Can a non-parent apply for decision-making responsibility, or only for contact and parenting time?

A non-parent isn't limited only to contact - Ontario's parenting law also allows a non-parent to apply for parenting time or, in more limited circumstances, decision-making responsibility, though this is a significantly higher bar than a contact application. Decision-making responsibility involves real authority over a child's major decisions, so courts are considerably more cautious about placing that authority with someone other than a legal parent, and it typically requires showing a settled, parent-like relationship rather than simply a close or caring one.

In practice, these applications tend to arise where a non-parent has genuinely functioned as a child's primary caregiver for a significant period - for example, a grandparent who raised a grandchild for years, or a former stepparent who was the child's main caregiver - rather than someone with a meaningful but secondary role in the child's life. Where a legal parent remains actively involved and capable of exercising decision-making responsibility themselves, a non-parent's application for that authority faces a much harder path than a request for contact or parenting time. Given how fact-specific and significant this kind of application is, get legal advice early to assess whether your relationship with the child realistically supports it.