Canada-wide divorce data · 2020
Canada’s divorce rate is 5.6 per 1,000 married persons
It measures people who divorced against the legally married population. It does not mean 5.6% of marriages ended.
Reviewed July 2026Source: Statistics Canada
In 2020, Canada’s divorce rate was 5.6 people divorced per 1,000 married people, and courts granted 42,933 divorces. Statistics Canada also reported a preliminary 50-year total divorce rate of about 28%. That percentage is a period estimate based on 2020 divorce patterns, not a forecast for marriages beginning today.
Fifty-year view
Canada’s divorce trend has two different peaks
The annual count peaked in 1987. The comparable married-person rate peaked in 1992. Keeping the two measures separate avoids a common mistake in summaries of Canadian divorce data.
Source: Statistics Canada table 39-10-0051-01. 2019 and 2020 are preliminary; 2020 court disruption likely reduced recorded grants.
View selected chart data
| Year | Divorces granted |
|---|---|
| 1970 | 29,301 |
| 1975 | 51,078 |
| 1980 | 62,577 |
| 1985 | 63,021 |
| 1987 | 97,773 |
| 1990 | 81,195 |
| 1995 | 79,602 |
| 2000 | 73,005 |
| 2005 | 71,985 |
| 2010 | 69,684 |
| 2015 | 60,963 |
| 2019 | 56,937 |
| 2020 | 42,933 |
Source: Statistics Canada table 39-10-0051-01. 2019 and 2020 are preliminary; 2020 court disruption likely reduced recorded grants.
View selected chart data
| Year | Per 1,000 married persons |
|---|---|
| 1991 | 12.7 |
| 1992 | 13 |
| 1995 | 12.6 |
| 1998 | 10.9 |
| 2001 | 11.1 |
| 2004 | 10.6 |
| 2007 | 10.9 |
| 2010 | 10.1 |
| 2013 | 9.3 |
| 2016 | 8.6 |
| 2019 | 7.5 |
| 2020 | 5.6 |
The federal Divorce Act established a national court-based framework for divorce.
Reforms reduced the separation period and preceded the 1987 surge in completed divorces.
The comparable married-person rate series starts here because earlier population estimates included common-law unions.
Use the right denominator
Three divorce numbers people often confuse
Each number answers a different question. They should never be swapped in a headline or used as if they described the same group.
Per 1,000 married persons
Persons who divorced in 2020 divided by the legally married population, including separated people who remained legally married.
Use it to compare the annual incidence of divorce among married people.Per 1,000 total population
Divorce cases in 2020 divided by Canada’s total population, including children and people who were not married.
Use it only when a crude population rate is required.50-year total divorce rate
A synthetic estimate assuming 2020 duration-specific rates continued. It ignores mortality and migration and was distorted by court disruption.
Do not call it the lifetime risk for today’s marriages.Courts granted 42,933 divorces in Canada in 2020. That same year works out to 5.6 persons divorced per 1,000 married persons, and to 1.129 divorces per 1,000 total population. Each figure counts a different group on top and divides by a different population below, which is why one year produces three different-looking numbers.
Who divorced in 2020
Age and marriage duration add context to the rate
These measures describe the people and marriages that ended in divorce in 2020. They do not describe every married Canadian or predict how long a current marriage will last.
Over time, divorce became less common among younger married people, while rates for older groups changed less dramatically. That helps explain why “grey divorce” can make up a larger share of divorces even when the overall rate is falling. The official figures show a shift in who is divorcing; they do not prove any single social cause.
Coverage gap
What official divorce statistics count, and what they miss
Recorded in the Canadian Vital Statistics – Divorce Database.
- Married couples who separate without a divorce
- Common-law partners who separate
- Applications delayed or not completed in the reference year
A falling divorce rate does not mean every kind of relationship breakdown is becoming less common. In Ontario, property and support rules can also differ sharply between married and common-law partners. See our guide to common-law relationships for the legal distinction.
Legal context
The Divorce Act defines grounds, not the personal causes of a breakup
Under section 8 of Canada’s Divorce Act, marriage breakdown can be established through one year of living separate and apart, adultery, or physical or mental cruelty. Those are legal routes to a divorce order. They are not a national survey ranking the reasons relationships fail.
What does it cost to file for divorce in Ontario?
The official fees add up to $669 before legal fees or other case costs.
- File the application$214
- Place it on the hearing list$445
- Federal divorce registry fee$10
- Filing and listing fees$669
This total does not include legal advice, document preparation, motions, mediation, expert evidence or a contested hearing.
Source: Ontario family court fees.
For help with the process, read about divorce lawyers in Toronto, preparing for a family-law consultation, or Legal Aid Ontario.
Methods & sources
How to read and reuse this data
This page uses official national tables and keeps annual rates separate from multi-year measures. The newest national divorce figures currently available are for 2020; Statistics Canada and Justice Canada updated the underlying material in 2026.
Statistics Canada table 39-10-0051-01
Divorce counts, crude rates, married-person rates, duration and the conditional 50-year total divorce rate.
Open the official tableDownload the official CSV
Statistics Canada table 39-10-0052-01
Mean and median age at divorce and at marriage for people who divorced in a given year.
Open the official tableDownload the official CSV
Department of Justice Canada · June 2026
Official synthesis of marriage and divorce trends through the latest available divorce reference period.
Read the Justice Canada reportCounts are rounded. Statistics Canada marks 2019 and 2020 as preliminary and potentially underestimated. The pandemic disrupted court access in 2020. Common-law breakups and married separations without a legal divorce are outside the divorce database.
FAQs About Divorce in Canada
What is the divorce rate in Canada?
The latest national figures show 5.6 persons divorced per 1,000 married persons in 2020. Statistics Canada marks 2019 and 2020 as preliminary, and court disruption likely reduced recorded divorces in 2020.
How Many Marriages End in Divorce in Canada Each Year?
Canadian courts granted 42,933 divorces in 2020, the lowest annual count since 1973. This counts legal divorces, not all separations or common-law breakups.
What percentage of Canadian marriages end in divorce?
Statistics Canada’s preliminary 2020 period measure was about 28%. It estimates what would happen if the divorce rates observed at each marriage duration in 2020 continued for 50 years. It is not a forecast for today’s marriages, and court disruptions make 2020 a poor year to use for one.
How long did marriages ending in divorce last in 2020?
Marriages that ended in divorce in 2020 had lasted 15.3 years on average. That figure describes marriages that divorced in that year; it is not the average length of every Canadian marriage.
Are common-law separations included in Canada’s divorce rate?
No. Official divorce statistics cover the legal dissolution of marriages. They do not count common-law separations or married couples who separate without completing a divorce.
What are the legal grounds for divorce in Canada?
Under section 8 of the Divorce Act, marriage breakdown can be established through one year of living separate and apart, adultery, or physical or mental cruelty. These are legal grounds, not a survey of the personal reasons relationships end.
What are the Ontario court filing and listing fees for a divorce?
Ontario lists $214 to file an application and $445 to place it on the hearing list. A divorce claim also carries a $10 federal registry fee, for $669 in filing and listing fees. This excludes legal fees and other case costs.
Related Nussbaum Law resources
Reviewed: July 2026 · Latest national reference period: 2020 · Charts may be reused with attribution to Nussbaum Law and the named Statistics Canada table. This page provides general information, not legal advice.
