Ontario Custody Agreement: Decision-Making Responsibility Explained

If you're separating or divorcing in Ontario, the first thing to know is that "custody" isn't the legal term anymore. Since March 2021, Ontario replaced "custody" and "access" with "decision-making responsibility" and "parenting time" — a shift designed to reduce the adversarial, winner-take-all dynamic that made negotiations toxic for decades.

This matters for your agreement. Using outdated language in your parenting plan or court filings signals to a judge that you haven't done your homework.

What Decision-Making Responsibility Actually Covers

Decision-making responsibility is the authority to make significant, long-term decisions about your child's life. It covers four specific areas:

• Health care — choosing doctors, approving medical procedures, consenting to treatment
• Education — selecting schools, approving tutoring, deciding on special education services
• Religious upbringing — choosing religious instruction, participation in religious communities
• Major extracurricular activities — competitive sports commitments, expensive programs

Day-to-day decisions (what the child eats for dinner, bedtime routines, playdates) are made by whichever parent is exercising parenting time at that moment. These don't require consultation or agreement.

Three Ways to Structure Decision-Making

Sole decision-making responsibility means one parent makes all major decisions. Courts typically order this when parents cannot communicate constructively or when there's a history of family violence. The other parent still has full parenting time rights — sole decision-making doesn't mean the other parent loses access.

Joint decision-making responsibility means both parents must agree on major decisions. This requires functional communication and willingness to cooperate. If you can't agree on which school your child attends, a joint arrangement will generate constant conflict and potentially require court intervention.

Parallel parenting splits decision-making by category. One parent handles education decisions; the other handles health care. This works well for high-conflict separations where full joint decision-making isn't realistic but both parents are competent in specific areas.

What the Court Looks At

Under Section 24 of the Children's Law Reform Act and Section 16 of the Divorce Act, every decision about parenting arrangements must serve the child's best interests. The court examines:

• Each parent's willingness to support the child's relationship with the other parent
• The history of caregiving (who was the primary caregiver before separation)
• Each parent's ability to communicate and cooperate on major decisions
• The child's own views and preferences (weighted by age and maturity)
• Any history of family violence, including coercive and controlling behavior

A critical factor many parents overlook: the court watches whether you're actively encouraging or undermining your child's relationship with the other parent. A parent who badmouths their ex or obstructs parenting time will lose credibility with the judge.

Making Your Agreement Enforceable

A parenting plan on its own isn't legally enforceable in Ontario. To give it teeth, it must be incorporated into either:

• A separation agreement signed by both parents, witnessed, and ideally reviewed by each parent's independent lawyer (ILA)
• A consent order filed with the court

Without one of these, your agreement is just a document outlining intentions. If your co-parent violates it, you have no enforcement mechanism.

Building a Strong Agreement

The strongest custody agreements leave no room for interpretation. Instead of "Parent B will have reasonable parenting time," specify exact days, transition times, holiday rotations, and communication protocols.

The Ontario Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide walks you through drafting each section of your agreement — from decision-making allocation to detailed scheduling — using Ontario's current legal framework and court-approved terminology.

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