Denied Parenting Time in Ontario: How to Enforce a Parenting Order
In Ontario, the Family Responsibility Office enforces child and spousal support, not parenting time. If the other parent is denying you court-ordered parenting time, the lawful route is to return to court by motion. A judge may order remedies such as make-up time, a more detailed schedule, third-party exchanges, or costs, and in serious cases a finding of contempt. Police generally do not enforce a civil parenting order unless the order contains a police-enforcement clause or a court has made an apprehension order. Parenting time and child support are separate legal obligations, so withholding one because of the other can weaken your own position.
When the Other Parent Ignores Your Parenting Order
You have a court order or an agreement that sets out your time with your child, and the other parent is not following it. Visits get cancelled last minute, exchanges do not happen, or you are simply told “no.” It is one of the most stressful situations a separated parent can face, and it is more common than most people realize.
The good news is that Ontario family law gives you real ways to respond. You do not have to accept a parenting order being ignored, and you do not have to sort it out alone.
This guide explains who actually enforces parenting time in Ontario, why the support agency cannot help here, when police can and cannot step in, and how to ask a court to enforce your order. It is written for the parent being denied time and for the parent accused of withholding.
Quick Start: Which Situation Are You In?
People arrive at this page in three different situations. Find yours before reading on.
What Your Parenting Order Actually Covers
These terms are newer than many people expect. On March 1, 2021, changes to the federal Divorce Act and Ontario's court forms replaced the words custody and access with decision-making responsibility and parenting time. Access is the older word for parenting time, and you may still see it in an order made before the change.
Which law applies depends on your situation. Married parents going through a divorce fall under the Divorce Act. Parents who were never married, or who are separating without divorcing, fall under Ontario's Children's Law Reform Act. Either way, a court decides parenting questions on one test: the best interests of the child, set out in section 16 of the Divorce Act and section 24 of the Children's Law Reform Act.
Our page on parenting time and decision-making responsibility explains how these arrangements are set up.
Who Enforces Parenting Time in Ontario?
This surprises many parents, because the FRO is the agency people associate with family court follow-through. When support is not paid, the FRO can garnish wages, intercept federal payments, and suspend a driver's licence. You can read more about that in our guide on what the FRO does when support goes unpaid.
None of those powers touch parenting time. The FRO collects money, but it does not manage the time a child spends with a parent. The route that works is a return to court, where a judge has the authority to enforce a parenting order and respond to a parent who repeatedly ignores it.
Can the Police Make Your Ex Return the Child?
After a failed exchange, calling the police can feel like the obvious step. In most cases, though, officers who attend treat a parenting dispute as a civil matter and, without a specific court order authorizing them, decline to remove a child from a home.
Section 36 of the Children's Law Reform Act allows a court, in defined circumstances, to authorize a parent to apprehend a child who is being unlawfully withheld, or to direct a police force to locate, apprehend, and deliver the child. This is a court-ordered remedy, not something an officer can grant at the door.
These orders are meant to be used sparingly. In guidance to the legal profession dated December 16, 2025, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police described police apprehension orders under section 36(2) as exceptional, time-limited remedies. For most denied parents, the practical path is a motion in family court.
Why You Cannot Stop Support or Withhold the Child in Return
If you are being kept away from your child, holding back support can feel like leverage. If support is not arriving, refusing the next visit can feel fair. Both moves tend to backfire.
Because support belongs to the child, stopping payment harms the child more than it pressures the other parent, and stopping support has its own consequences, including arrears that keep building. A parent who withholds the child to protest unpaid support is breaching the parenting order, and that conduct may be counted against them.
Keep the two issues on separate tracks. Enforce support through the proper channel, and enforce parenting time through the court.
When Safety Is the Real Concern
Not every refusal to hand over a child is wrongful. A parent who holds back a child because of a real and immediate safety concern is in a different position from one who is using the child as leverage.
If you are worried about family violence or your child's safety, speak to a family lawyer immediately and, where appropriate, seek an urgent court order. Support services and shelters across Ontario can also help. The goal in these situations is protection, and the court's focus stays on the child's safety and well-being.
What a Court Can Order to Enforce Parenting Time
When a parent refuses to follow a parenting order, a judge has a wide range of responses. Most enforcement does not start with the most serious tool.
The everyday workhorse is rule 1(8) of Ontario's Family Law Rules, which lets a court address a failure to obey an order by making any order it considers necessary for a just determination of the matter. In Bouchard v. Sgovio, 2021 ONCA 709, the Court of Appeal confirmed that this authority is broad and not limited to procedural fixes. Under it, a court may order remedies such as make-up parenting time, a more detailed schedule, exchanges through a third party or a supervised setting, and costs against the parent who broke the order.
Contempt of court is the more serious route, available under rule 31. A contempt finding requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that a parent knew a clear order and intentionally broke it, and it can carry a fine or, rarely, jail. Courts treat contempt as a last resort and often prefer the faster, lower-threshold remedies first. Each of these responses is discretionary and decided on the best interests of the child.
| Rule 1(8) enforcement order | Rule 31 contempt finding | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A broad power for a court to respond to a failure to obey an order | A finding that a parent wilfully broke a clear order |
| Typical use | Most day-to-day enforcement; often the first step | Serious or repeated breaches; a last resort |
| Standard of proof | Balance of probabilities | Beyond a reasonable doubt |
| Remedies a court may order | Make-up time, a detailed schedule, third-party or supervised exchanges, costs | A fine or, rarely, jail, with conditions to purge the contempt |
| How courts approach it | A flexible first-line tool | Used cautiously and sparingly |
How to Bring a Motion to Enforce Parenting Time
Enforcing a parenting order runs through a motion in the same court that made the order. The steps below keep as many options open as possible.
Start by keeping a clear record. Note every missed or denied visit with dates, times, and what was said. Courts respond to a documented pattern, not to a general sense that things are going wrong.
Next, try to resolve it and document that effort. A calm message proposing make-up time, or a request through a lawyer, sometimes fixes the problem and shows the court you acted reasonably.
If that does not work, prepare your motion. Depending on the situation, this is either an ordinary motion asking the court to enforce the order or a contempt motion. Parenting claims also require an up-to-date Form 35.1 parenting affidavit, the sworn document that sets out your parenting plan and any safety information.
File and serve your materials, attend the case conference or motion, and ask the court for the enforcement terms you need. A lawyer can help you frame the request and the evidence.
Common Mistakes When Parenting Time Is Denied
These are the mistakes that most often weaken a denied parent's position. If your matter is part of a divorce in Ontario, the same principles apply under the Divorce Act.
- •Stopping child support because parenting time is being denied. The two are separate obligations, and stopping payment can weaken your position while arrears continue to build.
- •Withholding the child on your own time to even the score. Self-help of this kind tends to count against the parent who does it.
- •Expecting the Family Responsibility Office to step in. It collects support, but it has no authority over parenting schedules.
- •Calling the police and expecting them to hand the child over. Without a police-enforcement clause or an apprehension order, officers generally cannot act on a civil parenting order.
- •Keeping no record. Courts respond to documented patterns of missed exchanges, not to general complaints.
- •Treating contempt as the first move. It is a discretionary last resort with a high standard of proof, and a court may address non-compliance through faster remedies first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Family Responsibility Office enforce parenting time in Ontario?
Can I call the police if my ex won't let me see my child?
Can I stop paying child support if I'm being denied parenting time?
What can a judge order if the other parent keeps breaking our parenting schedule?
What is make-up parenting time, and can I get it?
Do I need a lawyer to bring a motion to enforce parenting time?
My ex keeps cancelling my visits for small reasons. Is that still a breach?
What if I don't have a court order yet, just an informal arrangement?
Talk to a Family Lawyer About Enforcing Your Order
Being kept from your child is painful, but a parenting order that is being ignored is a problem Ontario law is built to address. The key points are simple: the Family Responsibility Office does not enforce parenting time, police act only under a specific order, and the reliable route is a motion in family court where a judge can order make-up time and other remedies.
The right approach depends on your order and your circumstances. Qasim Ali, Principal Lawyer at Nihang Law, and our family law team help parents across Toronto, Scarborough, Brampton, and the wider GTA enforce their parenting orders. If your time with your child is being denied, book a consultation and we can talk through your options.
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If your time with your child is being denied, we can talk through your options and the right next step.
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About the author
Qasim Ali
Principal Lawyer · Nihang Law Professional Corporation · Toronto & Scarborough, Ontario · Law Society of Ontario
Qasim Ali is the Principal Lawyer at Nihang Law Professional Corporation, serving clients across Toronto, Scarborough, and the broader Greater Toronto Area. He provides full-service legal representation across immigration, real estate, family law, criminal law, civil litigation, employment law, wills and estates, and business law.
Nihang Law is particularly recognized for its depth in immigration and real estate law — a combination that serves newcomers and growing families navigating both legal systems simultaneously.
Learn more about Qasim Ali →Sources & References
- Children's Law Reform Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.12 — ss. 24, 34–38 (best interests; enforcement; order where child unlawfully withheld) — https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90c12
- Divorce Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 3 (2nd Supp.), s. 16 (best interests of the child) — https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/d-3.4/section-16.html
- Family Law Rules, O. Reg. 114/99 — r. 1(8) (failure to obey an order), r. 31 (contempt), r. 35.1 (parenting affidavit) — https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/990114
- Bouchard v. Sgovio, 2021 ONCA 709 (reach of rule 1(8) enforcement power) — https://www.ontariocourts.ca/decisions/2021/2021ONCA0709.htm
- Moncur v. Plante, 2021 ONCA 462 (three-element test for civil contempt) — https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2021/2021onca462/2021onca462.html
- Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, Memo to the Legal Profession — Child Apprehension Orders under s. 36(2) of the Children's Law Reform Act (December 16, 2025) — https://www.yrp.ca/en/about/resources/Legal/Memo-to-the-Legal-Profession-Re-Child-Apprehension-Orders-Under-s.-362-of-the-CLRA.pdf
- Government of Ontario — Enforcing child and spousal support payments — https://www.ontario.ca/page/enforcing-child-and-spousal-support-payments
- Government of Ontario — Parenting time, decision-making responsibility and contact — https://www.ontario.ca/page/parenting-time-decision-making-responsibility-and-contact