Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on civil court cases in Canada

Release date: March 16, 2023
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Infographic: Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on civil court cases in Canada
Description: Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on civil court cases in Canada

Following a 21% decline in active civil cases in 2020/2021―likely due to court closures as a result of the pandemic―the number of active cases before civil courts in Canada rose (+10%).  Family cases account for approximately one-third of all cases in civil courts.

Total number of active family cases, by province and territoryNote 1


Table 1
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 1 Family cases and % change from 2020/2021 (appearing as column headers).
Family cases % change from 2020/2021
2021/2022
Canada 245,964 +13%
Prince Edward Island 1,115 +6%
Nova Scotia 11,408 +4%
New Brunswick 5,858 -16%
Ontario 118,694 +24%
Alberta 55,993 +7%
British Columbia 51,195 +6%
Yukon 376 -7%
Northwest Territories 686 -8%
Nunavut 639 +12%

Ongoing cases

In 2021/2022, 55% of active family cases were ongoing from a previous year, up from 52% in 2019/2020.


Table 2
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 2 Ongoing family cases, calculated using 2019/2020, 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Ongoing cases
2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022
Canada 52% 54% 55%
Prince Edward Island 63% 61% 64%
Nova Scotia 65% 68% 66%
New Brunswick 57% 60% 53%
Ontario 44% 46% 49%
Alberta 54% 56% 55%
British Columbia 64% 64% 66%
Yukon 60% 50% 58%
Northwest Territories 59% 56% 54%
Nunavut 41% 39% 35%

Number of days to the first decision in casesNote 2

In 2021/2022, it took longer for a first decision to be reached in family cases―1 day more than in 2020/2021 and 17 more than in 2019/2020.  This is likely due to delays as a result of pandemic-related court closures.


Table 3
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 3 Median number of days to first decision, family cases (appearing as column headers).
Median number of days to first decision, family cases
2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022
Canada 79 95 96
Prince Edward Island 123 119 121
Nova Scotia 138 138 139
New Brunswick 72 64 56
Ontario 66 81 85
Alberta 71 80 80
British Columbia 126 142 147
Yukon 66 77 90
Northwest Territories 107 124 120
Nunavut 42 29 26

Source: Statistics Canada, Civil Court Survey, 2021/2022

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Published by authority of the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada.

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2023

Use of this publication is governed by the Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement.

Catalogue no. 11-627-M

Frequency: Occasional

Ottawa

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