Key Takeaways
- The Divorce Act and Alberta's framework no longer use "custody" and "access." The current concepts are parenting time (when the children are with each parent) and decision-making responsibility (who decides the significant questions).
- The two are separate. A parent can have less parenting time and still share equally in major decisions, and day-to-day choices belong to whichever parent the children are with.
- Decision-making covers the significant categories: health, education, culture and religion, and significant extracurricular activities. It can be shared, divided by topic, or held by one parent.
- Everything is allocated by one test, the best interests of the child. There is no automatic formula and no default winner.
Parents researching separation still search for "custody," and then find that the orders coming out of court do not use the word at all. In 2021 the federal Divorce Act replaced custody and access with parenting time and decision-making responsibility, and Alberta's own Family Law Act framework for unmarried parents works with guardianship and parenting orders in a similar way. The change is more than vocabulary: it separates two questions that the old language blurred together, and understanding the split is the key to negotiating a workable arrangement.
Parenting Time: The Schedule
Parenting time is exactly what it sounds like: the time the children are in each parent's care. It is set out in a schedule covering the regular routine, holidays, school breaks, and special days. During their parenting time, each parent is generally entitled to make the day-to-day decisions that come up: what is for dinner, bedtime, homework, weekend plans. Neither parent supervises the other's ordinary parenting.
Schedules range from alternating weeks to arrangements weighted toward one home, and the right one depends on the children's ages, school logistics, the distance between homes, and each parent's availability. What the schedule is not is a scoreboard: more overnights is not a prize, and courts are alert to time being sought for leverage, particularly where child support is the real motive. We cover that dynamic in our article on child support in shared parenting.
Decision-Making Responsibility: The Significant Questions
Decision-making responsibility is the authority to make significant decisions about a child's life: health care, education, culture, language, religion and spirituality, and significant extracurricular activities. These are the choices that shape a childhood, and they are allocated separately from the schedule. Common structures include:
- Joint decision-making. Both parents must agree on significant decisions. This is common where parents can communicate functionally, and it usually comes with a dispute-resolution mechanism for deadlocks.
- Divided by category. One parent decides education, the other health, for example. Useful where the conflict is topic-specific.
- Sole decision-making. One parent decides, sometimes after consulting the other. Courts reserve this for situations where joint decision-making is unworkable, including where there has been family violence.
Whatever the structure, both parents typically remain entitled to request and receive information about the child from schools, doctors, and other third parties, unless a court orders otherwise.
For Unmarried Parents: Guardianship
For parents who were never married, Alberta's Family Law Act deals with the same substance through guardianship. Most parents are automatically guardians of their child, and guardians hold the powers and responsibilities that parallel decision-making responsibility, allocated through parenting orders when parents separate. The terminology differs from the Divorce Act, but the practical questions, who has the children when and who decides what, are the same, and courts apply the same best-interests lens. Our parenting and custody page explains which framework applies to your situation.
How the Pieces Get Allocated
Every allocation runs through a single test: the best interests of the child. The court considers the child's needs and stability, the relationship with each parent, each parent's willingness to support the child's relationship with the other parent, the history of care, the child's views where they can be ascertained, any family violence, and each parent's plan going forward. No parent starts with an advantage based on gender or income, and there is no presumption of any particular schedule. We walk through the test in detail in how parenting is decided in Alberta.
In practice, the arrangement is usually negotiated rather than imposed: most families land their schedule and decision-making structure in a parenting plan or agreement, with court as the backstop rather than the starting point. Mediation and parenting coordination exist precisely to keep recurring disagreements out of the courtroom.
Why the Distinction Matters When You Negotiate
Separating the schedule from the decision-making authority unlocks settlements. A parent whose work makes a 50/50 schedule impractical does not have to surrender their voice in the significant decisions. A parent worried about being cut out of medical or schooling choices can secure joint decision-making without litigating over overnights. Treating the two as one bundle, the way the old custody label did, forces all-or-nothing fights that the current law was designed to end.
Frequently Asked Questions
What replaced custody and access in Canada?
Since 2021, the Divorce Act uses parenting time for the schedule and decision-making responsibility for significant decisions. Contact orders cover time with non-parents such as grandparents.
Is joint decision-making the default in Alberta?
There is no legal default. Courts often order joint decision-making where parents can cooperate, but every allocation is driven by the best interests of the child, and sole or divided structures are used where joint authority would not work.
Does equal parenting time mean no child support?
No. In shared arrangements the calculation changes and both incomes matter, but support is rarely zero unless incomes are nearly identical. The set-off between the two table amounts is only the starting point.
Who decides if parents with joint decision-making disagree?
Good agreements build in a process: discussion, then mediation or parenting coordination, with court as the last resort. Some agreements give one parent the final say in a category after consultation.
Can parenting time or decision-making be changed later?
Yes. Arrangements can be varied by agreement, or by the court where there has been a material change in circumstances affecting the child. Good parenting plans build in review points so changes are negotiated rather than litigated.
Build an Arrangement That Works
The schedule and the decision-making structure you agree to now will shape years of family logistics, and the financial pieces, child support above all, flow directly from them. William Aadil Musani founded Cunningham Family Law to bring clear, financially informed advice to separation and parenting matters. Book a confidential consultation or call (403) 804-0497.
This article is general information about Alberta family law and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create a solicitor-client relationship. Every situation is different, and you should speak with a lawyer about your specific circumstances.
William Aadil Musani is a Calgary family lawyer and the founder of Cunningham Family Law. Before family law, he practiced corporate law, tax law, and M&A with international firms and a Tier-1 Canadian tax boutique, experience he now applies to financially complex divorce and separation matters. More about William →