Since the Supreme Court of Canada released Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia, 2026 SCC 16 on May 15, 2026, the question – asked by clients, by lawyers, by mediators and by judges – is no longer whether a survivor of intimate partner violence (IPV) can sue. That is settled. The harder 3 questions asked are:
1. What is pain worth?
2. How much should I ask for?
3. How do I prove it?
The case of Nelson v. Tregear, 2026 BCSC 1553 https://canlii.ca/t/kmmpm heard over 5 days in January 2026 and released last week answers these 3 questions.
Note: The facts of this BC case have nothing to do with Ahluwalia. The purpose of this article is to provide a universal framework on how to answer these 3 questions. The value of this decision for family law practitioners has nothing to do with the nature of the dispute. It lies in the method – how a trial judge moves from a list of injuries to a dollar figure – and how she treats the injuries of a person who was never physically touched at all.
The facts in Nelson v. Tregear are that on May 7, 2022, Paul Tregear walked onto his neighbours’ property in BC and shot Anthony Nelson in the abdomen. Mr. Nelson’s wife, Wendy, watched it happen. Mr. Tregear was convicted and is serving a seven-year sentence. He defended the civil trial by video from prison.
In the lawsuit for compensation for physical and emotional injuries, the trial judge listed the factors for calculating compensation for pain and suffering (also known as general damages, or non-pecuniary damages) which are as follows:
• age of the plaintiff
• nature of the injury
• severity and duration of pain
• disability
• emotional suffering
• loss or impairment of life
• impairment of family, marital and social relationships
• impairment of physical and mental abilities
• loss of lifestyle
• the victim’s stoicism should not be used to reduce the award
Firstly, this case shows that the victim and the victim’s lawyer need to work diligently to build a damages case. Secondly, trial judges have wide discretion in awarding costs, especially where the facts of the case are unique. This trial judge conducted a careful analysis of past damage awards, and then increased the figures to the present date based on inflation to 2026 dollars.
Here is an example of the latter point:
Silva v. Valmana (2003) = $100,000 became $160,626* (adjusted to 2026 dollars*)
Herbison v. Wolfe (2002) = $175,000 became $285,172*
Beardwood v. Sheppard (2016) = $200,000 became $257,231*
Farrugia v. Bailey (2023) = $200,000 became $208,312*
Morris v. Gentry (2005) = $110,000 became $168,932*
As for the question of what expert evidence to call to prove pain and suffering, in Nelson v. Tregear, the plaintiffs called:
• Gastroenterologist
• Psychiatrist
• Family Physician
• Physiotherapist for future care costs
The wife’s award is an important part of this analysis because in Ontario family members can also seek compensation for Ahluwalia-like torts under section 61 of the Family Law Act. In this case, the wife was not shot. The psychiatrist testified that she scored 30 out of 80 on the trauma inventory, marginally below the 31 to 33 threshold that would support a PTSD diagnosis. She had returned to most of her usual activities. What she had lost was her sense of safety and independence in her own home (eg. she would not open the blinds facing the spot where the shooting happened for a year afterward along with poor sleep, anxiety and hypervigilance). Relying on cases of nervous shock from witnessing a collision involving a spouse ($151,576) and witnessing a coworker’s death ($124,987), the trial judge awarded her $120,000.
The damages awards were:
Pain and suffering (husband) = $230,000
Pain and suffering (wife) = $120,000
Past wage loss (husband) = $134,061
Loss of future earning capacity (husband) = $250,000
Cost of future care (husband) = $150,000
Cost of future care (wife) = $140,000
The total award was $1,046,286.
This case illustrates the methodology, evidentiary burden and discipline that IPV claimants in family court must learn. Family lawyers will have to very quickly learn how to build up the case for damages to properly compensate the survivor.
As a final note, it is worth juxtaposing the damage awards in Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia and Nelson v. Tregear. For 16 years of physical assaults and mental distress, Ms. Ahluwalia was granted $100,000 for pain and suffering. For a gunshot, Mr. Nelson was granted $230,000 for pain and suffering. For witnessing the gunshot, the wife was granted $120,000 for pain and suffering.
This article was been published by Law360 Canada at: https://www.law360.ca/ca/family/articles/2523411/what-a-shooting-in-b-c-can-teach-us-about-pricing-pain-and-suffering-after-ahluwalia
Steve Benmor, B.Sc., LL.B., LL.M. (Family Law), C.S., Cert.F.Med., C.Arb., FDRP PC, Acc.D.C., is a full-time Divorce Mediator/Arbitrator and principal lawyer of Benmor Family Law Group, a boutique matrimonial law firm in downtown Toronto. He is a Certified Specialist in Family Law, a Certified Specialist in Parenting Coordination and was admitted as a Fellow to the prestigious International Academy of Family Lawyers. Steve is regularly retained as a Divorce Mediator/Arbitrator and Parenting Coordinator. Steve uses his 30 years of in-depth knowledge of family law, court-room experience and expert problem-solving skills in Divorce Mediation/Arbitration to help spouses reach fair, fast and cooperative divorce settlements without the financial losses, emotional costs and lengthy delays from divorce court.
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