Do You Have to Be Separated for One Year Before Divorce in NWT?

Under the federal Divorce Act — which governs all divorces in Canada, including the Northwest Territories — the primary ground for divorce is that the marriage has permanently broken down. In about 95% of cases, this is proven through a one-year separation period: the spouses must have lived "separate and apart" for at least 12 consecutive months.

But the rules around timing, early filing, and reconciliation are more nuanced than most people realize.

You Can File Before the Year Is Up

The separation period does not need to be complete before you file your petition with the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories. You can submit your Form 2 (Sole Petition) or Form 5 (Joint Petition) at any point during the separation.

The catch: the court cannot grant the Divorce Judgment until day 365 of the separation has passed. Filing early gets your paperwork into the queue — the registry processes your documents, the respondent is served, the response period runs, and the Clearance Certificate is requested from Ottawa — but the judge waits until the separation period is fully satisfied before signing.

For an uncontested desk divorce that takes 4–6 months to process anyway, filing a few months into the separation often means the 12-month mark passes while your paperwork is being processed.

What Counts as "Separate and Apart"

You do not need to be living in different homes. Canadian courts recognize that spouses can be "separate and apart" under the same roof if they have:

• Ceased sexual relations
• Separated their finances (separate bank accounts, no shared expenses)
• Stopped eating meals together
• Begun sleeping in separate rooms
• Presented themselves socially as separated

The key is that the relationship has functionally ended, even if logistics or housing costs keep both people in the same physical space.

The 90-Day Reconciliation Window

The Divorce Act allows one reconciliation attempt without resetting the separation clock. If spouses resume living together for up to 90 cumulative days to try to save the marriage, and the attempt fails, the original separation date stands.

However, if the reconciliation lasts 91 days or more, the entire 12-month separation clock resets to zero. This means any divorce petition filed based on the original separation date becomes procedurally void — you would need to start the count again.

Fault-Based Alternatives (Rarely Used)

The one-year separation is not the only ground for divorce. The Divorce Act also allows divorce based on adultery or physical/mental cruelty. These fault-based grounds theoretically allow you to skip the separation waiting period.

In practice, fault-based divorces are extremely rare in the NWT and across Canada. They require strict evidentiary proof — either a formal written admission of adultery from the other spouse, or medical records and police reports documenting cruelty. Fault-based cases almost always become contested, requiring oral testimony at trial rather than the straightforward desk divorce process.

For self-represented filers, the one-year separation route is almost always the practical choice.

Setting Your Separation Date

Document your separation date clearly from the start. Write a letter or email to your spouse stating the date you consider the relationship to have ended. This creates a record you can reference in your Affidavit of the Applicant (Form 6) when applying for the desk divorce judgment.

If you later disagree on the separation date, the court looks at objective evidence: when finances were separated, when one spouse moved out (or into a separate bedroom), and when social circles were informed.

The Northwest Territories Divorce Filing Process Guide includes a separation timeline tracker to help you document the key dates and milestones the court needs in your desk divorce affidavit.

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