Will My Divorce be Recognized in Ontario?

[ForumUser]

I’d like to know if Ontario will recognize a legal divorce in Japan. My ex-wife and I were married in both Ontario and Japan. We divorced in Japan.

[SettlementOrgMod]

@ForumUser

I’d like to know if Ontario will recognize a legal divorce in Japan. My ex-wife and I were married in both Ontario and Japan. We divorced in Japan.

Hello There,

Thank you for sharing your situation and question with us.

You may find helpful information in the Settlement.Org article, Will my foreign divorce be recognized in Canada?

Here is an excerpt:

If you were divorced outside Canada, you need to prove that your divorce was legal in that country before you can get re-married in Canada.

According to Family Law Education for Women (FLEW) [PDF], your foreign divorce will generally be recognized by the Canadian government, if you or your spouse lived in the country where you got a divorce for at least 1 year before the start of the divorce proceedings.
If neither of you lived in the country for a year, your divorce may still be legal if the person who applied for the divorce can prove they have a “real and substantial connection” with the country. For example, if it is your country of origin and you returned there after the divorce, or you own property or spend a lot of time there.

If you got a divorce outside of Canada, you must get authorization from the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services before you can get a marriage licence in Ontario.

We hope this information is helpful. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to post them here.

Sincerely,

Your Settlement.Org Team