May 23, 2011
Access to Family Law Records?
Q. Is it true that a person can access family court divorce proceedings at a family court even if not a party to the case? This is relevant to an immigration case I am dealing with as the client lost documents.
A. I recently raised this question after being asked by various people at the National Canadian Bar Association Immigration Conference in Quebec. There was a panel dealing with the intersection of family law and immigration law. Although there exist provincial variations my understanding is that in Ontario pleadings are available to non-parties if the proceedings do not involve child protection issues i.e. the involvement of Children’s Aid Society? This could be relevant in an immigration context when requiring information related to a divorce proceeding that could affect a new sponsorship.