Divorce When Your Spouse Does Not Respond in Ontario

You served your spouse with divorce papers and the response period has passed with no answer. Many people in this position wonder whether silence means the divorce is automatic, or whether they are stuck.

Neither is quite right. The case can usually move forward without your spouse, but you still need to prove your case to a judge. Here is how that generally works in Ontario.

When is a spouse officially late?

A respondent must serve and file an answer within 30 days after being served with the application. If the respondent was served outside Canada and the United States, the time is 60 days.

Before counting days, make sure service was done properly. An application must be specially served, by someone other than the party who has to serve it. Documents are served first, then filed, and proof of service must be filed with the court. If service was flawed, the deadline may not have started, so a careful check is worthwhile.

What you can do once the deadline passes

If the respondent has not answered by the deadline and has not asked for more time, the applicant can take steps toward an uncontested trial, which is decided on the applicant's evidence alone. The consequences in rule 1(8.4) apply when no answer is filed, including that the court may deal with the case in your spouse's absence.

An affidavit in Form 36 must be filed. The applicant files it if the respondent files no answer or withdraws it. In a joint application, the applicants file it instead.

Documents the court needs

The court cannot grant a divorce until certain documents are filed. Check that you have each of these ready.

• A marriage certificate or marriage registration certificate, unless your application explains why filing one is impractical.
• A report on earlier divorce cases started by either spouse, issued under the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings Regulations.
• Proof that your spouse was served.
• The Form 36 affidavit.

Simple and joint divorce applications can be filed online with an Ontario.ca login, using documents that are completed, signed, dated and saved as PDF or Word files. For the Toronto region, online filings since October 14, 2025 go through the Ontario Courts Public Portal, while Family Submissions Online remains available in other regions. You cannot file online to request an urgent hearing, or when a court date or legislated deadline is three business days or less away.

What the judge still checks

Your spouse's silence does not remove the court's duties. Before considering the evidence, the court must satisfy itself that there is no possibility of the spouses reconciling, unless that would clearly be inappropriate. It must also be satisfied there is no collusion and that reasonable arrangements have been made for the support of any children of the marriage.

If the divorce is based on adultery or cruelty, the court must also be satisfied that you have not condoned or connived at it. Living together again for 90 days or less, mainly to reconcile, is not condonation.

If you are relying on a one-year separation, the period is not treated as interrupted by resuming living together for periods totalling no more than 90 days, mainly to try to reconcile.

If your spouse cannot be served or found

Sometimes the problem is not a lack of response but a spouse you cannot reach. Where a spouse cannot be served in the usual way, the court may order substituted service by a method it chooses. Service by advertisement requires Form 6A.

If reasonable efforts to locate your spouse have failed and no substituted method is likely to work, the court may order that service is not required. You will need to be able to show what efforts you made, so keep a record.

What to do next

• Confirm the date of service and count the 30 or 60 days.
• Make sure proof of service is filed.
• Gather your marriage certificate and Central Registry report.
• Prepare the Form 36 affidavit.
• Think about child support arrangements, property and pensions, which a simple divorce does not cover.
• Ask a family lawyer to review your file before you ask the court to proceed.

Frequently asked questions