The parties separated after a brief marriage.
During the relationship, the husband acted as a father to the wife's child from a previous relationship, even falsely amending her birth registration to name him as the biological father.
Upon separation, the husband sought to unilaterally withdraw from his parental relationship with the stepchild to avoid paying child support.
The Supreme Court of Canada held that a person cannot unilaterally withdraw from a relationship in which they stand in the place of a parent.
Once a step-parent voluntarily assumes the role of a parent, the child becomes a 'child of the marriage' under the Divorce Act, and the step-parent's obligations are identical to those of a biological parent.
