Marriage in a foreign land: Booklet to outline family law for newcomers

With the number of speakers of immigrant languages growing faster on P.E.I. than anywhere in the country, the Community Legal Information Association is reaching out to newcomers in seven different languages.

Eliza MacLauchlan, public legal education and information officer with the association, said 40 to 50 per cent of their clients inquire about family law, and it can sometimes be difficult to accurately convey legal information to people whose first language isn't English or French.

"It's something that touches everyone, I guess, at some point in their lives, whether or not that's because they are separating or just because they're getting married," said MacLauchlan.

"They need to understand a bit better about what that actually means, and what the implications of that here in Canada are."

A new booklet from the association will address some of the most common questions about family law, and it will be published in seven languages: Mandarin, Vietnamese, Spanish, Persian, and Arabic, as well as English and French.

The association expects to have it available in the spring.

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