---
title: "Parenting Time vs. Custody: 2021 Divorce Act Changes ✦ Goldwater Droit"
canonical_url: "https://goldwaterdroit.com/en/faqs/parenting-time-vs-custody-2021-divorce-act-changes"
last_updated: "2026-09-15T20:51:51.270Z"
locale: en
meta:
  description: "Since March 2021, the Divorce Act replaced 'custody/access' with 'parenting time,' listed best-interests factors, and made family violence a required factor."
  "og:description": "Since March 2021, the Divorce Act replaced 'custody/access' with 'parenting time,' listed best-interests factors, and made family violence a required factor."
  "og:title": "Parenting Time vs. Custody: 2021 Divorce Act Changes"
---

# Did the 2021 Divorce Act change how custody works in Quebec?

Yes. Since March 1, 2021, significant reforms to the federal Divorce Act changed both the vocabulary and the framework. The terms 'custody' and 'access' were replaced by 'parenting time' and 'decision-making responsibility,' shifting the focus to the child's time and the parents' responsibilities rather than to 'winning' custody. Section 16 now sets out a non-exhaustive list of best-interests factors the court must consider, and family violence became a mandatory consideration, with its own factors. The reforms also created a structured framework for relocation and 'significant' changes of a child's residence, and imposed duties on parents and their legal advisers to consider family dispute-resolution processes. The underlying standard remains the best interests of the child.

Divorce Act, ss. 16, 16.1–16.96 (best interests; parenting orders; relocation), in force 1 March 2021