“There are four circumstances in which a court in Ontario has jurisdiction to make a parenting order under the Children’s Law Reform Act. They are:
(a) First, under section 22(1)(a), an Ontario court may make a parenting order where the child is “habitually resident” in Ontario;
(b) Second, under section 22(1)(b), where the child is not habitually resident in Ontario, the Court may nevertheless exercise jurisdiction if the child is physically present in Ontario, and other requirements are met;
(c) Third, a court has jurisdiction to make a parenting order where the child is physically present in Ontario and the Court is satisfied that the child would, on the balance of probabilities, suffer serious harm under certain specified circumstances set out in section 23 of the Children’s Law Reform Act; and
(d) Finally, the Court may exercise its parens patriae jurisdiction, which is specifically preserved by section 69.
See Los v. Ross, 2024 ONCA 122 ¶ 29.
It is the father’s onus to demonstrate that a parenting Order should be made on one of these bases. If not, the Court should decline to exercise jurisdiction: see F v. N., 2022 SCC 51 ¶ 59.”