Home to about 14,364 people (2021 Census). We work online across Ontario — you do not need to come to an office.
Our family law work starts at $1,693.87, taxes included, published up front on our pricing page. Disbursements and any government fees are extra and billed at cost.
Pembroke sits in Renfrew, and family matters for Pembroke residents are heard in the city itself — the Pembroke (Renfrew County) Courthouse.
Ontario runs family matters through two different arrangements, and which one applies depends on where you live. In some areas the Family Court — a branch of the Superior Court of Justice — hears the entire file: divorce, property, parenting, support and child protection together. Elsewhere the work is split, with the Ontario Court of Justice hearing parenting, support, protection and adoption while divorce and property division go to the Superior Court. Which arrangement covers Pembroke decides whether your matter sits in one court or two, and it is the first thing we confirm when we open a file — before anything is filed anywhere.
Pembroke is a single-tier municipality — it has no county council above it, and court jurisdiction in Ontario follows those boundaries rather than city limits — which is why the answer above is about Renfrew, not about Pembroke on its own.
You are not alone in this. Residents of Admaston/Bromley, Arnprior, Bonnechere Valley, Brudenell, Deep River, Greater Madawaska, Head, Horton and Killaloe and 8 other municipalities are heard at the same court, because all of them sit inside Renfrew. There are 18 municipalities in Renfrew in total.
The Pembroke (Renfrew County) Courthouse handles family matters, Superior Court civil filings, Small Claims Court, Divisional Court appeals, enforcement of orders, a Crown Attorney's office and the Victim/Witness Assistance Program. It is in the city itself, so there is no travel out of town for a filing or an appearance.
The Pembroke (Renfrew County) Courthouse is not a family-only building. Per the Ministry of the Attorney General's court directory it handles civil claims, youth criminal matters, criminal matters, a Crown Attorney's office, Divisional Court sittings, an enforcement office, family matters, Small Claims Court and a Victim/Witness Assistance Programme office. That matters practically: the counter you deal with, the filing hours and the other business going through the same registry are shared with those other streams.
Pembroke has its own courthouse, so there is no travel built into your file. That is not true everywhere in Ontario — many municipalities are served by a courthouse in the county seat — and it is worth knowing which situation you are in before you plan around hearing dates.
Court venue confirmed against the Ministry of the Attorney General court directory (listing), 2026-08-09.
Pembroke is a city and a single-tier municipality within Renfrew, with a 2021 census population of 14,364 living in 6,542 occupied private dwellings — an average household of 2.2 people.
That household figure is not trivia in a family file. Equalization of net family property turns on what the household owns and owes on the valuation date, and the matrimonial home is usually the largest single number in it. A 2.2-person average household tells you the shape of the housing most separations here are dividing.
Of Pembroke's 6,888 private dwellings, 346 (5.0%) were not occupied by a usual resident at the 2021 census. Where a separating couple owns a second or seasonal property, it is a separate asset in the equalization and needs its own valuation.
Population and dwelling counts: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (source), retrieved 2026-07-28. Averages are computed from those counts.
Most separations in Pembroke never see the inside of the Pembroke (Renfrew County) Courthouse. They are settled by a written separation agreement — parenting, support and property dealt with by negotiation, sometimes with a mediator. Court is what you use when agreement is not possible, or when you need an order only a judge can make.
That matters for cost. A negotiated agreement is a fixed, knowable piece of work. A contested court file is not, because its length depends on the other side. We quote the first as a fixed scope and are honest with you about when a matter has moved beyond it.
Two deadlines catch people out. A married spouse's claim to equalization of property is time-limited, and the one-year separation ground for divorce must be complete when the divorce is decided — not when the application is filed, so you can start before the year is up. Neither depends on where in Renfrew you live, but both are easier to miss when nobody has told you they exist.
If children are involved, the language changed: Ontario and the federal Divorce Act now speak of decision-making responsibility and parenting time rather than custody and access. Older agreements and older advice still use the old words, which causes confusion in Pembroke as everywhere else.
Divorce and property division are heard by the Superior Court of Justice. The Ontario Court of Justice handles parenting, support, child protection and adoption but cannot grant a divorce. For Pembroke, family matters are dealt with through Pembroke (Renfrew County) Courthouse.
No. Most separations in Ontario are settled by a written separation agreement negotiated between the parties, often with mediation. Court is for matters that cannot be agreed, or where an order is needed.
It varies with court volume. The one-year separation ground under the Divorce Act must be complete when the divorce is decided, not when the application is filed — so a spouse can start before the year is up.
Generally no for a separation agreement. Each spouse should have independent legal advice, and an agreement is much harder to challenge later when both parties had it.
Yes. We are an Ontario firm and work online across the province, so you do not need to be near an office to open a file.
Government sources for this topic. Rules change — confirm the current position before you rely on it.
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