By Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce · Published · Updated
One year's residency in Ontario, one year's separation, and no separation certificate exists — but equalization of net family property applies to married spouses only, which is the fact that surprises people most.
Divorce itself is federal law, but in Ontario the property, court, and process rules that shape your negotiation are provincial — and a few of them work differently than almost anywhere else in Canada.
| Residency requirement | One spouse must have been habitually resident in Ontario for at least 1 year immediately before starting the divorce application (Divorce Act s.3(1)). |
|---|---|
| Grounds | Marriage breakdown, shown by: 1 year living separate and apart (most common), adultery, or physical/mental cruelty (Divorce Act s.8). You can be separated while still under the same roof if you've stopped functioning as a couple, and spouses can attempt reconciliation for up to 90 days without resetting the separation clock. |
| Waiting period | You can file before the 1-year separation is complete, but a judge won't grant the divorce on that ground until the year has passed. Once granted, the divorce order takes effect on the 31st day after it's made, unless it's appealed. |
| Legal separation | Ontario has no legal separation status and issues no separation certificate. You are separated as soon as one spouse decides the relationship is over and acts on it — you can even be separate and apart under the same roof. A separation agreement is a private written contract, not a court order. |
| If you were never married | No automatic property division. Ontario's equalization of net family property applies to married spouses only — a common-law partner keeps what is in their own name and must bring an unjust enrichment claim to share in the rest. The matrimonial home rules do not apply either. |
| Where you file | Superior Court of Justice — the only court that can grant a divorce or divide property in Ontario (the Ontario Court of Justice cannot). File at the Family Court branch in one of the 25 unified locations, or the Superior Court's family branch elsewhere. Most forms can also be filed online through the Ontario Courts Public Portal or Family Submissions Online. |
| Filing fee | Payable when you file the Application for Divorce. Set by regulation and revised from time to time. A separate federal Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings fee also applies and cannot be waived. A fee waiver is available if you cannot afford it (Form 4F). Filing fees are set by the court and change without notice: check the current schedule on the court's own website before you file, and ask about a fee waiver if the cost is a barrier. |
| Starting forms | Form 8A – Application (Divorce), for a simple divorce-only case filed alone or jointly; Form 8 – Application (General), for contested cases or ones combined with property, support, or parenting claims; Form 36 – Affidavit for Divorce, filed later to ask a judge to grant the order. |
| Simplified option | Yes — a 'simple divorce' using Form 8A (divorce only, no contested property, support, or parenting claims) can be filed alone or jointly with your spouse, and much of it can be done online. |
Keeping track of dates like these across a stack of letters is exactly what SortMyDivorce does — start a free trial, no card needed.
The Divorce Act (federal) ends the marriage, but property division in Ontario runs through the province's Family Law Act, using a formula called net family property (NFP) equalization. Each spouse calculates the value of everything they own on the date of separation, subtracts what they owned on the date of marriage (with some exclusions), and the spouse with the higher NFP pays half the difference to the other. It's an equalization payment, not a physical division of assets — so it's common in Ontario for one spouse to keep the house and the other to receive an equivalent payment or offsetting assets instead.
One detail that trips people up: Ontario values property as of the date of separation, not the date of trial or settlement. That means the valuation date itself can become a point of dispute — if asset values moved a lot between separation and now, both sides have an incentive to argue about exactly when 'separation' happened. Most divorce and property matters proceed through the Superior Court of Justice, though in some regions the file goes through a unified Family Court branch; smaller support or parenting-only matters can sometimes be heard in the Ontario Court of Justice. There are also time limits for bringing an equalization claim, so this isn't something to leave indefinitely — confirm current deadlines with a family lawyer or the Ontario court website.
The matrimonial home gets treatment in Ontario that surprises a lot of people, and it's worth understanding early because it changes how you should read any letter that mentions the house. Normally, property you owned before the marriage is deducted from your NFP — you don't have to share the value you brought in. The matrimonial home is the exception: if the home you and your spouse lived in at separation was owned by one of you before the marriage, that pre-marriage value is not deductible. In effect, the full value of the matrimonial home at separation is on the table for equalization, regardless of who bought it or when.
There's a related trap with excluded property like gifts and inheritances. Normally those amounts are excluded entirely from equalization. But if that money was used to buy, renovate, or pay down the matrimonial home, the exclusion can be lost. If a letter references an inheritance that went into the house, or a home owned by one spouse before the relationship, that's exactly the kind of fact worth flagging and tracking with its supporting documents rather than letting it get glossed over in correspondence.
Ontario's disclosure expectations are detailed, and preparing early is free leverage. Start pulling together: three years of tax returns and notices of assessment; recent pay statements; statements for every bank, investment, RRSP, TFSA, and pension account; mortgage and property tax records for any real estate, including anything owned before the marriage; and corporate or business financials if either spouse is self-employed or owns a company. Because the valuation date matters so much in Ontario, try to establish account and property values as close to the separation date as possible — old statements from around that time are worth tracking down now, before they're harder to find.
If a gift, inheritance, or pre-marriage asset is part of the picture, gather the paper trail showing where that money came from and where it went. Given the matrimonial-home exclusion rules above, tracing this correctly can materially change the equalization outcome.
Ontario requires most parties starting a family court case — including many divorce and parenting matters — to attend a Mandatory Information Program (MIP) session before the case can move to a case conference. MIP is a short group session, typically offered in person or virtually through the court, covering the separation process, options like mediation, and the effects of conflict on children. It's procedural, not optional in most contested cases, so it's worth booking early rather than treating it as a formality to deal with later.
Parenting matters follow the best-interests-of-the-child standard, and child support generally follows the Federal Child Support Guidelines and the applicable table amount based on income and the number of children. As elsewhere, courts and mediators respond better to specific, concrete parenting proposals than vague ones.
There is no such thing as filing for legal separation in Ontario. There is no application, no court process and no document that makes you separated. You are separated once one of you has decided the relationship is over and has begun behaving that way — and only one of you has to want it.
You also do not have to be living in different homes. Ontario recognises being separate and apart under the same roof: same address, but no longer sleeping together, eating together, socialising as a couple or otherwise living as partners. Couples who cannot afford two households often separate this way, and it still counts.
What people usually mean by "getting legally separated" is making a separation agreement — a written contract between the two of you covering support, property and parenting. It is not a court order, but it is binding, and it is generally faster and cheaper than going to court. The date you separated matters on its own account: it starts the one-year clock for a no-fault divorce and it is the valuation date for dividing family property, so it is worth being able to evidence when it was.
This is the single most misread rule in Ontario family law. Living together for years, however committed the relationship, does not create property rights. Equalization of net family property — the mechanism that splits the growth in each spouse's wealth over the marriage — applies to married spouses only.
For a common-law partner the default is blunt: you keep what is in your name, they keep what is in theirs, and neither of you shares in the increase in the other's property over the relationship. The special protections attached to the matrimonial home do not apply either, so a partner who is not on title has no automatic right to stay.
The route through is an unjust enrichment claim — showing that it would be unfair for your partner to leave with property you helped build. It is available, it is well established, and it is hard: you have to prove the contribution and the resulting enrichment, and success does not automatically mean half. Which is why a cohabitation agreement, made while things are calm, does far more work in Ontario than in provinces where the statute already covers you.
1) Build your disclosure binder now, prioritizing values as close to your actual separation date as possible, since that date anchors the whole equalization calculation. 2) Flag anything related to the matrimonial home immediately — pre-marriage ownership, inheritances or gifts used toward it, renovations — and gather the tracing documents. 3) Get independent legal advice early; even one consultation can clarify how the equalization formula applies to your specific assets. 4) Check whether a Mandatory Information Program session is required in your case and book it rather than waiting. 5) Track every letter and every date it sets — Ontario correspondence often proposes valuation dates, disclosure deadlines, or settlement terms, and losing track of who proposed what can cost you later.
One of you must have lived in Ontario for the full year before filing, and you need a ground under the Divorce Act — almost always 1 year of separation, or occasionally adultery or cruelty. You can file before the year is up, but the judge won't grant the divorce until it's complete.
If you're only asking for the divorce itself with no contested property, support, or parenting issues, use Form 8A — alone (simple) or together with your spouse (joint). If issues are contested or combined with other claims, you'll need Form 8: Application (General) instead.
You need the original or a certified copy to file. If you married in Ontario and don't have it, ServiceOntario can issue one; if you married elsewhere, you may need a certified English translation. The court won't finalize the divorce without it unless Form 36 explains why you can't provide one.
File Form 8A (or Form 8) at the Family Court branch in one of Ontario's 25 unified locations, or the Superior Court's family branch elsewhere — the Ontario Court of Justice cannot grant a divorce. Most people can file online through the Ontario Courts Public Portal or Family Submissions Online, or in person.
Budget for the court filing fee, plus the separate federal Central Registry fee — both are published by the court, so check the current amounts before you file. If you receive Ontario Works, ODSP, or meet the income threshold, you can apply to waive fees using Form 4F.
A simple application filed alone must be formally served on your spouse under the Family Law Rules, giving them a chance to respond. Filing jointly with your spouse skips this step since you're applying together.
Once your case is uncontested and unopposed (or the response period has passed), file this sworn affidavit and pay the filing fee to place your file before a judge for review.
If a judge approves your file on the papers alone, the divorce order is issued but doesn't take effect until 31 days later. After that, you can request a Certificate of Divorce as official proof, needed for things like remarriage.
Not exactly. Ontario uses net family property equalization: each spouse's net gain during the marriage is calculated, and the spouse with the higher amount pays half the difference to the other, rather than physically dividing every asset in half.
It can matter less than you'd expect. Ontario generally does not allow a deduction for a matrimonial home's pre-marriage value the way it does for other property, so the full value at separation is often part of the equalization calculation regardless of who owned it first. Confirm the specifics with a family lawyer.
In most contested family cases, yes — Ontario generally requires attendance at a Mandatory Information Program session early in the court process. Check with your local courthouse or the Ontario court website for how and when to book it.
You do not file anything. In Ontario you are legally separated as soon as one spouse decides the relationship is over and starts acting on that decision — there is no form, no court process and no separation certificate. You can even be separated while living in the same home, as long as you are no longer living as a couple. What most people mean by getting legally separated is signing a separation agreement, a private written contract dealing with support, property and parenting.
Each partner keeps what they own. Ontario's equalization of net family property applies only to married spouses, so common-law partners have no automatic right to share in property or in the increase in its value over the relationship, and the matrimonial home protections do not apply. The main route to a share is an unjust enrichment claim, which means proving it would be unfair for your partner to keep property you helped build — and a successful claim does not necessarily produce half.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For support with intimate partner violence, contact the Assaulted Women's Helpline at 1-866-863-0511 — 24/7. For service in French, Fem'Aide is at 1-877-336-2433. ShelterSafe (sheltersafe.ca) maps shelters across Canada. For young people, Kids Help Phone answers 24/7 at 1-800-668-6868, or text CONNECT to 686868.
Last reviewed August 2026. Researched and written by Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice — laws, fees and forms change, so please confirm current details with the official sources above or a local family lawyer.
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