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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.