Canada: family-law information and official sources
Family-law information for Canada on parenting, divorce, support, safety and travel, with federal and provincial or territorial starting points.
Choose your province or territory
Local family laws, court procedures and services differ across Canada. Select the area connected to your case.
Urgent safety and private help
If someone is in immediate danger in a Canadian 911 service area, call 911 when safe. Otherwise contact the emergency service available locally. The Government of Canada's family-violence services directory lists provincial and territorial crisis lines, shelters and specialist help. Use a safe device or contact method if someone may monitor your communications. Tell a service about child safety, an existing protection order, or a concern about joint mediation before agreeing to meet the other person. Canada: emergency and crisis help.
1. Which law and local service apply?
The federal Divorce Act applies to married spouses who have applied for divorce or are divorced. It can address parenting and support in that context. Provincial or territorial laws address separation without a divorce application, unmarried partners and property division, and local rules govern courts and filing. A divorce does not by itself decide every child or property issue. Start with Justice Canada's explanation, then select the province or territory relevant to the case. Do not assume a page for one province applies in another.
2. Parenting time and decisions for a child
The Divorce Act uses parenting time and decision-making responsibility for new parenting orders. An older order using “custody” or “access” can still matter. The child's best interests are the only basis for a Divorce Act parenting or contact order; the court gives primary consideration to physical, emotional and psychological safety, security and well-being. The Act has no automatic equal-time outcome. List the child's care, school, health, relationships, any existing order and safety concerns before seeking advice. Provincial or territorial laws may use different terms or routes outside a Divorce Act case. Justice Canada: parenting arrangements; Divorce Act, section 16.
3. A parenting plan, agreement or court order
A parenting plan can record the practical details of care, communication, holidays and decisions. Justice Canada offers a parenting-plan checklist and Making Plans guide to frame a discussion. Read any existing agreement or order before changing arrangements. If agreement is not possible or safe, ask a local family justice service or lawyer which court or service has authority. This page does not choose an order, say an informal plan is enforceable, or recommend joint discussion where violence is a concern.
4. Divorce, property and spousal support
Only a legally married couple can obtain a divorce. The application is made through a provincial or territorial court process, so confirm the local filing route and current requirements. Property division is governed by provincial or territorial law and may depend on marriage or another relationship status. Keep a list of assets, debts, housing, income and existing agreements for a local adviser. Justice Canada: applying for divorce; divorce and separation.
5. Child support
Child support is separate from parenting time and contact. First determine which federal or provincial/territorial guidelines apply; a federal table alone does not decide an individual case. Justice Canada's step-by-step guide explains that distinction, including designated provinces, and the federal child-support information links to current tables and guidance. Quebec has a different support model in many cases. Existing orders do not automatically change when tables are updated. Check income, parenting arrangements, other relevant circumstances and any existing order with the proper local service or adviser; this page does not calculate support. Justice Canada: 2025 federal-table update.
6. Mediation, legal aid and local assistance
Provinces and territories offer different family justice services. Justice Canada's government-based service directory helps locate information, mediation and other local support. Mediation can help some families, but a mediator does not decide for the parties or give legal advice; safety and power imbalance may make a joint process unsuitable. The federal legal-aid directory points to provincial and territorial plans. Ask the local provider about current services, suitability, cost and eligibility rather than assuming the same programme is available everywhere. Justice Canada: out-of-court services.
7. Change an existing order or arrangement
An older Divorce Act order remains relevant after terminology changed. A request to change a parenting, contact or support order is different from making the first arrangement; the applicable legal test and procedure depend on the order and circumstances. Keep the order, later variations and records of what has changed. Do not stop complying with an effective order merely because a change is requested. Ask the issuing court or a local adviser about an appropriate variation route and any urgent safety option. Justice Canada: parenting arrangements and earlier orders; Divorce Act, section 17.
8. Unpaid support and cross-border enforcement
Support-enforcement programmes are provincial and territorial. Keep the signed order or enforceable agreement, payment history and details of any earlier registration. If the paying person lives elsewhere in Canada or abroad, contact the programme where you live to ask about reciprocal arrangements and current steps. Do not assume an overseas order can be enforced automatically or that every country is covered. Justice Canada: interjurisdictional support enforcement; provincial and territorial contacts.
9. Moving with a child
The Divorce Act distinguishes a change of residence from a relocation that significantly affects a child's relationship with someone with parenting time, decision-making responsibility or a contact order. It has notice, objection and possible court-exception rules; family violence can affect whether notice is required. Provincial law, an agreement or an existing order may also matter. Do not treat a proposed move as automatically allowed or use a general page to calculate a deadline. Get advice before moving or notifying anyone if safety is a concern. Justice Canada: moving after separation or divorce; Divorce Act relocation provisions.
10. Travel or a passport for a child
Temporary travel and a permanent move raise different questions. Canada recommends a consent letter when a child travels abroad without all parents or people with decision-making responsibility; the letter is not itself a Canadian legal requirement or a guarantee of entry, exit or return. Check the child's passport, any parenting order and destination-country rules. The child-passport document guidance explains when relevant court orders and agreements must be supplied. If consent is disputed, unobtainable or unsafe, obtain advice before travel; this guide cannot decide whose signature or permission is required.
11. A child taken or kept abroad
If a child may have been wrongfully taken or kept outside Canada, seek help promptly from police, a local family lawyer and the relevant provincial or territorial central authority. The Government of Canada's international child-abduction guide explains possible Hague Convention and other routes and gives contacts. Treaty coverage, habitual residence, rights and the available process need individual assessment. A return process does not itself decide final parenting arrangements. Preserve orders, travel and residence records safely; this is a help-only topic.
12. Indigenous children, culture and local authority
In a Divorce Act parenting decision, the child's cultural, linguistic, religious and spiritual upbringing and heritage, including Indigenous upbringing and heritage, is one of the factors the court considers. Family and community connections may be important to the particular child. Separate Indigenous child and family-services laws can also be relevant to child-welfare matters; this page cannot decide whether those laws, an Indigenous governing body, a provincial child-welfare authority or a family court has authority in a particular dispute. Seek culturally appropriate local advice and explain the child's community and safety needs. Divorce Act, section 16; federal Indigenous child and family-services legislation.
Costs and timing
Court fees, legal advice, mediation costs and possible fee assistance differ by province or territory and by process. Ask the relevant court or provider for current costs and an itemised estimate. This guide gives no total cost or completion date. Ask about any time-sensitive step before delaying action, especially for a move, travel, appeal or cross-border issue. Justice Canada: how to apply for divorce; family justice services.
Find your province or territory
Use the province or territory links on this page for local court and support starting points. Confirm that a service covers your actual community and matter. Quebec's child-support approach and the designated-province rules deserve particular attention; do not import a different province's form, calculator or court instruction. Justice Canada: child-support law selection; government-based family justice services.
Situations needing individual advice
This guide cannot determine a person's marital or parenting status, Indigenous jurisdiction, a court's authority, the effect of a foreign order, international treaty coverage, a safe way to contact another person, or whether an agreement is enforceable. Use the linked official source and a qualified local adviser for those decisions.