Today more than ever, relationships and marriage are shaped by personal choices-choices that are, in turn, influenced by family circumstances and events in society, including changes in educational opportunities, employment trends, social policies, technological innovations, media representations, and new ideas about human rights or personal entitlements. At the same time, many expect government and public agencies to play a strong role in protecting them from violent relationships, helping them manage problem children, and supplementing inadequate household incomes. In Canada, recent public debates have probed the validity of new forms of marriage, the difficulty of enforcing child-support payments, and the challenge of interacting with immigrants whose family practices diverge from the majority.