Parenting Orders

Parents who separate are sometimes unable to decide on parenting arrangements. In this case, either one or both can ask the court to make a parenting order.

There are two different laws that apply to parenting orders. If parents are asking for a divorce, they apply for a parenting order under the Divorce Act. If they are not asking for a divorce, parents use The Children's Law Act to apply for a parenting order. Although there are two different laws, the process for applying for a parenting order and the factors the court considers when making a parenting order are the same. For more information, see Family Law Basics.

If you are representing yourself in court regarding a parenting order, see Unrepresented Litigants for more information. If you want to use the Form Wizard to make or respond to a court application for a parenting order, create a free account to get started.

In divorce cases, either spouse can apply for a parenting order. The court can give leave for someone who is not a spouse to apply for a parenting order if they are:

• one of the child’s parents
• someone who stands in the place of a parent
• someone who intends to stand in the place of a parent

In non-divorce cases, a parent or any other person who, in the court’s opinion, has a sufficient interest in the child can apply for a parenting order. In this case, a parent includes:

• a parent by adoption
• the spouse of a birth parent if the child was conceived by artificial insemination or some other form of assisted reproduction
• people who become parents as the result of a surrogacy or parentage agreement

For more information, see Who Are Parents?

A parenting order can:

• determine who has parenting time and when
• determine who has the responsibility for making particular decisions
• determine how a party with a parenting time or decision-making authority order can communicate with the children when the children are with another party who has parenting time
• prohibit or authorize relocation of the children
• prohibit removal of the children from a certain geographical area without the consent of a specified person or without a court order
• order that parenting time or the transfer of the children for parenting time be supervised
• make an order that ends on a certain date or when a certain event occurs
• make an indefinite order
• impose any terms, conditions or restrictions the court considers appropriate
• include any additional order that the court considers necessary and proper in the circumstances

In a divorce, parties can submit a parenting plan to the court and the plan or parts of it can be included in the parenting order. The court can also decide to include a parenting time schedule in the order even if a parenting plan was not submitted to the court. In non-divorce cases, parties can include details about parenting arrangements in the application itself.