Long-Distance Parenting Plan Ontario: Sample Terms and Schedules

When parents live far apart, a standard weekly schedule does not work. Time usually shifts to school breaks and summers, travel becomes a big part of the plan, and video contact fills the gaps between visits.

This article gives sample wording you can adapt, with blanks for the details only you can fill in. The samples are illustrations, not a template that suits every family, and a lawyer can help tailor them.

What the law looks at first

In making a parenting or contact order, the court considers only the best interests of the child and gives primary consideration to the child's physical, emotional and psychological safety, security and well-being. The factors include the child's needs and stability, relationships with each parent, each parent's willingness to support the child's relationship with the other, and history of care. A child should have as much time with each spouse as is consistent with the child's best interests.

Justice Canada notes that shared time works best when parents live close to one another, and that parents should consider practical schedules, including transportation. In a long-distance plan, that means the details of travel matter as much as the calendar. Children's needs change with age, so what works for a toddler will not suit a teenager.

Sample clauses for time, breaks and holidays

Parenting time can be allocated by a schedule. Long-distance schedules commonly use longer blocks. Adjust the blanks to suit your family.

The checklist from Justice Canada also covers holidays, vacations, special days, changes to the schedule, and religion and culture, all worth including.

Sample clauses for travel and transportation

• Who travels: The child will travel [with a parent / as an unaccompanied minor if the airline permits, with both parents agreeing in writing].
• Who pays: Travel costs will be shared [equally / in proportion to income / as follows: ___]. (Where there is a relocation, the court can apportion the costs of exercising parenting time.)
• Exchanges: Exchanges will take place at [location]. Where supervision is needed, the order can require supervised parenting time or exchanges.
• Booking: The parent receiving the child will book travel and share the itinerary at least [period] before departure.
• Passports and consent: Each parent will cooperate in renewing the child's passport and will sign any travel consent letter needed for trips outside the province or country.
• Travel notice: Each parent will give the other notice of any trip with the child, including dates and contact details.

Transportation, travel notice and vacations outside the province or country are all items Justice Canada tells parents to address. Even small gaps, like who holds the passport, can cause conflict.

Sample clauses for video contact and decisions

A parenting order may include requirements about the means of communication, for example video calls, between the child and a person with parenting time or contact. Sample wording:

• The child may have video calls with the other parent on [days] at [time, taking into account time zones] for up to [length].
• The parent with the child will make the device available and provide privacy for the call, and will not monitor or interrupt it.
• If a scheduled call is missed, the parents will arrange another time within [period].
• Calls are in addition to, not in place of, in-person parenting time.

For decisions, a parent has exclusive authority over day-to-day decisions during their parenting time. Your plan can set out who makes major decisions about health, school and religion, and how you will share information such as report cards and medical updates. If you disagree, a parenting order may direct the parties to attend a family dispute resolution process.

Moves and changes: notice rules to plan around

A person with parenting time, decision-making responsibility or contact must notify others with those entitlements of a change in residence. For a relocation, the Divorce Act requires written notice at least 60 days before, including the date, the new address and a proposal for parenting time. The relocation may proceed if a court authorizes it, or if the other party does not object within 30 days after receiving the notice and no order prohibits it.

Where parenting time is substantially equal, the parent who intends to relocate the child has the burden of proving the relocation is in the child's best interests. A parenting order may also authorize or prohibit relocation. If your plan is meant to survive a future move by either parent, include a clause setting out the notice you will give and how you will revisit the schedule.

To vary an order later, the court must be satisfied that there has been a change in the circumstances of the child since the order was made. These rules apply to cases under the Divorce Act, and rules for unmarried parents may differ, so ask a lawyer which applies to you.

What to do next

• Map the realistic travel options between your homes, including time, cost and who can accompany the child.
• Draft a calendar for the school year, each break and the summer, and compare it to your child's age and routines.
• Write down video call times that work across time zones.
• Agree on passport, consent letter and travel notice arrangements.
• Ask a family lawyer to review the draft before you sign, and consider mediation for the sticking points.

If your agreement is signed and you want it to carry more weight, you can ask the court to include it in a consent order, which is simpler when both parties agree. The court will still check that it is in the child's best interests.

Frequently asked questions