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To file for divorce in Ontario, you file a divorce application with the Superior Court of Justice, alone or together with your spouse, and pay $224. If you apply alone, you serve your spouse and wait for the answer window to close. If no answer is filed, or right away in a joint case, you swear a Form 36 affidavit and pay $445 so a judge can decide it on the papers.
This guide is general information about Ontario's divorce process as of October 2026, not legal advice. Its rules come from federal and Ontario legislation, the Family Law Rules and the province's own court guides, and the main sources are linked where they appear.
Most people who ask how to file for divorce in Ontario are really asking two things at once: which application am I filing, and what happens after I file it. This guide answers the first with a two-question route finder, then walks the second from separation to the divorce certificate, marking which waits have a fixed time and which do not.
How to File for Divorce in Ontario: The Short Answer
These are the steps for an uncontested divorce, where your spouse does not oppose anything you ask the court for. Each one is explained further down.
- Check that you can file. One of you must have been habitually resident in Ontario for at least a year, and the usual way to prove the marriage has broken down is living separate and apart for a year.
- Get your marriage certificate. The court will not grant a divorce without it unless you explain why it is impractical to get.
- Choose your application. Form 8A if you want only the divorce, or if you apply jointly and agree on every order; Form 8 if you apply on your own and also ask for support, property or parenting orders.
- File and pay. File at the Superior Court of Justice in person or online, and pay $214 to Ontario plus a $10 federal fee.
- Serve your spouse, unless you applied jointly. Service must be done by an adult other than you.
- File your Form 36 affidavit once the answer window closes, or right away if you applied jointly, with a draft divorce order and the $445 fee to place the case before a judge.
- Wait for day 31. The divorce takes effect on the 31st day after it is granted, and then you can request the certificate.
Which Divorce Are You Filing? Joint, Simple or General
The route you take decides almost everything else: which form, whether your spouse has to be served, whether there is a waiting period for an answer, and whether you both attend the court's information program. Two questions settle it.
A joint divorce is filed by both spouses together on one Form 8A, with no respondent. Under Rule 36 of the Family Law Rules, the divorce and any other order in a joint application can be made only with both spouses' consent. Because nobody is served, there is no answer window, and each of you swears your own Form 36 affidavit.
A simple divorce is filed by one spouse on Form 8A, naming the other as respondent. Your spouse does not have to sign or agree: the federal Divorce Act lets either spouse apply. They are served and given a window to answer, and if they file nothing, the case goes ahead on your affidavit.
A general application on Form 8 is used when you apply on your own and ask for more than the divorce, such as child or spousal support, property division or parenting orders. Support and property claims usually bring a financial statement, and unless the case is proceeding on consent, parenting, support or property claims also bring an automatic order from the clerk that both spouses must follow and the information program. If your spouse files an answer disputing a claim, the case is defended and continues through the court process, which is where most people want a family lawyer beside them. Our guide to what a divorce costs in Ontario prices each of these routes.
Can You File for Divorce in Ontario?
Residency
An Ontario court can hear your divorce if either spouse has been habitually resident in Ontario for at least one year immediately before the case starts, under section 3 of the Divorce Act. If you and your spouse start cases in two provinces on different days, the court where the first case started keeps it and the second case is treated as discontinued.
The one ground for divorce
Canada has no-fault divorce. The only ground is breakdown of the marriage, which can be shown in three ways:
- Living separate and apart for at least one year before the judge decides the case, and being apart when you file. This is the way the Form 36 affidavit is set up to prove it.
- Adultery by the spouse the case is brought against.
- Physical or mental cruelty by that spouse that makes living together intolerable.
You do not have to wait out the year before you file, only before the divorce is granted. And if you move back in together for up to 90 days in total to try to reconcile, the year is not interrupted. The Department of Justice notes that some couples separate but keep living in the same house; whether that counts as being separated is something a court decides on the facts.
If you never married, or married here but live abroad
Common-law partners do not divorce, because there is no marriage to end. Their support rights come from Ontario's Family Law Act and parenting from the Children's Law Reform Act, but they have no automatic right to equalize property, and our guide to cohabitation agreements in Ontario sets out what those rights are.
If you married in Canada, have lived apart for at least a year, neither of you now lives here, and for at least a year each of you has lived somewhere that will not grant you a divorce because it does not recognize the marriage, the federal Civil Marriage Act lets you apply to the court in the province where you married. You apply together, or one of you applies with the other's consent or with a court order excusing that consent. That divorce ends the marriage only; support and other issues are left to the law where you live.
How to File for Divorce in Ontario, Step by Step
Here is the full process for a sole or joint divorce application, from separation to the certificate. The chart shows which waits are set by law or an official service standard, and which have no published time.
Step 1: Get your marriage certificate
The court cannot grant a divorce until a marriage certificate or marriage registration certificate has been filed, unless your application says it is impractical to get one and explains why. If you married in Ontario and do not have it, you can order a copy from ServiceOntario for a fee.
If you married outside Canada and the certificate is not in English, Ontario's court guide says you must have it translated by a certified translator. If you married outside Canada, you must also prove any earlier divorce, or the death of an earlier spouse, for either of you.
Step 2: Choose your form and your courthouse
Use Form 8A, Application (Divorce) if you apply alone for the divorce only, or if you both apply together, including for orders you both agree on. Use Form 8, Application (General) if you apply on your own and also ask for support, property or parenting orders. Both are free from the Ontario Court Forms library.
Divorces are decided by the Superior Court of Justice, not the Ontario Court of Justice. You start the case in the municipality where either spouse lives. If you are asking for orders about a child's decision-making or parenting time, it starts where the child habitually lives.
Step 3: File the application and pay
You can file at the courthouse or online. Most of Ontario uses the Family Submissions Online portal, and since 14 October 2025 online filings for the Toronto region go through the Ontario Courts Public Portal. Ontario's online filing page says court staff review documents within three business days, and the fees are the same online or at the counter.
When you file, you pay $214 to Ontario and a $10 federal fee to the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings. The clerk issues the application and gives you a court file number. No first court date is set at this point.
Step 4: Serve your spouse
In a sole application, the documents must be served on your spouse immediately, by special service. That means handing a copy to your spouse personally, leaving it with a lawyer who agrees in writing to accept it for them, mailing it with an acknowledgment card they sign and return, or leaving it at their home with an adult who lives there and mailing a second copy the same or next day.
You cannot serve the application yourself. It has to be done by someone at least 18, such as a friend, a family member or a professional process server. If it is not safe for anyone you know to do it and you cannot afford a process server, Ontario's guide to serving documents says court staff can arrange service for you. The person who served it then swears an affidavit of service, Form 6B, before a commissioner.
If you cannot find your spouse, you can ask the court for an order allowing substituted service, with evidence of the steps you took to locate them. A joint application skips this step entirely.
Step 5: The answer window
Your spouse has 30 days after being served to file an answer, or 60 days if they were served outside Canada and the United States. If no answer is filed, you can move to the next step on your own affidavit. If an answer disputes the divorce or another claim, the case is no longer uncontested.
Step 6: File the Form 36 affidavit and the draft order
Once the window has closed with no answer, or straight away in a joint application, you file:
- Form 36, Affidavit for Divorce, sworn before a commissioner. In a joint case, each spouse swears one. If you have children of the marriage, it must set out the child support arrangements and attach the income information the guidelines require.
- A draft divorce order, Form 25A, typed. The Family Law Rules call for three copies while Ontario's checklist asks for four, so confirm the number with your court office.
- A stamped envelope addressed to each spouse, so the court can mail you the signed order.
If you file online, you do not need the extra copies or the envelopes.
You also pay $445 to place the case before a judge. The court contacts the federal Central Registry for a clearance certificate confirming no other divorce case exists for either of you, and cannot grant the divorce until it arrives. A judge then reviews the papers and can grant the divorce as drafted, send the documents back for corrections, or ask for more evidence before deciding. In an uncontested case you usually do not appear in court.
Step 7: Day 31 and the certificate
A divorce takes effect on the 31st day after it is granted. An appeal delays that, and the court can make it effective sooner only in special circumstances where both spouses agree not to appeal. After that, either spouse can ask the court office where the case started for a divorce certificate for $25, online, in person or by mail, using the court file number. The certificate is proof of the date of your divorce.
You can remarry only once the divorce has taken effect, and under Ontario's Marriage Act the marriage licence issuer will ask to see proof of the divorce, such as the certificate.
What It Costs to File, and Getting the Fees Waived
The court fees for an Ontario divorce are the same on every route:
| Fee | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Filing the application (Ontario) | $214 | When you file |
| Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings (federal) | $10 | When you file |
| Placing the case before a judge (Ontario) | $445 | With your Form 36 |
| Divorce certificate (Ontario) | $25 | After the divorce takes effect |
A respondent who files an answer pays $171, or $214 plus the $10 federal fee if the answer also asks for a divorce. These are the amounts as of October 2026. Ontario's fees are scheduled for an inflation adjustment on 1 January 2027, so check the family court fees page after that date.
Can you get a divorce for free? The court may waive Ontario's fees if your gross household income is under $33,100 for one person, $49,600 for two, $57,300 for three, $68,700 for four or $80,200 for five or more, with liquid assets under $2,800 and net worth under $11,100. You may also qualify if your main income is Ontario Works, ODSP or certain other benefits, or your lawyer is paid by a Legal Aid certificate. If you are over these limits but still cannot afford the fees, you can ask for a judge to review your finances. Applying for a fee waiver is free, but it does not refund fees already paid. The $10 federal fee cannot be waived, although it is not charged to someone on legal aid whose Ontario filing fee is waived.
Court fees are the smallest part of most divorces. What a lawyer charges depends on how much is still to be agreed, and our Ontario divorce cost guide and Toronto family lawyer cost guide cover that side.
Filing Without a Lawyer, and Where to Get Help
You do not need a lawyer to file for divorce in Ontario, and many uncontested divorces are filed by the spouses themselves. Help is available at several levels:
- Family Law Information Centres across Ontario, in person or online, give free information about divorce, court processes and forms. Their staff do not give legal advice, but Legal Aid Ontario duty counsel, in person or virtually at courthouses, can review your forms and explain the law. Duty counsel mainly serve people on the day of a court appearance, which an uncontested divorce usually does not have.
- Limited scope help. Ontario's Family Law Rules let a lawyer take on part of your case, such as reviewing your application or drafting your affidavit, while you handle the rest yourself.
- A paralegal licensed as a family legal services provider can represent a party in an uncontested or joint divorce where the divorce is the only claim and both spouses ordinarily live in Canada.
- Legal Aid Ontario helps with family matters if your income is under its limits, which start at $18,795 a year for one person. Its family services page lists help with parenting and support issues and court representation, rather than divorce-only applications.
Where advice makes the biggest difference is anything beyond the divorce itself: children, support, property and pensions, a business, safety concerns, or a spouse you cannot find. Our guide to the situations where families need a lawyer goes through them, and Olanur can match you with an Ontario family lawyer for a single review or the whole case.
If You Have Children
A court will not grant a divorce until it is satisfied that reasonable arrangements have been made for the children's support, having regard to the child support guidelines. If those arrangements are missing, the divorce is put on hold until they are made. Your Form 36 is where you set them out.
Child support follows the Federal Child Support Guidelines, whose updated tables came into effect on 1 October 2025. The federal child support table look-up gives the base amount from the paying parent's income, the number of children and the province, and our guide to child support in Ontario explains what is added on top.
Since 1 March 2021, the Divorce Act speaks of decision-making responsibility and parenting time instead of custody and access, and our guide to child custody in Ontario explains how each is decided. If your case includes parenting, support or property claims, both of you attend the court's Mandatory Information Program within 45 days of the case starting, unless you are proceeding on consent. A divorce-only application is exempt.
What a Divorce Does Not Settle
A divorce ends the marriage. It does not divide property or set spousal support, it changes your will only in the limited way described below, and some deadlines start running the day it takes effect.
- Property. A married spouse's claim to equalize net family property must generally be started within two years of the divorce, six years after a separation with no reasonable prospect of getting back together, or six months after a spouse's death, whichever comes first. A separation agreement is the usual way to settle property and support without a court order.
- Spousal support is a separate claim, worked out from incomes, roles and the length of the relationship. Our guide to spousal support in Ontario shows how.
- Your will. Under section 17 of Ontario's Succession Law Reform Act, a divorce revokes gifts to a former spouse in your will and their appointment as executor, unless the will says otherwise. Nothing in that Act cancels a beneficiary designation on an RRSP, pension or insurance policy, so review those separately. Our estate planning guide shows which document controls which asset.
- "Legal separation." Separation is not a court filing. Under the Divorce Act you are separated once you live apart and at least one of you intends the relationship to be over.
Common Mistakes When Filing for Divorce in Ontario
- Using Form 8A for more than the divorce. Form 8A is for a divorce only, or for a joint case where every order is agreed. If you apply on your own, any support, property or parenting claim, even an agreed one, belongs on Form 8.
- Serving the application yourself. The rules require someone other than you, at least 18, and a sworn affidavit of service. A text, an email or a copy left on the doorstep is not special service.
- Forgetting the translation. A marriage certificate that is not in English needs a certified translation before it is filed.
- Filing the Form 36 too early. In a sole application the affidavit comes after the answer window has closed without an answer.
- Leaving out the children's support arrangements. The court has to see them before it can grant the divorce.
- Assuming the divorce settled property. It does not, and an equalization claim generally must be started within two years after the divorce or six years after separation, whichever comes first.
FAQs About Filing for Divorce in Ontario
Ontario does not publish a standard timeline, because it depends on the court and on whether the paperwork is complete. The law sets only a few clocks: a divorce based on separation cannot be granted until you have lived apart for a year, a served spouse has 30 days to answer (60 if served outside Canada and the United States), and once a judge grants the divorce it takes effect on the 31st day. Online filings are reviewed within three business days. The judge's review of the papers has no published time.
The court fees are $214 to file the application, a $10 federal fee, $445 to place the case before a judge and $25 for the divorce certificate, as of October 2026. Ontario's fees are scheduled for an inflation adjustment on 1 January 2027. Legal fees depend on what still has to be agreed, which our Ontario divorce cost guide breaks down.
Ontario's court fees can be waived if you qualify, for example with gross household income under $33,100 for one person and limited assets, or if your main income is Ontario Works or ODSP. If you are over the limits but cannot afford the fees, you can ask a judge to review your situation. Applying for the waiver is free. The $10 federal fee cannot be waived, but it is not charged to someone on legal aid whose Ontario filing fee is waived.
You do not need their signature. Either spouse can apply for a divorce alone by filing a simple application that names the other as respondent. Your spouse is served, and if they do not file an answer within 30 days (60 if served outside Canada and the United States), the case goes ahead on your affidavit. Only a joint application needs both signatures.
No. You must be living separate and apart when you file, and for a full year by the time the judge decides, so you can start the paperwork during the year. Living together again for up to 90 days in total to try to reconcile does not restart it. Adultery and cruelty, the other ways to prove breakdown, do not need a year apart.
Once the divorce has taken effect, usually on the 31st day after it was granted, ask the court office where your case started. You need the court location, the court file number and the year the divorce was granted. You can apply online, in person or by mail, and the fee is $25. The federal Central Registry cannot give you a copy.
Only once the divorce has taken effect, which is usually the 31st day after it is granted. Until then the marriage still exists. When you apply for a marriage licence in Ontario, the issuer will ask to see proof of the divorce, such as your divorce certificate or a certified copy of the order.
If you filed through the Ontario Courts Public Portal in Toronto, you can track your submission under My Filings, and the portal's case search covers family cases in the Toronto region. Outside Toronto, cases are searched through the Justice Services Online portal, or you can contact the court office. Family court files are generally open to the public unless a law, rule or court order restricts access, and in cases with parenting claims, most people other than the parties and their representatives must give the parties 10 days' written notice before viewing the documents.
There is no court filing for separation. Under the Divorce Act you are separated once you live apart and at least one of you intends the relationship to be over, and some couples separate while still under one roof. Many couples record the terms in a written separation agreement, which must be signed by both of you and witnessed to be enforceable.
Your Next Step
Knowing how to file for divorce in Ontario mostly comes down to your route: pick the right application, serve it properly if you filed alone, and give the judge a complete Form 36. If anything beyond the divorce is still open, such as children, support or property, that is where an hour with a family lawyer is worth having before you file. Olanur can match you with a verified Ontario family lawyer for a one-off review or full representation, and our short read on whether you need a lawyer at all can help you decide.
Disclaimer: This article is general information about filing for divorce in Ontario as of October 2026, not legal advice. Fees and procedures change; confirm current amounts on ontario.ca and speak with a licensed Ontario family lawyer about your own situation.
Priya Kapoor
Family, Real Estate & Criminal Law Contributor
Priya focuses on family law, real estate transactions, criminal defence, and civil disputes, guiding Canadians through some of the most consequential legal moments in their lives.
