Do grandparents have to show an existing bond with a grandchild before a court will grant contact?

An existing bond isn't a strict legal precondition, but it's one of the most persuasive things a grandparent can bring to a contact application. Ontario's parenting law lets a court order contact between a child and a non-parent, including a grandparent, where that's in the child's best interests, and the strength and history of the relationship is one of the clearest ways to show the child would actually benefit from continued contact rather than the application being about the grandparent's own wishes.

A grandparent with little or no existing relationship with the child - for example, where contact was cut off very early, or a relationship never really developed - faces a harder practical case, not because the law bars them outright, but because it's harder to show the child has something meaningful to lose without contact. That doesn't make the application impossible; a court can still consider the potential value of building a relationship going forward, family history, and the reasons contact stopped. Evidence of past involvement - regular visits, caregiving, correspondence, shared milestones - meaningfully strengthens a grandparent's case, so gathering and documenting that history is one of the most useful early steps.