Child Custody in Ontario: Decision-Making Responsibility and Parenting Time

Since 1 March 2021, the law no longer speaks of child custody and access. Custody is now called decision-making responsibility, and access is now called parenting time. Whatever words are used, a court decides on one basis only: the best interests of the child. Law Wise, based in Mississauga and serving the entire GTA and Ontario, helps parents to settle parenting arrangements and, where needed, to present them in court.

Child custody is now decision-making responsibility

Decision-making responsibility is the responsibility for making significant decisions about a child’s well-being, including decisions about:

• health
• education
• culture, language, religion and spirituality
• significant extra-curricular activities

It can be given to one parent, shared by both, or divided so that each parent decides in different areas. These arrangements used to be called sole custody, joint custody and parallel parenting.

Two statutes apply. Married parents who are divorcing use the federal Divorce Act. Other parents, including parents who were never married, use Ontario’s Children’s Law Reform Act, under which a child’s parents are equally entitled to decision-making responsibility unless an agreement or court order says otherwise.

Child access is now parenting time

Parenting time is the time a child spends in the care of a parent. During that time, the parent can make day-to-day decisions affecting the child unless a court orders otherwise. Parenting time can be set out in a schedule. Some children live mainly in one home and spend scheduled time in the other. Others divide their time between two homes.

In allocating parenting time, a court must give effect to the principle that a child should have as much time with each parent as is consistent with the child’s best interests. This is not a rule of equal time. The schedule depends on the evidence about the child.

How the best interests of the child are decided

The court gives primary consideration to the child’s physical, emotional and psychological safety, security and well-being. It must consider all factors related to the child’s circumstances, including:

• the child’s needs, given the child’s age and stage of development, including the need for stability
• the child’s relationship with each parent, with brothers and sisters, with grandparents and with other important people
• each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent
• the history of care of the child
• the child’s views and preferences, weighed according to age and maturity
• the child’s cultural, linguistic, religious and spiritual upbringing and heritage
• each parent’s ability and willingness to care for the child, and to communicate and co-operate with the other parent
• any family violence and its effect on the child and on parenting

A parent’s past conduct is taken into account only where it is relevant to parenting. Because communication is one of the listed factors, a court may be less willing to order shared decision-making where parents cannot exchange information about the child.

Parenting plans

A parenting plan is a written document that sets out how parents will care for their children and make decisions about them after separation. A clear plan reduces later disagreements. It usually covers:

• the regular weekly schedule
• holidays, school breaks and birthdays
• where and when the children are exchanged
• how major decisions are made
• communication between the two homes and with the children
• travel, passports and consent letters
• how disagreements will be resolved

If parents submit a parenting plan in a Divorce Act case, the court must include it in the parenting order unless it finds that doing so is not in the best interests of the child. Informal or spoken arrangements are hard to prove and enforce later, so it is safer to put the plan in a separation agreement or a court order.

Moving or travelling with a child

A parent who plans to change their own home or the child’s home must tell, in writing, anyone else who has parenting time, decision-making responsibility or contact, giving the date of the change and the new address.

A relocation is a move that is likely to have a significant impact on the child’s relationship with the other parent or with another person who has parenting time, decision-making responsibility or contact. For a relocation:

• Notice. Notice must be given at least 60 days before the expected date of the move. It sets out the date, the new address and a proposal for how parenting time could continue.
• Objection. A person with parenting time or decision-making responsibility who receives the notice has 30 days to object, by written objection or by applying to the court.
• No objection. Under the Divorce Act, if there is no objection in time and no order prohibits the move, the relocation can go ahead on the date in the notice.
• Who must prove what. If a court has to decide, the burden depends on the existing arrangement. Where the child spends substantially equal time with each parent, the parent who wants to move must show that the move is in the child’s best interests. Where the child spends the vast majority of time with the parent who wants to move, the parent who objects must show that it is not.

A court can change or waive the notice requirements, including where there is a risk of family violence.

For trips outside Canada, the Government of Canada recommends that a child travelling with only one parent carry a consent letter signed by the other parent. The letter is not a legal requirement in Canada, but airlines and border officials may ask for it. If consent is refused, a court can be asked to allow the trip.

When parents cannot agree

Parents are expected to try negotiation, mediation or collaborative family law first, where that is appropriate. If no agreement is reached, either parent can ask the court for a parenting order, and the judge decides on the best interests of the child. Our page on court litigation and court orders explains the steps.

A parenting order is not fixed forever. A court can change it if there has been a change in the circumstances of the child since the order was made.

How Law Wise helps with parenting matters

• explaining how the law applies to your family before positions harden
• negotiating a parenting schedule and decision-making arrangement
• drafting a parenting plan or separation agreement
• advising on a planned move, or on a relocation notice you have received
• asking the court for a parenting order, or responding to a request
• asking the court to change or enforce an existing order

Your file is handled by a Law Wise lawyer licensed by the Law Society of Ontario. Service is available in English, Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi, and, if you retain the firm, fees are explained and confirmed in writing before work starts.

Common questions about child custody and parenting time

This page is general legal information for Ontario, current as of 10 October 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. For advice about your situation, please speak with a lawyer.