Governing Law Clauses in a Domestic Contract When You Might Move Provinces

Family law in Canada is provincial, not national. Ontario's Family Law Act governs equalization of property, the matrimonial home, and domestic contracts here — but Manitoba, British Columbia, and every other province has its own, differently structured family property regime. If you and your spouse might relocate someday, that difference is worth planning for before you sign a marriage contract, not after you've already moved.

A governing law clause is one of the tools couples use to try to keep some predictability if a move happens. It's a common piece of contract drafting generally, and it shows up in domestic contracts for the same basic reason it shows up in commercial agreements: to say, in advance, which jurisdiction's law is meant to interpret and apply to the document.

Here's what that clause is realistically trying to do, and where its limits are.

Why Couples Include One

If you sign a marriage contract in Ontario and later move to another province, the concern is straightforward: will the new province's courts, if a dispute ever arises, look to Ontario law to interpret your contract — the law you both understood and relied on when you signed — or will they apply their own province's family property rules instead? A governing law clause is an attempt to answer that question in advance, by stating expressly that Ontario law is meant to govern the contract regardless of where the parties later live.

This is especially relevant for couples who already anticipate a move — for work, family, or lifestyle reasons — at the time they're negotiating their contract, since it lets them draft around a specific, known law rather than guessing at rules they haven't looked into yet.

What a Governing Law Clause Can Realistically Do

A clearly worded governing law clause can:

• Signal both spouses' shared intention about which province's law should interpret the contract's terms
• Provide a court asked to interpret the contract with clear evidence of what the parties intended at the time of signing
• Reduce (though not eliminate) uncertainty if a dispute arises after a move

What It Generally Cannot Guarantee

• It cannot force another province to fully set aside its own mandatory family law rules. Family law frequently involves protections a legislature has decided apply regardless of what two parties privately agreed — for example, rules protecting a spouse's rights connected to a home the couple lives in. A governing law clause is generally respected for interpreting the contract's terms, but it is not a guaranteed way to opt out of another jurisdiction's core protective rules once you're actually living, and disputing the matter, there.
• It does not control which court has jurisdiction to hear a dispute. Governing law (which rules apply) and jurisdiction (which court can decide) are related but separate questions, and a contract may need to address both if that level of certainty matters to you.
• It cannot anticipate every provision of a province's law you haven't moved to yet. A clause drafted with only Ontario law in mind won't necessarily flag every conflict that could arise once a specific new province's rules come into the picture.

Practical Considerations for a Mobile Couple

1. Say explicitly which province's law is meant to govern, and ideally why — a plain statement is more useful later than something implied.
2. Have the contract reviewed again before an actual move, especially once you know which specific province you're relocating to, rather than relying on the original clause alone.
3. Ask specifically about the matrimonial home and any real property you plan to hold in the new province — home-related protections are one of the areas most likely to be treated as locally mandatory regardless of a governing law clause.
4. Keep records of your intentions at the time of signing, including why Ontario law was chosen, in case that intention is ever disputed.
5. Treat the clause as risk management, not a guarantee — it improves your position, but a move to another province is still worth a fresh legal review rather than an assumption that the original contract travels with you unchanged.

Frequently asked questions