BC ministry declares its policy intentions on parentage
August 27, 2025
BY Kevin Zakreski
In a significant step toward new legislation, the Ministry of Attorney General for BC has just published a policy intentions paper (PDF) for Phase 2 of the Family Law Act Modernization Project. The ministry’s paper “addresses several important topics that support parents and guardians in resolving family law matters outside of court, increase flexibility for Indigenous perspectives, customs, practices and traditions, and reduce financial burdens for families”.
One of the topics covered in the paper is parentage of children, which received its own dedicated chapter (PDF). BCLI participated in Phase 2 of the Family Law Act Modernization Project through its Parentage Law Reform Project. This project culminated in recommendations for legislative reform, which are set out in the Report on Parentage: A Review of Part 3 of the Family Law Act. As the policy intentions paper notes, “The Ministry intends to recommend policy reforms for [parentage] along the same timeline as the other Phase 2 work”.
The ministry gave an indication of this timeline in a news release that accompanied the policy intentions paper. “The proposed policy changes will inform amendments to the [Family Law Act]”, the news release said, “which will be introduced to the legislature for consideration as soon as is feasible”.
