Manitoba Custody and Parenting Time: A Parent's Guide

In short: Manitoba modernized its family law on July 1, 2023, replacing "custody" and "access" with "parenting time" and "decision-making responsibility." The default rules now depend on whether the parents ever lived together with the child: if they did, both parents share decision-making responsibility and parenting time by default; if they never lived together, only the parent the child lives with has either, by default. Courts issue "parenting orders" rather than custody orders, and there's no fixed standard schedule, the arrangement is built around the child's best interests.

This is an educational overview written for parents, not lawyers. It isn't legal advice, and Manitoba family law can turn on the specifics of your situation. For anything beyond general understanding, talk to a licensed Manitoba family law lawyer or use Family Law Manitoba.

Manitoba's 2023 Family Law Act reform

For years, Manitoba was one of the last Canadian provinces still using "custody" and "access" in its own family law statute, even after the federal Divorce Act dropped those terms in March 2021. That changed on July 1, 2023, when The Family Law Act, C.C.S.M. c. F20 came into force, repealing the old Family Maintenance Act and bringing Manitoba's language and framework into line with the modernized Divorce Act.

The reform did more than rename things. It reframed the whole question away from who "has" a child (custody) and toward what each parent actually does: how much parenting time they have, and what decision-making responsibility they hold for the child's health, education, and upbringing. Custody and access orders made before July 1, 2023 remain fully valid and enforceable, courts didn't retroactively rewrite existing orders, but any new order uses the new framework and is called a parenting order.

Decision-making responsibility and parenting time

• Parenting time: the periods when a child is in a parent's care. Whoever has parenting time at a given moment generally has day-to-day authority to make routine decisions during that time (meals, bedtime, activities), unless a court order says otherwise.
• Decision-making responsibility: authority over significant decisions, health care, education, religion or culture, and major extracurricular choices. This can be held jointly, split by subject area (one parent decides on schooling, the other on health care), or held solely by one parent.

The default rule depends on whether you lived together

Section 36 of The Family Law Act sets out two different starting points, and which one applies depends entirely on your history as a couple:

• If you lived together with the child at any point after the child's birth: both parents have joint decision-making responsibility and parenting time by default. This applies whether you were married or common-law, and it doesn't change automatically just because you separated.
• If you never lived together with the child after birth: only the parent the child resides with has decision-making responsibility and parenting time by default. The other parent has neither automatically, they'd need a parenting order or a written agreement to establish parenting time or a role in decisions.

Either default can be changed by a parenting order. A parent who has parenting time under an order generally has exclusive authority over day-to-day decisions during their own time, even if decision-making responsibility on bigger issues is held jointly or solely by the other parent.

Divorce Act vs. Family Law Act

Manitoba parents can end up under either the federal Divorce Act or the provincial Family Law Act, depending on their relationship status:

• Divorce Act (federal): applies to married spouses who are divorcing or already divorced. It governs parenting arrangements as part of divorce proceedings.
• Family Law Act (provincial): applies to everyone else, unmarried and common-law parents, and married parents who aren't seeking a divorce (for example, a legal separation without divorce).

Because Manitoba's 2023 reform was deliberately built to mirror the Divorce Act's 2021 changes, the two statutes now use nearly identical concepts and terminology, parenting time, decision-making responsibility, and the best-interests-of-the-child standard apply under both. Which one technically governs your case usually matters less for day-to-day purposes than it once did, but it still determines which court process and forms apply.

Parenting time and schedules

Manitoba doesn't set a single standard schedule. Section 38 of The Family Law Act directs courts to give a child as much time with each parent as is consistent with the child's best interests, factoring in the child's age, school schedule, each parent's work and location, and the child's existing relationships. In practice, Manitoba parents and courts use the same range of patterns common elsewhere:

• 2-2-3: frequent handoffs, often used for younger children
• Week on, week off: fewer handoffs, common for school-age children
• Every other weekend: one parent has weekdays, the other alternating weekends

See how to choose a custody schedule for a general framework that applies regardless of jurisdiction, and the custody schedule generator to build the actual calendar once you've settled on a pattern.

Moving with your child (relocation)

If you want to relocate with your child, Manitoba's relocation rules under The Family Law Act require 60 days' written notice to the child's other guardian and anyone with court-ordered contact, stating the date and the new location. The parent who receives notice has 30 days to file a written objection. If an objection is filed, the relocating parent generally cannot move the child until a court decides the issue, applying a best-interests test that weighs factors like the reason for the move, the child's relationships, and the impact on existing parenting time. The exact legal test that applies can depend on whether there's already a parenting order or agreement in place. See moving to another state with shared custody for how notice requirements and best-interest analysis tend to work across jurisdictions generally, Manitoba's approach is one specific, detailed example.

Common questions

Do I need a lawyer to get a parenting order in Manitoba? Not necessarily. Manitoba's Family Resolution Service and self-help resources are built for parents to navigate parenting arrangements without a lawyer, though contested cases, relocation disputes, or safety concerns are worth having one for.

What if my co-parent won't follow the parenting order? You can apply to court to enforce it. Manitoba courts can address breaches through make-up parenting time, changes to the arrangement, or other remedies depending on the situation.

Can a parenting order be changed later? Yes, either parent can ask the court to vary a parenting order if there's been a material change in circumstances and the new arrangement would serve the child's best interests.

Practical considerations

Whether you're settling into a new parenting order under the 2023 framework or working from an older custody and access order, the day-to-day part that follows it, keeping both parents looking at the same schedule, logging change requests instead of relying on memory, and keeping a clear record if a dispute over decision-making or parenting time ever needs to go back in front of the court, is a separate, ongoing piece worth planning for regardless of which schedule or order type applies to you.

Official Manitoba resources

• Province of Manitoba: Parenting Arrangements
• The Family Law Act, C.C.S.M. c. F20 (official)
• Province of Manitoba: Relocation
• Justice Canada: Parenting Arrangements Under the Divorce Act

Related OnePage resources

• Custody schedule generator
• How to choose a custody schedule
• Legal custody vs. physical custody
• Moving to another state with shared custody

Related Manitoba pages

• Manitoba hub
• Manitoba child support guide