The Church teaches that the joining of a man and a woman in matrimony is a sacred act, which when it takes place between two baptized Christians, is elevated to a sacrament. God established this bond in such a way that a sacramental marriage, once consummated, is a permanent life-long commitment dissolved only by death.

When a marriage fails, it is the role of the Tribunal, through a Declaration of Nullity Process (aka Annulment), to determine whether the union was, as the Church understands it, a valid and sacramental marriage. Whether or not the union was was celebrated in a Catholic Church, a civil ceremony (that is by a Justice of the Peace) or a ceremony in in any religious donomination, anyone who has entered marriage must have their union examined by the Tribunal before entering marriage in the Catholic Church.

Click here for the (updted) application form. Completed applications (hard copy with original signatures) may be submitted to the address listed below by mail.

For more information, please contact the tribunal at (519) 439-1553 or email tribunal@dol.ca.  

Staff of the Marriage Tribunal