C-223Keeping Children Safe Act
An Act to amend the Divorce Act
Private member's bill, introduced in the House of Commons on September 18, 2025
- Status
- In committee in the House of Commons since February 4, 2026
What it does
Changes Divorce Act rules on family violence, child views, parenting orders and relocation in divorce cases.
What it does
- Requires legal advisers in divorce cases to assess the risk of family violence and, if there is a risk, take steps to create a safety plan and tell the spouse about known support services.
- Changes how courts weigh family violence and coercive control when deciding a child’s best interests, and removes the rule that courts can consider an allegation of parental manipulation, with a limited exception.
- Bars courts from assuming family violence ended because spouses separated, because there were no police or child welfare reports, or because there are no visible injuries or criminal charges.
- Allows courts, in some cases, to get a child’s views and preferences directly in writing or through an interview, and limits when that information can be shared with spouses.
- Stops courts from ordering parenting-time cuts to improve a child’s relationship with the other spouse, and stops them from requiring reunification therapy in a parenting order.
- Changes relocation rules so courts must consider the reasons for moving, including family violence, and sets out who must prove that a move is or is not in the child’s best interests.
Who it affects
- Divorcing spouses
- Children in divorce cases
- Legal advisers
- Family court judges
- Parents seeking relocation
- Families affected by family violence
Background
The bill amends the Divorce Act. It adds new rules for legal advisers, parenting orders, and relocation decisions in divorce proceedings.
Where it is
House of Commons
First reading
Completed.
Second reading
Completed.
Committee
Current stage. Now here
Report stage
Not reached.
Third reading
Not reached.
Senate
First reading
Not reached.
Second reading
Not reached.
Committee
Not reached.
Third reading
Not reached.
Royal assent
Royal assent
Not reached.
Introduced by an MP who is not a minister. These bills compete in a lottery for debate time, and most do not become law. How a bill becomes law
How the House voted
No recorded votes yet
What MPs said
Each party’s first speech on this bill in the House, from Hansard. Excerpts are the speaker’s opening sentences, unedited.
LiberalLisa Hepfner· September 18, 2025
“Moved for leave to introduce Bill C-223, An Act to amend the Divorce Act. It is a true honour for me to table today an act entitled the keeping children safe act, which is a groundbreaking amendment to the Divorce Act.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caConservativeConnie Cody· October 23, 2025
“It is never a wasted opportunity to stand up in the House to talk about something so important, so vital to all of our lives: the strength and stability of family. It is a simple word, but it means so much to all of us.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caBlocAndréanne Larouche· October 23, 2025
“There are human tragedies behind this bill, as well as a lot of distress. I am very aware that this bill is a response to the study on the criminalization of coercive control that I proposed to the Standing Committee on the Status of Women.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.ca
Read the source
LEGISinfo status: At consideration in committee in the House of Commons. Bill data from LEGISinfo, votes from openparliament.ca and the House of Commons. Last updated October 13, 2026.