Parenting and custody help in Toronto, in English or Farsi
When parents separate or divorce, few questions matter more than what happens with the children: where they will live day to day, how decisions about their health, schooling, and upbringing will be made, and how each parent will stay meaningfully involved in their lives going forward. These questions can feel more personal, and more urgent, than any other part of a separation, and it is easy to feel like the stakes are impossibly high. At Gambriani Law PC, we help parents across North York, Toronto, and the wider Greater Toronto Area work through parenting and custody matters calmly and clearly, and we do this work in English or Farsi, whichever language lets you focus on what matters most without a language barrier getting in the way.
Parenting disputes arise in many different circumstances: two parents who were never married and are now living apart, a married couple going through a divorce, or parents who already have an arrangement in place but find it is no longer working. Some families are able to agree on a parenting plan with relatively little conflict; others need a court's help to resolve a genuine disagreement about what is best for their children. Wherever you are in that spectrum, understanding how the law actually approaches these decisions can make the process feel less uncertain.
This guide walks through how parenting time and decision-making responsibility work in Ontario today: the terminology that replaced the old language of "custody" and "access," the best interests of the child test that governs every decision, the different shapes a parenting arrangement can take, how relocation with a child is handled, and what happens when circumstances change or an order is not being followed. None of this replaces advice about your specific family, but it should give you a clearer sense of what to expect.
Decision-making responsibility and parenting time
If you have looked into Ontario family law before, or if your own parents went through a separation years ago, you may be used to hearing about "custody" and "access." Those terms have not been part of the law since March 2021, when amendments to the federal Divorce Act took effect, followed shortly after by matching changes to Ontario's Children's Law Reform Act. The concepts behind the old words did not disappear, but the language used to describe them changed, and understanding the new terms is a useful starting point for anyone facing a parenting matter today.
Decision-making responsibility
Decision-making responsibility refers to the authority to make significant decisions about a child's life and well-being. This typically includes decisions about health care, education, religion or spiritual upbringing, and significant extra-curricular activities. It does not extend to routine, day-to-day choices, which are made by whichever parent has the child in their care at the time. Decision-making responsibility can be given to one parent alone, shared jointly between both, or, less commonly, split so that each parent decides different categories of issues.
Parenting time
Parenting time refers to the time a child spends in the care of a parent, whether or not the child is physically with that parent at every moment during that time. While a child is in a parent's care, that parent is generally responsible for day-to-day decisions affecting the child, unless an order or agreement says otherwise. A parenting order or parenting plan will typically set out a schedule describing when the child is in each parent's care, including weekdays, weekends, and holidays.
Why the change matters
The shift away from "custody" and "access" was meant to reduce the sense, often felt strongly by parents, that a parenting dispute has a "winner" and a "loser." The newer language is meant to focus attention on what a child actually needs from each parent, rather than on a label. Some agreements and older court orders still use the old terminology, and it remains common in everyday conversation, but current applications and orders in Ontario use the terms above, and it is worth understanding both so that older documents still make sense to you.
The best interests of the child test
Every parenting decision in Ontario, whether made by agreement or by a court, is meant to reflect what is in the best interests of the child. This is the single governing standard under both the federal Divorce Act, which applies to married spouses who are divorcing, and Ontario's Children's Law Reform Act, which applies to parents who were never married, and the two laws now use closely aligned language and factors.
What courts consider
There is no single factor that decides a parenting case on its own. Instead, the law directs courts to consider the child's overall circumstances, including a non-exhaustive list of factors such as:
- The child's physical, emotional, psychological, and educational needs, including their need for stability, given the child's age and stage of development.
- The nature and strength of the child's relationship with each parent, siblings, grandparents, and other important people in their life.
- Each parent's willingness to support the child's relationship with the other parent.
- The history of care of the child, including who has been primarily responsible for day-to-day caregiving.
- The child's own views and preferences, given appropriate weight based on their age and maturity.
- The child's cultural, linguistic, religious, and spiritual heritage and upbringing.
- Any plans proposed for the child's care and upbringing.
- Each parent's ability and willingness to communicate and cooperate on matters affecting the child.
- Any family violence and its impact on the child's safety, security, and well-being.
- Any civil or criminal proceeding, order, condition, or measure relevant to the child's safety.
No presumption either way
Ontario law does not presume that equal, shared parenting time is automatically best for a child, nor does it presume the opposite. Some families end up with an arrangement close to equal time; others end up with a child living primarily with one parent and spending regular, meaningful time with the other. What matters is not the shape of the arrangement in the abstract, but whether it genuinely serves that particular child's needs, and the law also directs courts to give a child as much time with each parent as is consistent with the child's best interests.
Types of parenting arrangements
Because every family is different, parenting arrangements in Ontario take many different shapes. There is no single "standard" schedule that applies to every case, though certain patterns come up often enough that they are worth describing here.
Shared parenting time
Shared parenting time generally refers to an arrangement where a child spends roughly equal time in each parent's care, often on a rotating schedule such as a week-about arrangement, or a 2-2-3 rotation where the days in each parent's care alternate through the week. Shared arrangements tend to work best where both parents live reasonably close to one another, can communicate effectively, and are able to keep the child's routine, school, and activities reasonably consistent between households.
Primarily with one parent
In many families, a child lives primarily with one parent, sometimes called the child's primary residence, while spending regular parenting time with the other parent, such as alternating weekends, one or more weekday overnights, and a share of school breaks and holidays. This does not necessarily mean one parent has more decision-making responsibility than the other; decision-making and day-to-day residence are assessed separately, and a parent with less parenting time can still share, or even hold sole, decision-making responsibility.
Parenting plans, schedules, and holidays
Whatever the overall shape of an arrangement, most families benefit from a detailed, written parenting plan that goes beyond a basic weekly schedule. A thorough plan typically addresses school holidays, summer vacation, birthdays, and cultural or religious occasions important to the family, along with practical matters like transportation, communication between households, and how decisions get made when the parents disagree. Being specific up front, even about things that feel obvious in the moment, tends to prevent a surprising number of disputes later on.
High-conflict situations
Where parents struggle to communicate directly, some arrangements incorporate parallel parenting, in which each parent makes day-to-day decisions independently during their own parenting time, with minimal direct contact required between the parents, sometimes using a shared online calendar or co-parenting app instead of direct conversation. This can reduce ongoing conflict while still allowing both parents to remain closely involved in the child's life.
Relocation and mobility
Few issues in a parenting dispute are as sensitive as one parent wanting to move with a child, whether across the city, to another part of Ontario, or out of the province entirely. Relocation is now specifically addressed by the Divorce Act and Ontario's Children's Law Reform Act, which set out notice requirements and the factors a court considers if the parents cannot agree.
What counts as a relocation
The law defines a relocation as a move by a child, or by the person who has parenting time, decision-making responsibility, or a contact order, that is likely to have a significant impact on the child's relationships with the people in their life, such as the other parent, siblings, or grandparents. Not every move across town rises to this level; the significance of the move's impact on the child's relationships is the key question.
Notice requirements
A parent planning a relocation generally must give the other parent, and anyone else with parenting time, decision-making responsibility, or contact, written notice, typically at least 60 days before the planned move, unless a court has ordered otherwise, such as where there is a risk of family violence. That notice generally needs to include the date of the proposed move and the new address and contact information. A parent who receives this notice and objects to the move can respond by raising that objection, which generally means the moving parent cannot go ahead with the relocation without either an agreement or a court order.
How courts approach a relocation dispute
If a relocation is contested, the court decides the issue based on the best interests of the child, considering the reasons for the move, the impact on the child's relationships, whether existing arrangements are reasonable, and whether the parent opposing the move is doing so to advance the child's interests or for another reason. The law also sets out how the burden of proof is allocated depending on the existing parenting arrangement: where parenting time is close to equal, the parent proposing the move generally must show the relocation is in the child's best interests; where the child spends the vast majority of time with the relocating parent, the parent opposing the move generally bears that burden; in other situations, neither parent starts with the benefit of a presumption, and the evidence is weighed on its own merits.
Changing or enforcing a parenting order
A parenting order or agreement is not necessarily meant to be permanent. Families change, children grow, and circumstances shift in ways that were not foreseen when an arrangement was first put in place. Ontario law allows parenting arrangements to be varied, and gives courts tools to respond when an order is not being followed.
The material change in circumstances test
To change an existing parenting order, a parent generally needs to show that there has been a material change in circumstances since the order was made: a change that is significant, that genuinely affects the child, and that was not foreseen, or could not reasonably have been contemplated, at the time of the original order. Examples can include a parent's relocation, a substantial change in a child's needs as they grow older, a real change in a parent's work schedule or living situation, or evidence of a genuine safety concern that did not exist before. Ordinary friction between parents, a single disagreement, or a preference that the arrangement worked out differently generally will not, on its own, meet this threshold.
Enforcing an existing order
Sometimes the arrangement itself is not the problem; the difficulty is that one parent is not following it. If a parent unreasonably denies the other their parenting time, or repeatedly fails to comply with a decision-making arrangement, the law gives courts a range of possible responses. These can include ordering make-up parenting time to compensate for time that was missed, ordering the non-compliant parent to reimburse expenses caused by the denial, and, in serious or repeated cases, a finding of contempt of court, which can carry significant consequences. Some orders also include a provision allowing police to assist in locating and returning a child in specific, defined circumstances.
Keeping good records
Whether you are considering a variation or raising an enforcement issue, a clear, contemporaneous record tends to matter a great deal: dates and details of missed parenting time, communication between the parents, and any relevant changes in circumstances. Courts generally respond better to specific, documented patterns than to general impressions, and keeping careful notes from the outset can make a real difference if the matter ends up back in front of a judge.
How Gambriani Law approaches parenting matters
Parenting disputes touch the part of a separation that parents care about most, and that emotional weight is real. At Gambriani Law PC, our starting point in any parenting matter is to understand your family's actual circumstances: your children's needs, your existing routine, and what a workable arrangement realistically looks like going forward, rather than approaching every case with a one-size-fits-all template.
Child-focused from the outset
We keep the focus on what a parenting arrangement needs to achieve for your children, not on relitigating every grievance from the relationship that ended. That does not mean ignoring legitimate concerns, including safety concerns, when they exist; it means being deliberate about which issues actually bear on your children's best interests and which do not, so that the process stays productive rather than becoming an extension of the conflict itself.
Bilingual representation, in English or Farsi
Gambriani Law PC serves clients across North York, Toronto, and the Greater Toronto Area in both English and Farsi. For Persian-speaking parents, that means being able to discuss a parenting plan, a court application, or a difficult conversation about your children's future in the language you are most comfortable using, without anything getting lost in translation between you and your lawyer. Every family's situation is different, and how a parenting matter unfolds depends on its own facts and the decisions made along the way, but what we can offer is careful preparation, clear communication, and steady, practical guidance at each stage, in whichever language works best for you.
Why representation matters, in English or Farsi
Parenting and custody matters are rarely simple, even when both parents are genuinely trying to act in good faith. The legal framework involves multiple overlapping factors, notice requirements, and procedural steps, and a mistake, or a document filed without proper care, can affect an arrangement that will shape your relationship with your children for years. Having experienced representation from the outset, whether you are negotiating a parenting plan directly with the other parent or preparing for a contested court application, helps ensure that your position is presented clearly and that nothing important gets missed along the way.
For many families in North York, Toronto, and across the GTA, language is part of what makes a parenting dispute feel manageable or overwhelming. Being able to explain your concerns, review a proposed schedule, or understand a court document in Farsi, rather than working entirely through a third party or a rough translation, often makes a genuine difference in how confident you feel about the process. At Gambriani Law PC, we make that bilingual support available at every stage, from an initial conversation through to a final parenting order, so that language is never the reason you feel less informed about decisions affecting your own children.
If you are facing a separation, a disagreement about your children's care, or a parenting order that is not working the way it should, getting advice early tends to open up more options, not fewer. We are available to discuss your situation directly, in English or Farsi, and to help you think through what a sensible next step looks like for your family.