The Department of Justice's central registry of divorce proceedings has existed since the implementation of the Divorce Act in 1968. This registry was set up as a mechanism to detect and to inform courts and the parties of two divorce applications in different provinces with respect to the same couple.
This registry will ensure a court's jurisdiction in deciding on divorce cases as contained in subsections 3(2) and 3(3) of the Divorce Act.
The records of the registry indicate that the following number of divorces were granted without hearing by the court, by the calendar year are: 1994, 66,197; 1995, 66,200; 1996, 58,405; 1997, 56,258; and 1998, 57,335.