The Divorce Rate in Canada: Grey Divorce vs The COVID-19 Effect

The pandemic has been a difficult time for many as COVID-19  put a sharp stop to daily life. Jobs were lost, businesses fell apart, and a great many lives were taken as a result of the coronavirus. If a loss was not suffered, stress and feelings of uncertainty about the near future significantly increased as the virus proved to be uncontainable. Moreover, nationwide lockdowns and mandatory quarantines added extra strain and pressure to households affected by great financial blows.

This added tension that families and couples felt due to the pandemic has led many family law insiders to believe that COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the divorce rate in Canada. With a general increase in divorce filings, it’s only plausible to note that the coronavirus has had a grand effect on the number of divorces aha the divorce rate. However, the question most important to answer is not whether COVID-19 has increased divorce rates in Canada, as it is instead far more beneficial to explore how the pandemic has impacted the separation process along with the culture of marriage and divorce.

With or without a pandemic, any marriage is susceptible to facing certain problems that may define their relationship. Life coach and writer for Marriage.com, Shellie Warren, states that “financial troubles can be categorized as one of the biggest causes of divorce,” adding that a lack of money or a difference in how spouses spend money can add a major strain within a marriage. Due to the millions of jobs and businesses lost because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is no surprise that marriages with existing money struggles experienced greater financial stress under lockdown.

Many couples viewed this added financial tension as the final straw and filed for divorce amid the pandemic. Yet, long before COVID-19, family lawyers have seen a strong correlation between economic downturns and an increase in divorce, as noted by Olivia Bowden of Global News. Of course, this correlation between financial crises and marriage break-ups does not signify causation as there are other factors that have affected the overall increase of divorce during the pandemic.

The general confinement is another aspect of COVID-19 that has added pressure on all relationships, especially marriages. The abrupt change in daily routines has forced couples to rethink and redesign their day-to-day lives. On a regular basis, healthy and strong communication is needed in order to overcome difficult challenges, but the uncertainty of the pandemic proved to be too much for some couples, leading to divorce – a solution that has most likely been in the back of their minds for months now.

It’s only natural to assume that the difficulties of lockdown have brought a lot of underlying issues within a marriage to the surface. Facing these pre-existing relationship troubles is much more difficult when life is far from normal. Yet, it is not so much the rate at which marriages end in divorce that have been greatly affected by COVID-19, as it is the overall culture and process of separating that has been drastically impacted.

Ever since the start of the pandemic, society has changed in dramatic ways to prevent the spread and outbreak of COVID-19. Due to these institutional adjustments that have come as a result of the pandemic, family law and the courts have been dramatically backed up, and civil courts, which are responsible for handling all divorce cases, are no exception.

Before the coronavirus, a study of the divorce statistics in Canada conducted by the government in 2010-2011 proved that a majority of divorces “were granted within six months after the [case] was first filed,” demonstrating that lengthy divorce processes were often uncommon. However, due to a nation-wide lockdown order, court cases have been dramatically delayed as all legal proceedings had to shift away from physical interaction to online avenues. The lengthy divorce process caused by the pandemic would normally deter an increase in divorce case filings, however, the recent rise in divorce has proven otherwise.

Therefore, even though the process of filing for a divorce has changed considerably due to the drastic delay in court proceedings caused by safety measures taken in response to COVID-19, couples still choose to divorce. Previously, as noted by the same study mentioned above, less than half of all divorce cases took more than 2 years to finalize. Yet, that number could be expected to double due to the holdup in court cases caused by the recent implementation of mandatory quarantine practices.

As a result, these substantial changes to the divorce process have significantly altered the culture of divorce, and subsequently marriage. This is because divorce has now become a much more difficult and tiring process than it was in previous years. The cost, time, and procedure of divorce, all affected by COVID-19, is now a significant factor in how couples will legally separate – not whether they will. Therefore, it could be inferred that the coronavirus has impacted the way people proceed with legal divorce actions, inevitably affecting the way in which society responds to marriage break-ups.

The pandemic has not only affected the legal proceedings of divorce and marriage, but it has also impacted the ability for individuals to reach out to trusted friends and family when going through a separation. This is because health officials urge friends and family to limit visiting one another, as physical contact increases the spread of the virus. Therefore, quarantine has been extremely difficult for those going through a divorce because they have to navigate the separation process alone.

Furthermore, couples that have children who are considering divorce must think about how their separation under COVID-19 would affect being with their kids. If a couple makes the decision to live separately throughout the process of divorce, issues with child visitation rights could arise as health officials discourage physical gatherings to minimize the spread of the virus. Moreover, most couples do not have the financial resources nor the capability to physically separate as staying inside is necessary for successful and safe quarantine.

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