The Bill C-78 Divorce Act Changes: What you need to know

Substantial changes to the Divorce Act came into force on March 1, 2021. Experts from the Family and Children’s Law Team, Department of Justice Canada, are offering free virtual training to provide you with an overview of the amendments.

This course will be helpful to those who need an introduction to the amendments and to those who need a refresher.

It is likely to be of interest to lawyers, courts and dispute resolution practitioners, as well as other family justice professionals.

The course will cover the following:

  • Status of Act, objectives
  • Language of parenting, parenting orders
  • Best interests, family violence
  • Relocation: process, substantive law
  • New duties: courts, parents, lawyers
  • Jurisdiction for parenting orders
  • Official Languages amendments
  • Inter-jurisdictional support
  • FOAEA Act changes
  • Regulations, consequential changes, etc.

Courses Dates and Times:

Two final sessions in English have been added due to popular demand. Please see below.

Note: Please contact us if you have any accommodation requests.

For Department of Justice employees: A limited number of seats will be reserved for Department of Justice employees in each session.

You must also register through People Soft using course code: 017757

Accreditation by Law Societies:

Barreau du Quebec
This activity may be eligible for up to 3 hours of continuing education content (but ultimately it is the lawyer’s responsibility to determine whether it fits the BQ’s regulation concerning mandatory continuing education activities)
Law Society of British Columbia
The Department of Justice Canada (Legal Practices Policy Division - LPPD) is a pre-approved provider; this activity counts for up to 3 hours
Law Society of New Brunswick
This activity is accredited for 3 MCPD hours
Law Society of Ontario
This activity is eligible for up to 3 hours of Substantive content (but ultimately it is the lawyer’s responsibility to determine whether the activity qualifies under the LSO’s CPD Requirement regarding the Substantive content)
Law Society of Saskatchewan
This activity is accredited for 3 CPD hours

** Please also note that the Department of Justice Canada is offering online courses related to Bill C-78. You can find the first one Introduction to Federal Family Law Amendments at: https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/cfl-mdf/trai-form/index.html

For more information please contact fclpu-updfe@justice.gc.ca.