Statistics Canada Profile of Child-Related Family Law Cases, 2011/2012

Juristat, a Statistics Canada publication, has published an article on the characteristics of civil court family law cases in 2011/2012 related to child protection, custody, access and child support:

"Family law cases involving children are a particular concern for Canadians and Canadian policy-makers who want to reduce the impact of family breakdown on the children involved. The federal and provincial governments have worked together for many years to improve family justice policies and services with a focus on children ...  Since 2009, the federal 'Supporting Families Experiencing Separation and Divorce Initiative' has provided funding to support various provincial and territorial family justice services such as mediation, parent information programs and support to help families develop agreements that are in the best interests of the child."

"In addition, family law includes cases involving child protection, where the government applies to the court to determine whether a child is in need of protection due to maltreatment (ex. physical, sexual, or emotional abuse or neglect), with the result that parents may be supervised, or children are taken into government care. For the most part, child protection cases are not connected to family breakdown situations."

"This article uses information from the Statistics Canada Civil Court Survey (CCS) to examine the characteristics of family law cases related to the child-related issues of child protection, custody, access and child support in civil courts in the eight provinces and territories included in the survey. The survey does not collect data from Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and courts in Moncton, New Brunswick.The report examines family and child-related cases in the overall context of the civil court system. It then provides a more focused look at cases involving at least one child-related issue, examining their complexity (if they involve multiple issues), their activity in the first year, and how they tend to progress over time."