Case information

Family law — Custody — Relocation — Mother of child seeking to relocate with child to another province — Father seeking increased parental time with child — Whether the use of “conditional orders” in Saskatchewan is an error of law which, in effect, violates the “double bind” rule —Whether the misapplication of the burden of proof provisions found in s. 16.93 of the Divorce Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 3 (2nd Supp.) leads to relocation decisions being erroneously made.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

The parties married in 2012 in Saskatoon, where they both resided. Their child was born in July 2017. The parties separated in May 2018 and by agreement, the mother had primary care of the child. The parties entered into a comprehensive interspousal Agreement that resolved all issues of parenting, child and spousal support and property division in November 2019. Because there had been four incidents of domestic violence perpetrated by the father against the mother between the date of separation and the date of divorce, the Agreement provided the father with limited parenting time on a two-week rotational basis. The Agreement stipulated that further parenting time for the father was on an agreed upon basis. In reality, the father obtained very little additional parenting time as the mother did not agree. In the meantime, the father had pleaded guilty to one count of assault on the mother, had completed programs aimed at anger management and had received an absolute discharge.

The mother served notice that she wished to relocate with the child to Alberta, where she was from and where her family resided. The father opposed the application and applied for increased parenting time. The trial judge dismissed the mother’s relocation application and increased the father’s parenting time. The mother’s appeal from these decisions was dismissed.