Can I Get Divorced If My Spouse Has Left the Province of Ontario?

In Canada, section 3(1) of the Divorce Act says that a Court can only grant a divorce if one of the spouses has lived in the Court’s jurisdiction for one year. Since your husband has been living in the other jurisdiction for less than a year, he cannot ask the court in the other jurisdiction to handle the divorce yet. However, you are still free to ask the Court for the Regional Municipality or County where you live to deal with the divorce, which is obviously much more convenient for you. You do have to arrange to serve your husband with the divorce papers, but once you do that, he has only 30 days to respond. If all you want is a simple divorce, then he probably will not bother.

If you do not know where your husband is living.

If you have kids and they are now living with your husband in another province, the part of the case that deals with them may be moved to the province where they are living. Orders regarding children and parenting are supposed to be made by the court where the children reside. 

If you want more than just a divorce, and you want to deal with things like child custody and access, child support, spousal support and property division, then you can get more information about pursuing those claims by getting a copy of this easy-to-understand best-selling book on Ontario Family Law.

However, nothing is better than meeting with a good family lawyer to discuss the specifics of your situation and learn how the law applies to you. Little things can make a big difference in family law and a good family lawyer will make sure things work out okay for you. To meet with John Schuman, a top GTA divorce lawyer and a Certified Specialist in Family Law, call the phone number at the top of this page, or fill out the form below. You can also use the same form to comment on this page.