychiatric patient is a person who is being observed, cared for, or treated for their mental health in a psychiatric facility. Some psychiatric patients may be able to live at home and visit the psychiatric facility when they need to. Some psychiatric patients may need to be detained at the psychiatric facility.

psychological abuse

In Migrant workers

If you’re a temporary foreign worker in Canada, psychological abuse means that your employer threatens you, insults you, or scares you so they get what they want. For example, your employer might:

  • threaten to have you deported
  • call you names
public records

In Debt and Consumer Rights

Public records are documents or information that anyone can search for and find.

For example, when you file for bankruptcy, this information becomes a “public record”. Consumer reporting agencies, like Equifax and TransUnion, get this information. And anyone else can pay a small fee and do a search to find bankruptcy records.

qualifying period

In Employment and Work

Your qualifying period is usually the last 52 weeks before the start of your Employment Insurance claim. To figure out your qualifying period, start on the Sunday before you had an interruption of earnings, and then count backwards 52 weeks from there. 

Quarantine

In Employment and Work

Quarantine means that you are being kept away from other people because you may have been exposed to someone with a serious illness.

re-examine

In Family Law

Re-examination is when a party, or their lawyer if they have one, gets to question their own witnesses again. This is done after direct examination and cross-examination. They can only ask the witness about anything new that was discussed in cross-examination.

real property

In Wills and Powers of Attorney

The law uses the term “real property” for property such as land, houses, or other buildings. It’s often called “real estate”.

reasonable and probable grounds

In Criminal Law

Before doing specific things, like charging you with a criminal offence or conducting a search, the police must have reasons to believe that you:

  • could have committed a criminal offence, or
  • have evidence or weapons related to a criminal offence.

Their reasons must be based on reliable information. Having reasonable and probable grounds is more than having a hunch or suspicion, but less than being able to show a balance of probabilities.

“Reasonable and probable grounds” and “reasonable grounds” mean the same thing.

reasonable arrangements for the children

In Family Law

Reasonable arrangements for the children mean that money or financial plans have been made to look after the children from a marriage. For example, plans have been made for child support.

reasonable grounds

In Criminal Law

Reasonable grounds means that your belief about something is based on more than a feeling or suspicion. There must be reliable information to support your belief. And another person could also have that belief based on the information.