1985 Divorce Act

• Canadian divorce laws changed in 1968, allowing Canadian couples to be granted a divorce after a three-year separation. The 1985 Divorce Act allowed couples to get a divorce after one year of separation, and both spouses do not have to agree to the divorce. The court has to have proof that the marriage is unhealthy or emotionally disturbing for one or both parties.
  
  

Separation

• In order for a couple to be granted a divorce in Canada, they have to have been living apart for a full year before the divorce is filed--one of the three official grounds for divorce in Canada. The couple also has to be living apart at the beginning of the divorce proceedings or the divorce will not be granted. When a couple has not been living as husband and wife for that amount of time, it is likely that neither party desires to recover the marriage.
  
  

Adultery

• Adultery is another legal ground for divorce in Canada. When a spouse has an extramarital affair, the couple can legally be granted a divorce without having to have been living separately for one year. Committing adultery is also defined in the 1985 Divorce Act as one of the reasons for the "breakdown of the marriage."
  
  

Physical and Mental Cruelty

• The third and final legal reason a couple in Canada can divorce is physical or mental cruelty. When one or both spouses experience mental or physical abuse in the marriage to the point where conditions are intolerable, one or both parties have sufficient grounds for divorce. If neither party wants to undergo counseling or treatment for these problems, and can prove to the courts that living conditions have compromised their physical or emotional well-being, the couple will be able to end their marriage. Even though a year-long separation and adultery are the other two legal stipulations for divorce in Canada, those two factors do not have to be proven in order for the couple to divorce on the grounds of physical or mental cruelty.
  
  

Custody and Child Support

• Until and unless the Canadian courts decide otherwise, both parents have equal rights when it comes to take care of children and making important decisions that affect the child's health or education. If the court comes to the conclusion that one parent is more fit to care for the children, the other parent will be granted access, or visitation. The parent who does not have custody of the children is normally ordered to pay child support. The monthly amount for child support depends on the Canadian province that the paying parent lives in, the paying parent's income and the number of children receiving support.