Template:Short description The Parliament of Canada has exclusive legislative authority over marriage and divorce in Canada under section 91(26) of the Constitution Act, 1867. However, section 92(12) of the Constitution Act, 1867 gives the provincial legislatures the power to pass laws regulating the solemnization of marriage.

The marriage rate in Canada has been declining over the years. In 2001, there were 146,618 marriages in Canada, down 6.8% from 157,395 in 2000,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but by 2020, there were only 98,355 marriages registered in Canada, which was the lowest total since 1938.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Prince Edward Island had the highest crude marriage rate (6.5 per 1,000 people) and Quebec had the lowest (3.0).

Marriage ceremonies in Canada can be either civil or religious. Marriages may be performed by members of the clergy, marriage commissioners, judges, justices of the peace or clerks of the court, depending on the laws of each province and territory regulating marriage solemnization. In 2001, the majority of Canadian marriages (76.4%) were religious, with the remainder (23.6%) being performed by non-clergy.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Canada nationally since 2005. Court decisions, starting in 2003, had already legalized same-sex marriage in eight out of ten provinces and one of three territories.

Marriage restrictionsEdit

ConsanguinityEdit

The federal Marriage (Prohibited Degrees) Act, Section 2<ref>Marriage (Prohibited Degrees) Act, SC 1990, c. 46.</ref> prevents the following persons from getting married:

  1. Subject to subsection (2), persons related by consanguinity, affinity or adoption are not prohibited from marrying each other by reason only of their relationship.
  2. No person shall marry another person if they are related lineally, or as brother or sister or half-brother or half-sister, including by adoption.

Consent of the spousesEdit

Both parties must freely consent. Forcing somebody to get married is a criminal offence under s. 293.1 of the Criminal Code.<ref name="Criminal Code">Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c. C-46.</ref> In addition, s. 2.1 of the Civil Marriage Act stipulates, "Marriage requires the free and enlightened consent of two persons to be the spouse of each other."<ref name="Civil Marriage Act">Civil Marriage Act, SC 2005, c. 33.</ref>

Age of the spousesEdit

Since 2015, federal law has set the absolute minimum marriageable age at 16.<ref>Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, SC 2015, c 29, http://canlii.ca/t/52m2q retrieved on 2018-06-24</ref> Provinces and territories may set a minimum age higher than that.<ref name=Leg-Sum-BillS7>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In Canada the age of majority is set by province/territory at 18 or 19, so persons under this age have additional restrictions (i.e. parental and court consent). Section 293.2 of the Criminal Code also addresses marriages of individuals under the age of 16, reading: Everyone who celebrates, aids or participates in a marriage rite or ceremony knowing that one of the persons being married is under the age of 16 years is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.<ref name="Criminal Code"/> Section 2.2 of the Civil Marriage Act also states: No person who is under the age of 16 years may contract marriage.<ref name="Civil Marriage Act"/> These provisions were enacted in 2015.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Before 2015, it was possible for children less than 16 years old to get married in some jurisdictions of Canada, with parental consent or a court order.<ref name="Leg-Sum-BillS7"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (The legal marriage age with parental consent was possibly as low as 7 in some Canadian jurisdictions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>)

Minimum age by province and territoryEdit

  • British Columbia: 19, or 16 with parental consent.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Alberta: 18, or 16 with consent of all parents and legal guardians.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Saskatchewan: 18, or 16 with a "Consent to Marriage of a Minor" form signed and completed by the parent(s) or guardian(s) in the presence of a Saskatchewan marriage licence issuer, clergy or any person authorized to take affidavits. "If the parent(s) or guardian(s) refuse to consent to the marriage, the minor can apply to a judge of either the provincial or Queen's Bench court for an order dispensing with their consent. The minor may obtain the judge's order by applying to a court house in Saskatchewan."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Manitoba: 18, or 16 (with judicial consent).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Ontario: 18, or 16 with written consent from both sets of parents.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Quebec: 18, or 16 with authorization from the courts.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • New Brunswick: 18, or 16 with an affidavit of consent signed by parents or guardians.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Nova Scotia: 19, or 16 with a signed consent form.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Prince Edward Island: 18, or 16 with a consent form signed by parent(s).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Newfoundland and Labrador: 19, or younger wherein "special consents may be required."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Yukon: 19, or younger with consent of parent(s) or legal guardian(s).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Northwest Territories: 19, or younger with parental consent.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Nunavut: 19, or 16 with parental consent.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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DivorceEdit

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Year Rate
1950 39.3
1951 37.6
1952 39.1
1953 41.5
1954 38.7
1955 38.6
1956 37.3
1957 40.3
1958 36.8
1959 37.4
1960 39.1
1961 36.0
1962 36.4
1963 40.6
1964 44.7
1965 45.7
1966 51.2
1967 54.8
1968 54.8
1969 124.2
1970 139.8
1971 135.2
1972 145.8
1973 163.2
1974 197.4
1975 218.7
1976 231.2
1977 233.4
1978 238.5
1979 245.7
1980 253.0
1981 272.6
1982 280.4
1983 270.3
1984 254.5
1985 239.8
1986 300.0
1987 363.8
1988 311.7
1989 296.9
1990 283.4
1991 274.7
1992 278.6
1993 272.7
1994 272.0
1995 264.9
1996 241.6
1997 225.4
1998 229.1
1999 233.2
2000 231.8
2001 229.2
2002 223.8
2003 223.9
2004 218.0
2005 221.0
2006 229.3
2007 222.2
2008 210.8
2009 206.9
2010 204.9
2011 199.6
2012 197.4
2013 187.6
2014 177.0
2015 170.8
2016 172.8
2017 170.4
2018 165.5
2019 151.4
2020 112.9

Termination of marriage in Canada is covered by the federal Divorce Act.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

A divorce may be granted for one of the following reasons:

  • the marriage has irretrievably broken down, and the two parties have been living apart for a year (s.8(2)(a) of the Act)
  • one party has committed adultery (s.8(2)(b)(i) of the Act)
  • one party has treated the other party "with physical or mental cruelty of such a kind as to render intolerable the continued cohabitation of the spouses" (s.8(2)(b)(ii) of the Act)

Key headings of the Divorce Act:

Divorce rates in Canada by yearEdit

This chart, with data from Statistics Canada, shows the amount of divorces per 100,000 residents of Canada from 1950 to 2020.<ref name="1950-2008 Canadian Divorce Rates"/><ref name="2008-2020" /> Template:Graph:Chart

Divorce rates in Canada by year of marriageEdit

This chart, with data from Statistics Canada, shows the amount of marriages from 1955 to 2004 that ultimately ended in divorce. The data was collected in 2004.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Graph:Chart

PolygamyEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In Canada, polygamy is a criminal offence,<ref name="Criminal Code"/> but prosecutions are rare. In March 2014, Winston Blackmore and James Oler were charged with polygamy;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> their prosecutions were the first such cases in Canada in over sixty-five years.<ref name=Lak2009-1-21>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2007, an independent prosecutor in British Columbia recommended that Canadian courts be asked to rule on the constitutionality of laws against polygamy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Supreme Court of British Columbia upheld Canada's polygamy laws in a 2011 reference case.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref>

On March 9, 2018, the Supreme Court of British Columbia reaffirmed the constitutionality of Canada's anti-polygamy laws,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> upholding the July 2017 polygamy convictions of Winston Blackmore and James Oler.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See alsoEdit

NotesEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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