AI Analysis: Family law cases, by type of case

Executive Summary

Statistics Canada's family law dataset (Table 35100222) tracks 496 records across 31 issue types and 4 case unit categories from 2021/2022 to 2024/2025, revealing a heavily right-skewed distribution where a small number of high-volume categories dominate overall counts. Total active cases is the largest category, averaging ~77,206 cases per year and peaking at 78,062 in 2022/2023, while most individual issue types report relatively modest volumes. The data provides a comprehensive recent snapshot of Canadian family law activity, with annual updates ensuring currency through the 2024/2025 fiscal year.

Key Findings

• Total active cases is the largest case unit category, averaging approximately 77,206 cases per year, compared to ~51,142 for active cases with disposition and ~44,730 for inactive cases.
• The dataset's mean value (6,337) is roughly four times its median (1,590), confirming strong right-skew driven by a small number of very high-volume entries reaching as high as 78,062.
• 50 out of 496 data points qualify as statistical outliers using IQR-based detection, all exceeding the upper bound of 15,238 cases, with the single highest value being 78,062 for 'Total family law cases' under Total active cases in 2022/2023.
• Total initiated cases has the lowest mean (3,903) and a median of just 75, indicating that the majority of jurisdictions or issue subtypes report very few newly filed family law cases in any given year.
• The dataset covers 31 distinct issue types ranging from broad totals like 'Total family law cases' to highly specific subcategories such as 'Parenting and contact and support cases with spousal support,' which recorded as few as 2 cases in 2021/2022.
• The interquartile range spans from 182 to 6,205 cases, with a standard deviation of 12,678 — more than double the mean — reflecting extremely high variability across case types and issue categories.
• All four case unit types exhibit statistical outliers, but Total active cases and Total active cases with disposition show the widest ranges and most extreme high-end values, driving the bulk of distributional skew.