Table 3.3
Profile of active divorce cases with issues, by reporting jurisdiction, 2019/2020


Table 3.3
Profile of active divorce cases with issues, by reporting jurisdiction, 2019/2020
Table summary
This table displays the results of Profile of active divorce cases with issues. The information is grouped by Cases (appearing as row headers), P.E.I., N.S., N.B., Ont., Sask., Alta., B.C., Y.T., N.W.T., Nvt. and Total, calculated using number and percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Cases P.E.I.Table 3.3 Note 1 N.S.Table 3.3 Note 2 N.B.Table 3.3 Note 3 Ont.Table 3.3 Note 4 Sask. Alta. B.C. Y.T. N.W.T. Nvt.Table 3.3 Note 5 Total
number
Number of active family casesTable 3.3 Note 6 1,254 10,902 6,519 108,706 8,292 49,233 42,321 398 632 501 228,758
Number of active divorce casesTable 3.3 Note 7 601 4,266 2,283 44,499 5,186 28,113 22,187 220 96 30 107,481
Number of active divorce cases with issuesTable 3.3 Note 8 Table 3.3 Note 9 40 107 1,518 6,018 2,658 12,704 8,265 60 34 9 31,413
percent
Active divorce cases with issues as a percentage of active family cases 3.19 0.98 23.29 5.54 32.05 25.80 19.53 15.08 5.38 1.80 13.73
Active divorce cases with issues as a percentage of active divorce cases 6.66 2.51 66.49 13.52 51.25 45.19 37.25 27.27 35.42 30.00 29.23
number
Number of new divorce cases with issuesTable 3.3 Note 10 1 7 500 1,024 854 1,737 2,202 4 10 1 6,340
percent
New divorce cases with issues as a percentage of active family cases 0.08 0.06 7.67 0.94 10.30 3.53 5.20 1.01 1.58 0.20 2.77
New divorce cases with issues as a percentage of active divorce cases 0.17 0.16 21.90 2.30 16.47 6.18 9.92 1.82 10.42 3.33 5.90
New divorce cases with issues as a percentage of active divorce cases with issues 2.50 6.54 32.94 17.02 32.13 13.67 26.64 6.67 29.41 11.11 20.18
number
Number of divorce cases with issues ongoing from a previous yearTable 3.3 Note 11 39 100 1,018 4,994 1,804 10,967 6,063 56 24 8 25,073
percent
Ongoing divorce cases with issues as a percentage of active family cases 3.11 0.92 15.62 4.59 21.76 22.28 14.33 14.07 3.80 1.60 10.96
Ongoing divorce cases with issues as a percentage of active divorce cases 6.49 2.34 44.59 11.22 34.79 39.01 27.33 25.45 25.00 26.67 23.33
Ongoing divorce cases with issues as a percentage of active divorce cases with issues 97.50 93.46 67.06 82.98 67.87 86.33 73.36 93.33 70.59 88.89 79.82
number
Average number of events per active divorce case with issuesTable 3.3 Note 12 Table 3.3 Note 13 5.13 21.06 7.32 21.40 11.84 13.54 13.91 14.45 9.21 13.78 14.71
Average number of process events per active divorce case with issuesTable 3.3 Note 14 Table 3.3 Note 15 4.08 19.27 Note ..: not available for a specific reference period 16.08 10.32 10.33 10.22 12.28 8.76 11.44 11.48
Average number of document filed events per active divorce case with issuesTable 3.3 Note 16 3.88 17.13 Note ..: not available for a specific reference period 11.93 8.66 8.57 8.96 11.25 6.71 9.56 9.39
Average number of pre-trial events per active divorce case with issuesTable 3.3 Note 17 0.10 0.50 Note ..: not available for a specific reference period 2.02 0.46 0.34 0.69 0.22 1.97 0.00 0.79
Average number of adjournments per active divorce case with issuesTable 3.3 Note 18 0.00 0.56 Note ..: not available for a specific reference period 1.00 0.52 0.67 0.31 0.77 Note ..: not available for a specific reference period 1.67 0.62
Average number of dispositions per active divorce case with issuesTable 3.3 Note 19 Table 3.3 Note 20 1.03 1.53 Note ..: not available for a specific reference period 4.90 1.07 2.70 2.51 2.10 0.15 2.22 2.94
Average number of judgments per active divorce case with issuesTable 3.3 Note 21 0.95 1.42 Note ..: not available for a specific reference period 4.75 1.02 2.51 1.83 2.10 0.15 1.56 2.63
percent
Process events as a percentage of events 79.51 91.52 Note ..: not available for a specific reference period 75.15 87.20 76.26 73.46 85.01 95.21 83.06 78.05
Disposition events as a percentage of events 20.00 7.28 Note ..: not available for a specific reference period 22.89 9.01 19.98 18.04 14.53 1.60 16.13 19.96
number
Median days to first disposition in active divorce case with issues 1280.0 172.0 113.5 99.0 173.0 127.5 140.0 70.5 185.0 299.0 124.0
.. not available for a specific reference period
Note 1

In Prince Edward Island, the issues of custody, access and support may be under-reported since these issues are typically not captured when cases are first initiated but rather are identified from activity (such as judgments) over the length of the case.

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Note 2

In Nova Scotia, divorce cases with issues identified and the subcategories of access, custody and support are under-reported due to limitations in the system capacity to report secondary issues of custody, access and support.

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Note 3

In New Brunswick, a breakdown of the “Process events” and “Disposition events” for family matters is not available for 2019/2020.

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Note 4

In Ontario, the issues of custody, access and support may be under-reported since these issues are typically not captured when cases are first initiated but rather are identified from activity (such as judgments) over the length of the case.

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Note 5

Pre-trial hearing events in Nunavut are under-represented due to limited data entry in the Nunavut civil information system. Other pre-trial events including case management conferences and reference hearings are also not reported.

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Note 6

For the purposes of this table, child protection cases and family cases involving a civil protection application are excluded from the total active family caseload in 2019/2020. Therefore, the total active family caseload in this table will not align with Table 1, Table 6 or Table 7.

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Note 7

Divorce cases include applications to the court by one spouse or both spouses to dissolve their marriage.

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Note 8

Divorce cases with issues involve applications made to the court to dissolve a marriage and resolve custody, access and/or support issues. These case types may include issues related to the division of matrimonial property.

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Note 9

Active cases include all cases with activity (at least one court event, which moves all or part of the case through the court process) during the 2019/2020 fiscal year and thus include initiated cases.

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Note 10

Refers to cases newly started during the 2019/2020 fiscal year.

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Note 11

Refers to cases initiated in a previous fiscal year with activity recorded during the 2019/2020 fiscal year.

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Note 12

Events include initiation, process and disposition events. Initiation events initiate a case in the civil courts by adding a new case to the court's active case inventory. Process events move the case forward through the civil process, but are not the initiating event. Disposition events include all court events that dispose of a part of, or all of the case.

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Note 13

Initiation events are not displayed in the table and therefore, it is important to note that the average number of process and disposition events will not equal the average number of events.

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Note 14

Process events are events that move the case forward through the civil process, but are not the initiating event.

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Note 15

Other process events not displayed in the breakdown may include trial hearings, enforcement hearings, appeal hearings, other and unknown hearing/conference.

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Note 16

Document filed events include any document filed or registered with the courts by the parties or documents issued by the courts. Examples include, among others, separation agreements, financial statements, affidavits and expert witness reports.

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Note 17

Pre-trial events include case management conferences, discovery proceedings, pre-trial conference/hearings, motions and default hearings, status hearings and reference hearings. It is important to note that the reporting of pre-trial events varies across jurisdictions and therefore, reporting limitations may exist.

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Note 18

Adjournment events involve the postponement of a court hearing or trial to another date or the continuation of a court hearing or trial on another date or time but excludes adjourned sine die.

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Note 19

A disposition is a court event that disposes part of or all of the civil case (for example, settlement, consent judgment and judgment). Disposition events may also include cases that are transferred permanently to another court location, court level or type of court. Therefore, it is important to note that the case may not necessarily be disposed of but rather continuing in another court.

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Note 20

Other disposition events not displayed in the breakdown may include enforcement judgment, time limit expired, transferred permanently to another court, other and unknown disposition events.

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Note 21

A judgment is a decision made by a judge (or a master), including interim orders, orders, decisions on costs or other decisions that dispose of part of or all of the case, including summary judgments.

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Note: Based on information provided by Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Information excludes data from Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Manitoba, not yet reporting to the survey.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Civil Court Survey.
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