The History and Future of the 'Legal Family' in Canada

Abstract

This paper traces the history of the "legal family" in Canada, the development of the laws governing marriage and the recognition of other familial relationships, and discusses some of the challenges presently facing lawmakers, both legislators and judges, in this area. One theme of this paper is that marriage and the family are not static institutions, but rather their social and legal significance have changed over the course of history in response to changing beliefs, values, behaviors, social structures, technology and demographics. Another theme is that the broad movement towards formal gender equality has had a profound effect on the legal treatment of marriage and the family. However, in most contemporary marriages there is still a differentiation of gender roles, and women continue to be vulnerable in the event of separation. Familial relationships based on marriage and biological ties are still very significant in Canada, but there is more social and legal recognition of a range of non-traditional familial relationships than in most other countries, including non-marital opposite-sex cohabitation, same-sex marriage, social parentage and more recently multiple parentage arising from the use of artificial reproductive technology. Despite the recognition of a more diverse range of family forms, and the adoption of a functional and flexible approach to the definition of legally significant familial relationships, monogamous conjugality is likely to remain a central concept of Canadian law, and Canada seems unlikely to extend legal recognition to polygamy.