New divorce cases accounted for 46% of newly initiated family cases in 2019/2020. Trouble-free divorce cases accounted for 40% of new cases. Similarly, divorce cases from previous years, reported in 2019/2020, accounted for 48% of the total number of active pending family cases in a previous year. More trouble-free divorce cases continued in 2019-2020 compared to a previous fiscal year (56%) than problem divorce cases (44%). Family law cases in 2019/2020 consisted primarily of both troubled and no-problem divorce cases, followed by child protection cases, family matters involving a civil protection application, and cases involving custody, access and support issues. The following issues are addressed in the following cases: (Click on the links to view the PDF): The family law cases reviewed here recorded court activity in 2019/2020. The procedure was either newly initiated or ongoing for a previous year. In the disputed cases, the submission of a document in response, for example a reply, was notified at the initial request. As previously mentioned, divorce cases accounted for almost half (47%) of all active family cases in 2019/2020 (Figure 3, Table 3.1). Just over two-thirds (71%) of divorce cases were reported without custody, contact or support (Table 3.2), while almost one-third (29%) involved custody, access and/or support issues (Table 3.3). Due to security concerns raised in an application for protection, the process of obtaining a protection order by the court is expedited. In 2019/2020, more than three-quarters (79%) of family cases with an emergency preparedness claim had an initial decision within the first three months, with a median number of days of one week.
Family cases, which involve a civil protection claim, are very different from child protection claims, where the government goes to the court for the protection of a child. In a family civil protection application, a family member who is a victim of domestic violence or threatened with domestic violence applies to the court for a protection order. In 2% of the active family cases reviewed here involving an emergency preparedness application, there were also issues related to the safety of a child. Custody and contact cases tend to require more court activity and stay longer in court than other types of family cases due to the number of issues to be resolved (Allen, 2014). The length of proceedings can have a significant impact not only on court time and resources, but also on the families involved. In 2019/2020, there were nearly 9,000 new Family Court cases involving an application for an emergency preparedness order (Table 6). In addition, on March 1, 2021, the Divorce Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 3 (2nd Supp.) was amended to “promote the best interests of the child, combat family violence, contribute to the reduction of child poverty and make the justice system more accessible and efficient.” In particular, custody and manipulation terminology was removed in favour of parenting arrangements, language adopted by some provinces prior to the introduction of the changes. The data included in this report were collected prior to the implementation of the March 1, 2021 amendments and therefore do not reflect the parental terminology introduced in this report. This report examines family law cases that were active in 2019/2020. Several family problems can be identified throughout a case`s life and are therefore included in this analysis, regardless of the year in which they were identified.
Legislative Note: Ontario passed the Child, Youth and Family Services Act (CYFSA), most of which came into force on April 30, 2018. The CYFSA has made several changes to child protection procedures that could affect the appropriateness of these cases. Almost half (48%) of active family law cases in 2019-2020 were newly initiated during the year, while the remaining 52% from the previous year were pending. In the end, the trial judge concluded that the grandmother and father were more or less equal in their ability to care for and educate the child. The father had argued with sufficient authority that in cases where the parties are also able to care for the child, the biological or biological parent should have custody. The Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the father and concluded that the trial judge had failed to “address the key legal argument put forward by the father” (paragraph 57), resulting in a material error of law on the part of the trial judge. Although the child lived longer with the grandmother than with the father, the court found that the child had bonded with the father. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal stated at paragraph 123: The number of unrepresented applicants exceeds the number of applicants represented in all types of active family cases examined in this report, with the exception of maintenance, child protection and other family cases only. Most active family cases involving an application for civil protection were not contested (70%), while 30% said that the defendant had acted at least once during the proceedings. Family law matters include divorce, parental arrangements, alimony, child protection cases, family matters involving an application for civil protection and various other family matters.