New Conjugal Harmony: Divorce Rate Drops in Canada

Evelyn Jacks

The divorce rate has dropped by one third in Canada since 2016, in a surprising statistical table published by Statistics Canada this week. This is contrary to the reports by some divorce lawyers who saw a spike in inquiries during the pandemic. Was this new family harmony an anomaly or was there a pandemic blip in the numbers? 

New statistics tell the real story. For tax and financial advisors, however, it’s important to take some time to revisit family financial planning opportunities, and especially to understand whether family structure has changed, especially as tax filing season comes to an official close on June 15.

In fact, the divorce rate is down 35% from 1.728 in 2016 to 1.129 in 2020.  And, on the median (the middle value of all the numbers),  marriages lasted 13.4 years in Canada in 2016; by 2020 that had dropped to 12.8 years.  However, on the average, the stats haven’t changed that much. 

Back in 1970, couples married at an average age of 23.6 and the average marriage lasted to age 38.8.  Fast forward to 2020, age 30.7 was the mean age of marriage and 46 the average age of divorce. . . in both cases, about 15 years.

On the flip side, divorce proceedings may be taking a little longer and quite likely are a lot more expensive.  According to the Vanier Institute:  one in four marriages will end in divorce:

During the early months of the pandemic. . .”there was a major decline in number of divorces, compared with previous years. Nearly 43,000 divorces were granted in Canada in 2020 (the lowest number since 1973), following a record annual decline of 25% from the 57,000 recorded in 2019. Along with the number of divorces, the divorce rate also dropped, from 7.5 per 1,000 married persons in 2019 to 5.6 per 1,000 in 2020.  While the monthly number of divorce applications filed fell sharply beginning in March 2020, the data show that, by July 2020, this number recovered to a level similar to that seen in previous years.”

Bottom line:  Family life continues to change in Canada and especially because younger people tend to marry later, it’s important to check in on the need for a prenuptual agreement, wills, powers of attorney, health care directives and asset valuation and management when things change.

Because personal finance is challenging for many, a primer personal financial planning issues can be very helpful. Professional advisors may wish to purchase a CE Savvy Collection for their clients to help with time management: check out the Finding Financial Freedom Collection at half price until June 15 with code CESAVVY50.