Dr. Douglas Saunders

The parties separated and initially agreed to a graduated shared parenting schedule.

Following an incident where the mother was charged with assaulting one of the children (charges later withdrawn), the father sought sole decision-making and primary residence.

The Office of the Children's Lawyer (OCL) recommended sole custody to the father with limited parenting time for the mother.

The court rejected the OCL's recommendations, finding the investigation flawed and the father's unilateral actions concerning.

The court ordered a week-on/week-off shared parenting schedule and a parallel parenting regime, granting the mother final decision-making authority over health and the father final decision-making authority over education.

The parties separated following an incident where the mother was charged with assaulting the father.

The child remained in the father's primary care for over a year.

At trial, both parties sought sole custody.

The father also sought to relocate outside of Toronto and alleged the mother's mental health issues impaired her parenting ability.

The court found the mother's mental health was stable and well-managed, and that the father's relocation plan was not child-focused and disregarded the mother's role.

The court granted sole custody and primary residence to the mother, with specified parenting time for the father.

The court also imputed income to the father and ordered him to pay child support and retroactive spousal support, while suspending ongoing spousal support due to his pandemic-reduced income.