Parenting Time & Access
The time children spend with the adults in their lives.
For unmarried people, the Family Law Act uses 'Parenting Time' for guardians and 'Contact' for non-guardians. For married people, the Divorce Act uses 'Access' to cover all adult time with a child.
Parenting Time, Contact, and Access
For unmarried people, sections 42 & 59 of the Family Law Act use the terms 'Parenting Time' for guardians and 'Contact' for non-guardians. Parenting Time is the time a child spends with a guardian; during Parenting Time, a guardian may exercise the responsibility of day-to-day decision-making. Contact is the time a child spends with a non-guardian; the non-guardian is not provided with responsibility for day-to-day decision-making. For married people, section 16 of the Divorce Act uses the term 'Access' to encompass all time an adult has with a child.
How Courts Decide
To determine how much Parenting Time, Contact, or Access a person has with a child, courts generally begin with the principle of 'maximum contact' — the more time a child has with loved ones, the better. This is a general starting point only. Very young children are not able to split their time between parents and must spend significantly more time with their primary caregiver until about age two. School-aged children usually require continuity in their residence, and may, for example, have visits on alternating weekends with one weeknight per week. Some relationships involve a history of violence or substance abuse, and this can lead to Parenting Time, Contact, or Access being restricted to day times only, public places, supervision by a third-party friend or family member, or even supervision by a professional agency. After about age twelve, as the child gets older, their own views become more important.