The Divorce Act is a federal law made by the Parliament of Canada, administered equally across all provinces and territories. Only the superior court of each province has jurisdiction to deal with a Petition for Divorce.

The Act stipulates the sole grounds for divorce as marital breakdown, and provides for three basic ways for proving it:

1. You and your spouse have been separated for one year.. This is certainly the easiest to prove, and is by far the most commonly used ground for divorce. You can initiate divorce proceedings at any time after you've separated; the Divorce Judgment will be granted some time after the 12 months of separation are complete.