Creating a Parenting Plan in Alberta: Complete 2026 Guide

A parenting plan in Alberta is a written agreement setting out parenting time and decision-making responsibility for a child, governed by the Family Law Act, SA 2003, c F-4.5, s. 18 (best interests of the child) and the federal Divorce Act, RSC 1985, c 3 (2nd Supp). Married parents use the Divorce Act; unmarried parents use the Family Law Act. The court filing fee is $260 plus a $10 Central Divorce Registry fee.

Key Facts: Parenting Plans in Alberta

Note on terminology: As of November 2026, verify all fees with the Court of King's Bench or your local registry, as amounts may be adjusted.

What Is a Parenting Plan in Alberta?

A parenting plan in Alberta is a written document that sets out how separated parents will share parenting time and decision-making responsibility for their child. Under the Family Law Act, SA 2003, c F-4.5, decision-making flows from guardianship status, not parenting time. A plan can be an informal agreement, a consent order, or a court-ordered parenting order.

Alberta law separates two distinct concepts that parents frequently confuse. Parenting time is the schedule determining when the child lives with or sees each parent. Decision-making responsibility (called "powers, responsibilities and entitlements of guardianship" in the Family Law Act and "decision-making responsibility" in the Divorce Act) covers major choices about education, health care, religion, and extracurricular activities. Courts can allocate these two elements independently — one parent may exercise 70% of parenting time while both parents share decision-making equally. A comprehensive parenting plan addresses both, plus communication protocols, holiday rotations, transportation, and a dispute-resolution mechanism. Parenting plans are expressly encouraged under both the Divorce Act and the Family Law Act because they reduce conflict and give children stability.

Which Law Governs Your Parenting Plan?

The law that governs your parenting plan depends on your relationship status. Married parents who are divorcing use the federal Divorce Act, RSC 1985, c 3 (2nd Supp), and parenting arrangements form part of the divorce proceeding. Unmarried or separating common-law parents use Alberta's Family Law Act, SA 2003, c F-4.5, typically through a parenting application.

The distinction matters because the two statutes use different terminology for the same concepts. The 2021 Divorce Act amendments replaced "custody" and "access" with "decision-making responsibility" and "parenting time" across all federal divorce matters. The Family Law Act describes the same authority as "exercising the powers, responsibilities and entitlements of guardianship" under Family Law Act § 21. Both statutes apply the identical governing standard: the best interests of the child. For married parents, the Court of King's Bench can incorporate a parenting plan into the divorce judgment. For unmarried parents, the same court issues a parenting order under Family Law Act § 32. Choosing the correct legal process is essential, because filing under the wrong statute can delay your matter and require refiling.

What Does the Best Interests Standard Require?

The best interests of the child is the only standard Alberta courts apply to any parenting decision, under Family Law Act § 18. Section 18 directs courts to ensure the greatest possible protection of the child's physical, psychological, and emotional safety, and to consider all of the child's needs and circumstances, including stability, age, and stage of development.

Section 18 lists specific factors a court must weigh when building or approving a parenting plan. These include the child's physical, psychological, and emotional needs; the child's need for stability given their age and development; the history of care; the child's cultural, linguistic, religious, and spiritual upbringing; and the child's own views and preferences where they can be reasonably ascertained. The first item on the statutory list is the safety of the child. Family violence is a mandatory consideration — the court must assess the ability of any person who engaged in family violence to care for the child, and the appropriateness of an order requiring guardians to cooperate. The court also weighs the nature, strength, and stability of each relationship, each guardian's willingness to support the child's relationship with the other guardian, and any civil or criminal proceedings relevant to the child's safety. A parenting plan that demonstrably serves these factors is far more likely to be approved.

How to Structure Parenting Time

Parenting time in Alberta is the schedule allocating when a child is in each parent's care, and it should be set out in specific, dated detail in your parenting plan. There is no presumption of a 50/50 split — Alberta courts allocate parenting time solely on the best interests of the child under Family Law Act § 18. Common arrangements range from alternating weeks to a primary-residence model.

A strong parenting time schedule eliminates ambiguity that drives future conflict. Effective co-parenting schedules specify the regular weekly rotation, exchange times and locations, holiday and special-occasion rotations (alternating years for Christmas, birthdays, and long weekends), summer and school-break arrangements, and travel or vacation notice periods. Alberta families commonly use one of several patterns. The 2-2-3 schedule rotates the child every few days and suits younger children who need frequent contact with both parents. The week-on/week-off schedule works for school-age children who can manage longer stretches. A primary-residence arrangement designates one parent's home as the child's main residence with scheduled parenting time for the other parent. Your parenting time schedule should also address weekday dinners, phone or video contact during the other parent's time, and a clear protocol for handling missed or makeup time. The more precise the visitation schedule, the less room there is for disputes.

How to Allocate Decision-Making Responsibility

Decision-making responsibility in Alberta covers major choices about a child's education, health care, religion, and significant extracurricular activities, and it derives from guardianship status under Family Law Act § 21. Where a child has more than one guardian, the guardians must reach agreement on major decisions unless a parenting order says otherwise.

Alberta parenting plans structure decision-making in one of three ways. Joint or shared decision-making requires both guardians to consult and agree on major matters — this is the most common arrangement and reflects the default expectation that each guardian participates in significant decisions. Sole decision-making grants one parent the authority to make major decisions, typically ordered where cooperation is impractical or where family violence makes joint decision-making unsafe. Divided decision-making assigns specific subject areas to each parent — for example, one guardian handles education while the other handles health care. A well-drafted custody agreement should also define what counts as a "major" decision versus a day-to-day decision (the parent with parenting time generally handles routine matters), establish a timeframe for responding to decision requests, and build in a dispute-resolution step such as mediation before either parent applies to court. Clear allocation under Family Law Act § 21 prevents the stalemates that force parents back to litigation.

Filing Fees and Court Costs in Alberta

The filing fee for a divorce that incorporates a parenting plan in Alberta is $260 to file the Statement of Claim for Divorce at the Court of King's Bench, plus a mandatory $10 Central Divorce Registry fee, for a total of $270. Filings that combine divorce with property division under the Family Property Act, SA 2014, c F-4.7 may cost up to $300. (As of November 2026. Verify with your local clerk.)

Beyond the base filing fee, expect additional costs when finalizing parenting arrangements. A Certificate of Divorce costs $40 and becomes available 31 days after the divorce judgment is granted. Personal service through a process server typically runs $75 to $150. Commissioning or notarizing documents costs roughly $25 to $50 per document. Under Alberta Regulation 384/1983, these fees apply uniformly across all Court of King's Bench locations, including Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, and Grande Prairie. Fee waivers are available: applicants who cannot afford the $260 fee can file an Application for Fee Waiver and Statement of Finances. Recipients of Income Support, AISH (Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped), or Alberta Works benefits generally qualify automatically. You can file electronically through the King's Bench Filing Digital Service at qb-filing-family.alberta.ca or in person at any registry office.

The 2026 Family Focused Protocol

The Family Focused Protocol (FFP), launched January 2, 2026, fundamentally restructured how parenting and divorce matters proceed through Alberta's Court of King's Bench. Before filing any contested parenting application, parties must complete the free Parenting After Separation course, provide full financial disclosure, and attempt alternative dispute resolution (ADR).

This protocol directly affects how you create and finalize a parenting plan. The Parenting After Separation (PAS) course is a free, three-hour online course mandatory when children under 18 are affected. You register through the Resolution Services Learning Centre, and the completion certificate must be filed with the court before a judge will grant a divorce or address a parenting issue. The certificate must have been earned within the past two years. As of January 2, 2026, parties in Edmonton, Calgary, and Red Deer must also complete mandatory ADR — typically mediation — within six months before filing any contested parenting application. A separate course, Parenting After Separation for Families in High Conflict (PASHC), is required when a judge directs it for high-conflict situations. These requirements push parents toward negotiated parenting plans rather than courtroom battles, which usually produces faster, less expensive, and more durable outcomes. Completing PAS and attempting ADR early positions you to file a consent-based parenting plan rather than litigating.

Residency and Timeline Requirements

To incorporate a parenting plan into an Alberta divorce, one spouse must have been ordinarily resident in Alberta for at least one year immediately before filing, under Divorce Act § 3(1). The divorce judgment itself cannot issue until 12 consecutive months of separation have passed under Divorce Act § 8.

These are two distinct one-year periods that parents often confuse. The residency requirement concerns where you live — one spouse must have lived in Alberta for 12 consecutive months before the proceeding starts. "Ordinarily resident" means the place where a person regularly and customarily lives; temporary absences for work, vacation, or medical treatment do not break residency. You do not need to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. The separation requirement is a ground for divorce — you must have lived separate and apart for one year, though you can begin preparing and filing documents during that year. For parenting plans specifically, you do not have to wait for either one-year period to negotiate or sign an agreement; unmarried parents can apply for a parenting order under the Family Law Act at any time. Uncontested divorces incorporating a parenting plan typically take three to six months from filing to final judgment, while contested cases may extend one to three years.

Parenting Plan Arrangement Comparison