Divorce Act amendments delayed to March 2021

Summary#

This order — Order Amending Order in Council P.C. 2019-1143 of August 7, 2019 by Replacing “July 1, 2020” with “March 1, 2021”: SI/2020-42 — delays when parts of the Divorce Act take effect. It replaces the original date of July 1, 2020 with March 1, 2021 because the COVID‑19 pandemic made the earlier date impractical.

What it does#

• Amends Order P.C. 2019-1143 so that many of the changes to the Divorce Act will come into force on March 1, 2021 instead of July 1, 2020.
• The delayed provisions cover a range of family-law topics, including:
  • definitions and jurisdiction rules for family cases;
  • duties of parties and legal advisers;
  • new "best interests of the child" criteria, parenting orders and parenting plans, contact orders and relocation rules;
  • variation (change) and enforcement of orders across provinces and other jurisdictions;
  • child support calculation, recalculation and provincial child support services;
  • transitional provisions and a few technical wording changes.
• The order gives extra time for related federal regulations and supporting materials (training and public legal information) to be completed before the law takes effect.

Who's affected#

• Parents, children and other family members involved in separation or divorce proceedings.
• People who use the family court system, especially those without lawyers (self-represented litigants).
• Courts and court staff across provinces and territories, and the Federal Court where federal rules apply.
• Justice Canada, provincial and territorial governments, legal practitioners, and organizations that produce court forms, practice guides, training or public legal information.

Why it matters#

• The delay gives courts, governments and legal groups more time to update rules, forms, training and public information so the new rules are workable from day one.
• It aims to reduce confusion for families who are already dealing with court backlogs and pandemic-related limits on services.
• The government says the delay has no new costs and was requested because many provinces and territories could not finish required changes by July 1, 2020.