A Child's Passport When Parents Disagree in Ontario

Your child has a school trip to Europe, or you want to take them to visit relatives in another country. The other parent is refusing to sign the passport application. Or conversely: you have just discovered the other parent applied for your child's passport without telling you. What are your rights?

A child's passport is not just a travel document — it is a flashpoint in many family law disputes because it sits squarely at the intersection of decision-making responsibility, parental authority, and the very real risk of international child abduction. Understanding how passport applications work for children of separated parents in Ontario is essential.

How Canadian Child Passport Applications Work

In Canada, a child's passport — for children under 16 — requires parental consent. As of writing (verify current requirements with Passport Canada), the application must be signed or authorized by both parents, or by the parent who has the legal authority to consent alone. The specific rules depend on your custody situation and the documentation you can provide.

Passport Canada (Service Canada / IRCC) reviews the legal authority of the applicant to consent. If there is a court order addressing custody or decision-making responsibility, Passport Canada will consider it. If the order gives one parent sole decision-making responsibility over the child's travel or passport matters, that parent can apply alone.

Key principle: If you share decision-making responsibility with the other parent — formally or informally — you typically cannot get a child's passport without their co-operation or a court order directing otherwise.

What "Decision-Making Responsibility" Means Here

The term decision-making responsibility (the language used in the Divorce Act and Ontario's Children's Law Reform Act) refers to the authority to make major decisions in a child's life — education, health care, religion, and travel documentation such as passports.

• Shared decision-making responsibility: Both parents must consent to a passport application. Neither can act unilaterally.
• Sole decision-making responsibility: The parent with sole authority can consent to the passport without the other parent's signature, though documentation of that legal status must be provided to Passport Canada.
• Ambiguous or outdated order: Many older orders use terms like "custody" without specifying how decisions about passports are made. These need careful interpretation.

When One Parent Refuses to Consent

If you share decision-making responsibility and the other parent refuses to sign the passport application, you cannot simply proceed without them. You have two main options:

1. Negotiate or Mediate

Sometimes a refusal is really a request for more information or reassurance. The other parent may be worried the child will not be returned after an international trip, or they may not understand that a passport does not authorize travel without their consent. Addressing those concerns — with a detailed travel itinerary, a consent letter for the specific trip, or even offering security — can resolve the deadlock.

2. Go to Court

If negotiation fails, you can bring a court application asking the judge to:

• Order the other parent to sign the passport application
• Dispense with the other parent's consent on the basis that refusal is not in the child's best interests
• Vary the existing order to clarify that you have sole authority over travel documentation

Courts will not automatically override a refusal — but where the refusal is unreasonable, vindictive, or contrary to the child's interests (for example, the child will miss a school trip), courts are willing to intervene. Be prepared to explain why the trip is beneficial for the child, not just convenient for you.

When You Learn the Other Parent Applied Without You

If you discover that the other parent has obtained a passport for your child without your knowledge or consent, this is a serious matter. It may indicate:

• A clerical error or misrepresentation in the passport application
• The other parent claiming sole authority they do not have
• A genuine concern that the parent intends to travel without your knowledge

Steps to take:

1. Consult a family lawyer immediately.
2. Consider requesting a court order limiting or tracking the child's travel — including surrendering the passport to the court or a neutral third party.
3. If you have reason to believe your child is at imminent risk of being taken abroad without your consent, contact the police and the Missing Children Society of Canada or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (US) if relevant.

Protecting Against Unauthorized Travel

Even with a passport in hand, a child cannot simply be taken across most international borders without some form of authorization. However, enforcement is imperfect, and once a child leaves Canada for a country with weak child-return mechanisms, getting them back can be extremely difficult.

Proactive steps if you are concerned:

• Ask your lawyer about an order requiring surrender of the passport to a neutral party or to the court
• Obtain an order requiring the other parent to provide advance notice before any international travel
• Flag the child with CBSA — there is a process for placing a child's name on a watch list if you have a court order — a lawyer can advise on how to use it

Frequently asked questions