Custody vs. Access in Ontario: What the New Terms Mean

If you are searching "custody vs access," you are using the words Ontario courts retired. As of March 1, 2021, the federal Divorce Act and Ontario's Children's Law Reform Act dropped "custody" and "access." A parent who once had custody now has decision-making responsibility. A parent who once had access now has parenting time. Nothing about your rights as a parent shrank or grew because of the rename. The labels changed, the test did not: every order still turns on the best interests of the child.

Here is what each term means now, why the language changed, and why your lawyer and even the judge may still say "custody" out of habit.

The old words and the new ones

The swap is a straight one-for-one in most conversations:

• "Custody" is now decision-making responsibility, the authority to make major choices about a child: education, health care, religion or spirituality, and significant extracurricular activities.
• "Access" is now parenting time, the schedule of when the child is in each parent's care.
• "Contact" is a separate term for time a non-parent spends with the child, usually a grandparent or another close relative.

That last one matters. Before 2021, a grandparent seeking time with a grandchild applied for "access," the same word a parent used. Now a parent asks for parenting time and a non-parent asks for a contact order. The law treats those requests differently, and the new vocabulary makes the line visible.

Why Parliament changed the words

"Custody" carried baggage. It sounded like ownership, the way you have custody of an object or a prisoner. Parents fought over who would "win custody," and the loser felt written out of the child's life. "Access" sounded like a visitor's pass to your own kid.

Parliament wanted the statute to describe what parents actually do, which is raise a child and make decisions, rather than frame it as a prize one side takes from the other. Decision-making responsibility and parenting time describe roles. They are harder to weaponize in an argument. The change does not make a separation painless, but it stops the words themselves from picking a winner before the evidence is in.

Sole versus joint decision-making

The old "sole custody" and "joint custody" map onto the new language too.

Where one parent holds sole decision-making responsibility, that parent makes the major calls on their own. The other parent usually still has parenting time, often a substantial schedule. A common misread is that sole decision-making means the other parent is shut out. It does not. A parent can have no say in choosing the school and still have the child half the week.

Where parents share joint decision-making responsibility, they make the major decisions together. That works when two people can communicate well enough to agree on the big questions, even after a hard breakup. When they cannot, joint decision-making turns every school form into a fresh fight, and a court may decide one parent should hold the authority instead.

Decision-making and the schedule are two separate questions. You can split them in any combination that fits the child. If you are not sure which arrangement suits your situation, that is worth a conversation before you file anything. You can book a free consultation and we will walk through the options.

The test has not changed: best interests of the child

Whatever you call it, an Ontario court deciding decision-making responsibility or parenting time asks one question: what is in the best interests of this child? That standard predates the 2021 amendments and survived them untouched.

A judge weighs the child's needs given their age and stage, the child's relationship with each parent and with siblings and grandparents, each parent's plan for the child's care, the history of who has looked after the child, and any history of family violence. The child's own views and preferences count, weighted by age and maturity. No factor wins automatically. There is no presumption that the mother gets more time, and no presumption that time must be split exactly in half.

For a fuller breakdown of how courts approach the parenting questions, see our overview of decision-making and parenting time.

Why people still say "custody"

Five years in, "custody" has not disappeared from anyone's mouth. There are reasons.

Older court orders still use it. If you have a custody order from 2018, it remains valid and you do not need to redo it just to match the new wording. Parents grew up hearing "custody battle" on television and reach for the word without thinking. And judges and lawyers, who used the term for decades, sometimes slip back to it in a hearing. None of that changes the law. When you read "custody" in an old order or hear it in conversation, translate it in your head: decision-making and parenting time.

The practical risk is small but real. A separation agreement drafted today should use the current statutory language so it lines up cleanly with the Divorce Act and the Children's Law Reform Act. An agreement that still says "custody and access" is not void, but precise wording prevents arguments later about what the parties meant.

Where this fits with support and relocation

Parenting arrangements connect to two other issues people often raise in the same breath.

Child support follows the parenting schedule. The number of overnights each parent has shapes the support calculation, so decisions about parenting time have a dollar consequence. Our pages on how child support works and our child support services cover the math.

Relocation is its own fight. A parent who wants to move with the child, whether across the city or out of province, has notice obligations and may need the other parent's agreement or a court order. The rules tightened in 2021. If a move is on the table, read moving with a child after separation before you give notice or pack a box.

Getting an arrangement that holds up

The terminology change is the easy part. The hard part is building a parenting plan that fits your child and survives the next few years without dragging you back to court. We handle Ontario family law on a flat fee, so you know the cost before you start, and the first consultation is free. We work with parents across Toronto and the GTA. Reach out when you are ready to sort out decision-making and a schedule that works.