This may surprise a few people, but no. A biological parent is not a guardian of the child if they do not cohabitate with the other parent when the child is born. Guardianship is a concept in Canadian Law which gives a person a series of important responsibilities for a child. A guardian is responsible for supporting a child. The child has the right to have parenting time with their guardian. A guardian can make important decisions about a child such as medical decisions, education decisions, and religious teachings. These responsibilities are Codified in Section 41 of the Family Law Act of BC.

Once a person is a child’s guardian, they remain a guardian except under the rarest of circumstances. After an application is brought, the courts sometimes limit a guardian’s section 41 responsibilities and grant one guardian decision-making, education or health choices if it is in the best interests of the child to do so.

Pro tip: get legal advice if you feel that your relationship is unstable. Sometimes the timing of decisions like when and how to leave a relationship can have serious and long-term repercussions. It is much better to make these choices with all the information.