What is contact?
Contact occurs when someone who is not a parent spends time with the child(ren), such as a grandparent.
If the parents do not agree to allow someone to have contact with the child, that person can apply to the court for an order granting them contact. Usually, you must first ask the court for permission to apply for contact before you can actually make an application for contact.
Grandparents do not need the court’s permission to apply for contact under the Family Law Act if all the following are true:
- the child’s guardians are also their parents
- the guardians are living separate and apart OR one of the guardians died
- the grandparent’s contact with the child has been interrupted by the guardians’ separation or the guardian’s death
You cannot apply for contact under the Divorce Act unless there is a parenting order in place for the same children.
Last Reviewed: March 2021
Who can ask for contact with a child?
Anyone who is not a spouse or guardian can ask for contact with a child. This could be a grandparent or other person who has an important relationship with the child and whose relationship may be lost due to the divorce or separation unless the court orders contact.
Last Reviewed: March 2021
Is contact the same as access?
Not really. Access was used under the old Divorce Act to describe a person’s right to spend time with a child but not be able to make major decisions for the child. A person with access did not have primary care of the child. This could be a parent or someone else. We no longer use the term access.
Now the terms contact only refers to the time a child spends with a person who is not their parent. A parent has parenting time with the child, regardless of how much or how little time that is.
Last Reviewed: March 2021
What is a contact order?
A contact order is a court order setting out who and when a person can have contact with a child. The contact order also sets out how the contact can occur. Contact could be in the form of visits or by any means of communication (email, phone calls, etc.). The judge can say if someone else should supervise contact.
The judge can decide how long the order will be in place. It might be for a fixed period of time, an indefinite period of time or until a certain event occurs.
The judge always makes decisions in the best interests of the child, not what the parents or person asking for contact want.
Last Reviewed: March 2021
Do we have to get a contact order? Can we make our own agreement?
If the child’s guardians and the person wanting contact all agree on contact, then a court order may not be necessary. You should put the agreement in writing.
You can also present the arrangement to the judge in the form of a consent order. A consent order is an order of the court that is decided upon by consent between the parties and then submitted to a judge for review and signature (as opposed to the parties presenting different sides to the judge and the judge making the final decisions).
If you and the child’s guardians do not agree on contact, you will have to get a court order. The court will consider whether contact with you is in the child’s best interests.
Last Reviewed: March 2021
Can a contact order be changed?
You can apply to the court to change a contact order only if there has been a change in the circumstances of the child since the order was made. If nothing has changed and you are just unhappy with the original contact order, the court will not change the order.
Last Reviewed: March 2021
What if someone is not following the contact order?
If someone is blocking time that you believe you are supposed to have with the children, then you should carefully review the wording of your court order. Were you granted specific dates and times with the children or were you granted reasonable or generous time with the children (no dates and times set out in the order). If you have an order that does not specify the exact times and days of the week that the children are to be with you, then you can apply to change your order to be more specific.
If the order has a police enforcement clause, you can go straight to the police to force the parent(s) to comply.
If your court does not have a police enforcement clause, you may be able to apply for an enforcement order. The police can then help you enforce the enforcement order.
For example, in an enforcement order in Alberta, a judge can order:
- that you get extra time with the children to make up for the lost time (“compensatory time”)
- that the other guardian reimburses expenses you incurred because of being denied your time with the children (for example, missed wages or travel expenses)
- that the other guardian must provide security (usually money) that will be held in trust until the parenting order is followed
- penalties of up to $100 per day, to a maximum amount of $5,000 for denying parenting time, or
- a prison term.
Last Reviewed: March 2021
What happens if someone else has a contact order to visit my kids but they do not show up?
This is a very hard situation. Try not to let the children know how you feel about the situation, even though you may be angry. The children also need to know that it is not their fault. Maybe the other person can keep in contact with the children through calls, text messages or emails. If you think it is in the best interests of the children, you could apply to the court to change the contact order to decrease the other person’s contact.
Last Reviewed: March 2021
What happens if I have an access order from before March 1, 2021, not a contact order?
If you were previously married to the other parent and had access to a child under a custody order that was made before March 1, 2021, you now have parenting time (unless the court says otherwise).
If you were not a parent but had access to a child under a custody order that was made before March 1, 2021, you now have contact with the child under a contact order (unless the court says otherwise).
Last Reviewed: March 2021
More Resources
- Parenting Time and Contact (CPLEA publication – available in French and English)
- Making Plans – A guide to parenting arrangements after separation or divorce (Government of Canada)
- Divorce & Separation (Justice Canada)
- Divorce & Separation resources in Alberta (LawCentral Alberta)
- Families Change: Guide to Separation & Divorce – website with info helping kids, teens and parents deal with a family break up