“This is a matter under the Children’s Law Reform Act, R.S.O., 1990 c. C.12 [“CLRA”] as the parties were never married. Section 29 of the CLRA provides that a court shall not make an Order varying an Order in respect of custody or access unless there has been a material change of circumstances that affects or is likely to affect the best interests of the child.
Case law makes clear that there is a significant difference between applying to vary an interim Order versus a final Order. In general, an interim Order is intended to continue until trial. Interim Orders are most commonly varied only in “compelling” or “exceptional” circumstances. See for example Thom v. Thom, [2014] O.J. No. 2115, 2014 CarswellOnt 5708, in which the court stated as follows regarding the variation of interim Orders:
Given that interim Orders are ‘meant to provide a reasonably acceptable solution on an expeditious basis for a problem that will get a full airing at trial,’ requests to change them should be rare. [emphasis added]
See also Lonsdale v. Smart, 2018 ONSC 3991, in which the court held that “compelling reasons” are required for an interim variation under the CLRA.”