Prince Edward Island Divorce Records (National Institute)

Divorce records in Prince Edward Island are restricted under the privacy laws for thirty years. Records from 1867 to 1946 are housed with the Senate of Canada, Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel as explained in the first section of this module. The index to divorce records from 1946 to 1980 is at the Sir Louis Henry Davis Law Courts but the records are at the Prince Edward Island Archives. Records after 1980 are also at the Davis Law Court.

In Prince Edward Island, according to the Canada Yearbook 1918, only one divorce was granted from 1868 to 1917 and it was granted in 1913. However, the Divorce Court was established in 1835 and there are 2 other cases of divorce, one around 1840-1841 and the other in 1864. There is an excellent article in the University of New Brunswick’s journal,Acadiensis, Vol. XX, No. 2, Spring 1991, pages 86-104, by Wendy Owen and Jan Bumstead that delves into this further. This article can be downloaded in PDF format from the Acadiensis website.

Sir Louis Henry Davis Law Courts 42 Water Street P.O. Box 2000 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island C1A 8B9 Telephone: 902-368-0179

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