Divorce is too easy in Canada, says think tank

Another day, another end of a marriage splattered across your Facebook news feed. So-and-so is listed as single, you're alerted. And so, another one bites the dust.

This week, a socially conservative Canadian think tank blamed the growing trend of divorce on it being "too easy" to get one according to our national laws. The Institute of Marriage and Family Canada wrote a report which says divorce proceedings aren't complicated enough. Their specific issue is with no-fault divorce.

The author, Andrea Mrozek, was reported in Huffington Post Canada as saying that under current laws, one person can decide to get divorced for "no reason at all" two weeks into their marriage or simply initiate proceedings by moving out.

"Canadian law actually values marriage as a short-term prospect through no-fault divorce," she argues.

Related: Divorcing young vs. divorcing older: One is more painful

Deborah Moskovich, divorce consultant and author of The Smart Divorce, says in some circumstances no-fault divorce can make it easier to file for one. For example, a simple loss of trust in a relationship can become grounds for divorce.

"If you really don't trust your partner, it allows you to end things rather than to go through proving it," says Mokskovich.

Moskovich says it's easier to demonstrate scars and bruising through abuse, or to provide evidence of infidelity, but it's not as easy to prove lack of trust, so no-fault divorce can benefit those who deem it necessary. "But I do think that people are too quick to divorce," Moskovich qualifies.

According to Huffington Post Canada, "data collected by Statistics Canada show the divorce rate spiking in the 1980s, but holding relatively steady in the earlier part of this decade. The latest available data published in 2004 suggests that 41.3 per cent of marriages are expected to end in divorce before their 50th anniversary."

"What I find quite remarkable and what people say to me post divorce is 'I wish I worked harder at my marriage'. People think that if they are not happy they'll just get a divorce," says Moskovich. Instead she suggests people look harder internally as to what is driving their decision.

"Divorce isn't always the answer. In a sense, I think that it's glamorized," adds Moskovich.

Do you agree that getting a divorce should be harder in Canada? Or that divorce is glamorized? Tell us your thoughts.