How does coercive control get factored into a parenting time decision under the 2021 Divorce Act changes?

Since 2021, the Divorce Act contains an explicit definition of family violence that goes well beyond physical harm — it expressly includes a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour, along with psychological and financial abuse, and states that a single act or an ongoing pattern of conduct can both qualify. Family violence, including coercive control, is a named factor a court must consider in deciding what's in a child's best interests when making parenting time and decision-making responsibility orders.

A court looks at how the coercive control affects the child directly or indirectly, including its impact on the other parent's ability to safely and effectively co-parent, and any risk it poses going forward — it isn't treated as a side issue but as directly relevant to the parenting arrangement itself. This can affect the amount and structure of parenting time, whether exchanges need to be supervised, and how decision-making responsibility is allocated. Because coercive control is usually proven through a pattern of behaviour rather than one dramatic incident, courts weigh accumulated evidence rather than looking for a single triggering event.