Only the Supreme Court can deal with claims about parenting after separation under the ''Divorce Act''. Both the Supreme Court and the Provincial Court can deal with claims about parenting under the ''Family Law Act''.

The ''Divorce Act'' talks about parenting after separation in terms of married spouses who have "decision-making responsibility" for their children and have "parenting time" with their children. The ''Divorce Act'' started using this language on 1 March 2021. Before then, the ''Divorce Act'' talked about married spouses who had "custody" of their children and "access" to their children. The new language focuses more on the interests of children than the rights of parents, and is very similar to the language used by the ''Family Law Act''.