In August, a Montreal woman filed a
class-action lawsuit
against the popular Nordik Spa in Old Chelsea for sexual assault at the hands of a massage therapist. Nordik is just north of Ottawa and is the largest spa of its kind in North America, with more than 350,000 guests a year.
Since the woman filed the class action, more than 100 other complainants have come forward and joined the lawsuit, which involves some male massage therapists who no longer work at the spa.
The original complainant was 49 when she accused a massage therapist of sexual assault in 2024.
What happens next?
Well, for starters, the class action needs approval from a judge before it can even get to court. The class action at this stage is actually an application to get a green light.
The proposed class-action lawsuit is targeting Nordik Spa for direct fault, and the lawyers argue the defendant didn’t take the right steps to prevent or put an end to sexual abuse.
The original plaintiff wants compensation from the spa for failing her and all complainants.
“Our client suffered several consequences as a result of the sexual assault and decided to bring this class action so that all victims of sexual assault committed during a massage at the Nordik Spa could obtain compensation,” the law firm Lambert Avocats said in a statement.
The class action is still awaiting approval in Quebec Superior Court.
Are Nordik Spa massage therapists employees?
They’re actually independent contractors, even though they work at the spa. No matter that they’re contractors, spa owner Martin Paquette says he takes their duty of care for clients seriously. “The well-being of and safety of our clients is our highest priority, and we take every reasonable step to ensure a safe environment for everyone who visits.”
Is there any way to track bad massage therapists in Quebec?
It’s pretty much an impossible order because the province, unlike others, has no regulatory board for massage therapists. There is no regulatory board for people who work in an intimate and vulnerable setting.
So as it stands now, if a massage therapist is accused of sexual assault, or has other complaints filed against them, there’s no regulatory body keeping track.
Here’s an example — a massage therapist who was accused of sexually assaulting a woman at Nordik Spa got fired, and even though he was charged criminally, he ended up getting a new job as a massage therapist at a clinic in Aylmer, just 15 kilometres away.
That clinic would have no way of knowing the massage therapist’s past because he had not been convicted; he had only been charged and was awaiting trial.
That case is from 2023, and the massage therapist is facing criminal charges and a lawsuit — this one separate from the class-action — from the complainant. She booked a massage online and requested a female massage therapist, but, according to court filings, she got a male massage therapist and was allegedly sexually assaulted.
She said when she complained at the front desk, she was told she would be refunded right away, with free drinks on the house, and the massage therapist would be fired. The complainant, a police officer, says in her lawsuit that the therapist was actually still working at the popular spa weeks afterward until the police showed up and started asking questions.
The police investigation yielded sexual assault charges, and the massage therapist is awaiting trial.
Has the proposed class-action lawsuit changed how Nordik does business?
Because there’s no regulatory board — a major gap — the spa owner has been working closely with the Association Québécoise de spas (AQS) and others in the industry to lobby the provincial government to create one.
The spa’s owner, Paquette, says a regulatory board would allow for standardized licensing, background verification, and disciplinary measures.
“We’ll use this event to put more pressure on the government for a regulatory order.”
How does the screening of massage therapists work right now?
The spa owner says it’s as rigorous as possible. They do background checks, including criminal, but without a formal regulatory framework, there’s no centralized database or disciplinary records. This means a massage therapist could be fired at one place only to go practice somewhere else where no one knows their past.
“This is something we believe urgently needs to be changed,” Paquette said.
Will the spa take legal action against the accused massage therapists?
Absolutely, yes. The accused subcontractors may have sullied the reputation of the spa, but more than that, the owner believes in accountability.
“We intend to pursue legal action against the therapists involved … and we will follow all proper legal channels to ensure justice is served,” the spa owner said.
What other solutions could be out there to protect spa goers?
It’s 2025, so it might come down to AI.
Because of the intimate setting, you can’t legally have security cameras in the suites. But, the spa owner is now exploring an AI audio system to combat sexual violence.
The system would be trained and coded to pick up on keyword spotting. It would be designed to pick up on keywords linked to a person being uncomfortable, or worse, and then silently trigger an alert to the front desk.
Spa owner said: “We are a leader in our industry and I am trying to find a solution to have more supervision while respecting everyone’s privacy.”
Have there been any sexual assault complaints at the spa in the past?
Yes. The most notorious case was back in 2016. In that case, a Montreal priest
posed as a massage therapist
. The imposter sexually assaulted and assaulted three women, including a 17-year-old girl, in the pool and bath areas. That disgraced priest, the superior of the Lebanese Maronite Order in Canada as well as a military chaplain at the time, was convicted and sentenced to 90 days in jail.
In that case, the court heard Nordik management reported it to the police as soon as they got a complaint from one of the victims.
When was the spa built?
The spa, built on formerly owned church land, is located in Old Chelsea, Quebec. It was built more than 20 years ago, before the suburban explosion of development in the once-quiet town. The owner who designed and built it has a slogan — “20 years of happy.”
In July 2005, the local MP announced $137,184 in taxpayers’ money would be given to the spa for its startup. It was specifically for feasibility study, the purchase of equipment and some construction. The federal government at the time said it was a $3.6-million project that would create, in their words, “about 10 jobs.”
Today, the spa in Old Chelsea (which no longer looks old with its new suburban development), now employs 350.
Ottawa Citizen Senior Writer Gary Dimmock is the inaugural winner of the National Newspaper Awards’ Explanatory Work category in 2002. He can be reached at 613-726-6869 or [email protected]
