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July 23, 2026
Appeal by appellant from aspects of a final family law order, and application by respondent to quash or stay the appeal due to non-compliance. The appellant, who did not attend trial, sought to vary orders relating to child and spousal support arrears, mortgage credit, and findings of contempt.
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July 22, 2026
“Coercive control” is rapidly becoming one of the defining concepts of modern Canadian family law. Courts must now expand their focus of family violence and must consider whether one party exerted coercive control over the other party during the relationship.
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July 22, 2026
Upon receiving the Consolidated Practice Direction for Central East Region (the PD) from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, updated July 7, 2026, I actually read it, or at least all parts relating to family law. Without exaggeration, I was shocked to read paragraph 186 confirming that all short motions will be “heard” (my quotations) presumptively (their word not mine) in writing! However, parties and counsel are to be “available” (my quotations) on Zoom in case the presiding justice wishes to hear submissions. Counsel and parties will not be given entry into the Zoom unless the presiding justice deems it necessary. “Parties and counsel are not permitted to make oral submissions unless the judge permits.”
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July 22, 2026
Public service delivery strikes are routinely framed in popular discourse as localized, binary disputes between individual employers and their workforces. Yet, when these disruptions hit independent delivery networks, the stalled bargaining tables reflect a much broader systemic crisis.
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July 21, 2026
The results of a recent study by an Ontario university and a non-profit organization have been published, and the conclusions are startling: the use of AI in family law disputes could produce legally accurate and fair outcomes at a fraction of the cost usually incurred — in most cases, in less than three minutes.
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July 21, 2026
Canada’s federal judiciary is an important population whose day-to-day burdens have rarely been studied despite their institutional importance. For all the gravity of their role, we are only now uncovering how Canada’s judges are managing their mental health.
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July 17, 2026
Canada’s government is spending more than half a billion dollars to support the next phase of its decade-long push to eradicate gender-based violence. On July 16, it was announced that Ottawa will be investing $607.4 million into its ongoing National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence — a 10-year initiative where participating provinces and territories sign on to the plan and, in exchange, receive funding to help implement the plan in their respective jurisdictions.
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July 16, 2026
The B.C. Court of Appeal has set aside an order requiring a young child to be returned from New Brunswick to British Columbia, finding the provincial court failed to conduct a forward-looking analysis of competing parenting plans and improperly assumed the child’s mother would return with him.
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July 15, 2026
As the Supreme Court of Canada moves to accept more cases in 2026, it has announced an especially packed fall session, with 31 appeals slated for argument from October through December. There are only 13 criminal law cases on the fall schedule that was unveiled by the top court this week: eight are as-of right appeals and just five are by-leave criminal appeals (one is both by leave and as of right).
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July 14, 2026
Claims for a joint family venture (JFV) arising from a plea of unjust enrichment have become increasingly popular in family law courts in Ontario.
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July 13, 2026
Canada, Quebec and the Innu Takuaikan Uashat mak Mani-utenam (ITUM) council have signed the Tshisheuatishitau Child and Family Services Coordination Agreement, the first of its kind in the province to recognize the First Nation’s jurisdiction over these services.
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July 13, 2026
When Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025), took effect last December, the federal government took a predictable victory lap. By passing the legislation, Ottawa permanently dismantled the “first-generation limit” that stripped Canadian citizenship from thousands of children born abroad to Canadian parents. Politicians hailed it as the ultimate remedy for the “Lost Canadians.”
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July 10, 2026
The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed 7-2 the constitutional validity of the mandatory minimum penalty (MMP) of six months’ incarceration for those who pay to obtain — or communicate to buy — sex with persons under age 18. On July 10, Justices Suzanne Côté and Michelle O’Bonsawin, in joint reasons for the majority, allowed the appeal of the Attorney General of Quebec and set aside the Quebec Court of Appeal’s 2024 decision that struck down s. 286.1(2)(a) of the Criminal Code as a violation of the Charter’s s. 12 prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment: Quebec (Attorney General) v. Denis, 2026 SCC 25.
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July 10, 2026
Many federally appointed trial judges report stress from excessive workloads, limited control over their time in the workplace and too few support resources, according to a new national survey of judges’ physical and psychological health. On July 9, the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) reported on extensive research commissioned from the Université de Sherbrooke between 2024 and 2026 by the council of 44 chief and associate chief justices.
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July 10, 2026
This case deals with landlocked cottages and a dispute over a right-of-way within the Cressview Lakes Corporation.
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July 09, 2026
British Columbia has announced plans to open two new family law clinics to bring more in-person legal services to survivors of family violence. The new clinics, which will support people in Kamloops and Prince George, B.C., are part of the Family Law Centre network, a provincially funded service that provides free, trauma-informed legal support to people experiencing family violence.
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July 09, 2026
On July 8, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) released a statement on privacy-preserving age assurance. The statement, adopted at the G7 Data Protection and Privacy Authorities (G7 DPAs) Roundtable, emphasizes a commitment to children’s privacy and raises several key data protection issues being considered globally.
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July 08, 2026
Mediation doesn’t always end with a handshake. After 39 years of handling commercial and employment disputes, I can tell you that a failed mediation is not necessarily a failure of the process; often, it is useful information. It tells you something about where the parties actually stand, and it forces a decision that matters as much as anything that came before it: arbitration or litigation?
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July 08, 2026
Last week, I had a settlement conference scheduled at the Milton, Ont., courthouse on one of my “remaining” litigation files.
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July 08, 2026
Prince Edward Island is bringing internet access to those who lack it with portable hotspot devices available through the library — and there is “no reason” they could not be used for virtual court appearances, says a government spokesperson.
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July 07, 2026
The federal government has appointed Charlene J. Moore as a judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia (Family Division) in Sydney.
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July 06, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed new leaders to head two of Canada’s major trial courts. On July 6, Justice Alan Diner was appointed chief justice of the Federal Court, the national superior trial court that decides disputes in the federal domain. He succeeds Paul Crampton, who retired from the post Oct. 31, 2025.
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July 03, 2026
In-person litigants Kelly Eccles and Justin Eccles are racking up more travel miles in Alberta’s Court of Appeal, following Ms. Eccles’ latest appeal — appeal number seven, but who’s counting?
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July 03, 2026
Trial judges must be careful with their comments to lawyers and other parties to avoid the appearance of bias — particularly with family law matters, which often involve “difficult facts, difficult personalities and emotionally charged circumstances,” says a lawyer. The June 16 Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ruling in Stronach v. Stronach, 2026 NSCA 47 involved a parenting and child support dispute.
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July 03, 2026
The International Bar Association’s (IBA) recent report marks a meaningful demographic milestone: women now form a majority of the Canadian legal profession. Combined with the historic female majority on the Supreme Court of Canada, it signals progress that deserves recognition.