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June 05, 2026
When a Canadian court or tribunal finds that a party has relied on a case that does not exist, the consequence is far from uniform. In one decision, the lawyer responsible was ordered to pay $17,550 in costs personally. In another, the order was $100. In 60 of the 177 decisions we reviewed, the adjudicator identified the problem but imposed no consequence at all.
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June 04, 2026
The Tax Court of Canada has “reluctantly” upheld a finding that a father who cannot be removed from Canada but is not a “protected person” under immigration law is ineligible for the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), noting he had fallen through a crack in the legal system that the court first identified nearly 25 years ago.
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June 04, 2026
As a civil litigation lawyer who has practised in Ontario for more than two decades, I have spent much of my career navigating the province’s justice system.
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June 04, 2026
Newfoundland and Labrador has passed legislative changes that will have the province’s Unified Family Court expanded to the island of Newfoundland. With this, the province’s Supreme Court will have responsibility for all family justice matters “for the island portion of the province” — and in so doing take pressure off the provincial court to allow it more time in dealing with criminal justice.
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June 04, 2026
Clark Wilson has added Mackenzie Do as an associate in its family law and estates and trusts groups in Vancouver.
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June 04, 2026
Ross v. Luypaert is another interesting case from the Court of Appeal in Ontario. In this case, the two daughters of John Douglas Ross and Regine Ross, Yonna and Lorraine, are the litigation guardians of their incapable parents. The parents owned a property (Property A) jointly with their son, Rene Luypaert. Regine Ross solely owned another property (Property B), which was occupied by their son.
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June 03, 2026
In one of the most closely watched family law decisions in recent Canadian legal history, the Supreme Court of Canada issued a fractured ruling in Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia, 2026 SCC 16, a case arising from a marriage marred by intimate partner violence.
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June 03, 2026
The issuance of USCIS Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199 has generated significant concern among foreign nationals living and working in the United States on temporary visas, particularly Canadian professionals employed in the U.S. The memorandum has also raised questions among Canadian citizens sponsored for permanent residence through marriage or close family relationships with U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. Much of the concern centres on whether the memorandum signals a shift away from adjustment of status inside the United States and toward mandatory immigrant visa processing through U.S. consulates abroad.
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June 02, 2026
Much of the debate around Bill C-223 has been framed at the level of principle. Critics argue that the bill’s prohibition on parental alienation evidence will harm children. Supporters argue that parental alienation allegations have become a mechanism for silencing protective parents.
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June 01, 2026
The B.C. government is asking for public input on the future of child care in the province.
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May 29, 2026
In Block v. Block, 2026 BCSC 386, after a 12-day trial that involved the setting aside of a separation agreement based on Cyrus Paul Block’s failure to disclose his vast business interests, the trial judge made several property and support orders in favour of Deborah Ann Block, with payments to be made to her by her husband, Cyrus.
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May 29, 2026
The reaction to the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia, 2026 SCC 16 has been immediate and intense. Supporters of the decision have celebrated the recognition of a new tort of intimate partner violence as transformative for survivors, while critics have warned that the decision will fundamentally alter family litigation, reintroduce fault into family law and dramatically increase acrimony between separating spouses.
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May 27, 2026
A spouse who waits years to challenge a separation agreement may discover that even a successful application under s. 56(4) of the Family Law Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.3 gets them nothing. The application to set aside is timely. The equalization claim is not.
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May 27, 2026
There are moments in legal practice that leave a lasting impression — not because the law was difficult, or because the facts were complicated, but because the system itself failed the very people it was designed to protect.
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May 27, 2026
These days, there is a lot of chatter about AI replacing jobs — even those of professionals like doctors and lawyers. But the role of AI isn’t really to prepare a case for someone; there is far too much nuance to the practice of immigration law, and to what makes most cases successful, than can be boiled down to a formula that can be followed by AI. That said, more and more of the initial vetting of ideas regarding what kinds of status one might qualify for is being done through AI, with mixed results.
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May 27, 2026
I have a friend (yes, indeed, I have a couple) who practises personal injury law. This past weekend he called me after reading about the Ahluwalia decision (Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia, 2026 SCC 16). He visited and over tea, he asked me a simple question (really, a couple).
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May 26, 2026
It will be a jam-packed June of legal conferences at the Law Society of Saskatchewan, featuring sessions on child well-being in mediation, tribunal decision writing and the drafting of legislative documents in the environmental realm.
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May 26, 2026
I was part of the earlier cohort of lawyers in England and Wales when coercive control was criminalized under s. 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015. I still remember showing up at court in those early days of the newly criminalized offence and reviewing charge sheets where both defence counsel and Crown prosecutors were trying to navigate entirely new legal territory.
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May 26, 2026
The Federal Court has ordered Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to decide a spousal sponsorship permanent residence application within 90 days, finding the government failed to adequately explain why the application had remained unresolved for nearly seven years.
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May 26, 2026
Canada is on the verge of closing a significant gap on how the law understands abuse. Bill C-16, the Protecting Victims Act, would create a standalone criminal offence for coercive and controlling conduct in intimate partner relationships, recognizing that a pattern of non-physical behaviour can be as harmful as a single act of violence. This shift reflects growing legal recognition of coercive control as a serious form of family violence, most notably in the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision in Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia, 2026 SCC 16.
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May 26, 2026
Appeal by Janif from an order dismissing her claim for unequal division of family property. Janif owned a townhouse prior to the marriage, which was excluded property, but the increase in its value during the relationship constituted family property. The only issue at trial was whether equal division of that increase would be significantly unfair.
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May 25, 2026
Lawyers must speak up about irregularities in the processes of trial proceedings, says one involved in a family law matter where a mother was denied “natural justice” after being made to testify ahead of those challenging her in court.
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May 25, 2026
Amid a whirlwind of technology around us, sometimes age-old presentations still shine and are most useful in presenting our cases, regardless of forum. The longstanding “Table” feature in Word is a presentation tool that has stood the test of time.
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May 22, 2026
Below I answer these questions: What is the new law? What must a victim prove? How can a victim prove her injuries? How will judges calculate compensation?
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May 22, 2026
Artificial intelligence (AI) has already had a profound impact on the Canadian justice and legal system. In the realm of family law especially — where self-represented litigants are especially prevalent — the use of AI has increased sharply.