Child sexual abuse in Canada

The article covers child sexual abuse in Canada, a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent engages in sexual act(s) with a child.

Previous statistics have shown that about a third of girls and one sixth of boys are victims of sexual assault in Canada. In 2016, results from a national representative survey indicated that the sexual abuse of children has been declining in Canada since the early 1990s but is still higher than the global average.

In Canada, child sexual offences also include the access and use of child pornography, since the use of these materials indirectly harms a child. Child pornographic offences are considered child sexual abuse, since its production involves direct sexual abuse of a child. The criminal justice system has been transitioning the term of child pornography to "child sexual abuse materials" and/or "child sexual exploitation materials" as these terms essentially underline the fact that children are being sexually abused. By contrast, "child pornography" has an underlying tone that these materials are erotic and are intentionally used for sexual arousal purposes.