CANADA Law and Practice Contributed by: Heather Hansen, Shannon Beddoe, Maureen Edwards and Victoria Lunetta, McCarthy Hansen & Company LLP
and collaborative family law. Parties must volun - tarily enter into such processes. No ADR processes are mandated by the court in family law proceedings – although discussions and mediated resolutions are encouraged. The court does frequently refer family law litigants to publicly funded mediation services where the dispute is deemed appropriate for such a form of dispute resolution. In order for agreements reached outside of court to be enforceable, they must be made in writing, signed by the parties, dated, and witnessed. A court may, on application, set aside a domestic contract or a provision in it if: • a party failed to disclose to the other sig - nificant assets (or significant debts or other liabilities) existing when the domestic contract was made; • a party did not understand the nature or con - sequences of the domestic contract; or • otherwise in accordance with the law of con - tract. Currently, there are no requirements imposed by statute for parties to engage in ADR. However, in the recent amendments to the Divorce Act that came into effect on 1 March 2021, Parliament mandated that – to the extent that it is appropri - ate to do so – the parties to a proceeding must try to resolve matters that may be the subject of an order under the Divorce Act through a family dispute resolution process. These new changes have imposed a duty on legal advis - ers to encourage clients to try to resolve issues
through a family dispute resolution process unless it would be clearly inappropriate to do so. 3.5 Media Access and Transparency In Ontario, the media and press are generally permitted to report on cases involving children (including family law matters), unless there are specific court orders or legal restrictions in place. In order to safeguard the confidentiality and well-being of minors involved in legal pro - ceedings, courts may impose publication bans or other restrictions to limit the extent to which media can report on child-related cases. When reporting on child protection hearings, it is prohibited to publish or publicly disclose infor - mation that reveals the identity of a child who is either a witness or involved in a hearing or is the focus of a legal proceeding, pursuant to Section 87(8) of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act 2017. This includes the child’s parent, foster par - ent, or family member. Child Anonymity As a result of Canada’s open court principle, children are not automatically anonymised in court proceedings in most Canadian provinces. Quebec is the only Canadian province that auto - matically anonymises the parties’ names with letters and a catalogue number. In provinces other than Quebec, if a party to a proceeding wishes to anonymise any names within the proceeding, they are generally required to obtain a court order. Typically, the order is obtained by motion in a scheduling court or in writing before commencement of the pro - ceedings.
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