A class action is a lawsuit where one or more representative plaintiffs sue on behalf of a larger group (the 'class') who have similar claims against the same defendant. Class actions are used when many people have been harmed in similar ways—by defective products, environmental contamination, employment practices, or corporate misconduct—and individual lawsuits would be impractical. If successful, damages are distributed among all class members. Canadian provinces have class action legislation establishing procedures for certifying classes and distributing awards. Class actions enable access to justice for claims that would be too small or expensive to pursue individually while creating accountability for widespread harms.