Holidays, Birthdays and March Break: Building a Schedule That Holds Up
A regular parenting schedule answers what happens during an ordinary school week.
It does not necessarily answer what happens at Christmas, during March Break, on a child's birthday or when one parent wants to take two weeks of summer vacation.
Those exceptions are worth addressing directly.
There is no single arrangement that works for every family. The schedule should reflect the child's best interests, the family's traditions and the practical circumstances of both households.
The goal is not to divide every holiday perfectly.
It is to make it clear which schedule applies, when the special parenting period begins and ends, and how future choices will be made.
Does the Holiday Schedule Override the Regular Parenting Schedule?
It can—and if that is what the parents intend, the parenting plan should say so clearly.
For example, imagine that Parent A ordinarily has the children on the weekend when Thanksgiving falls, but the parenting plan gives Thanksgiving to Parent B that year.
A well-drafted plan should make clear which provision controls.
Many parenting plans therefore state that the holiday and vacation schedule takes priority over the regular parenting schedule.
That is not an automatic statutory rule.
It is a drafting choice that prevents the regular schedule and special schedule from contradicting each other.
The plan should also explain when the regular rotation resumes after the holiday ends.
How Can Parents Divide Holidays?
There is no legally preferred method.
The right approach depends on the family.
Alternating years may work where both parents value the same celebration and want complete holiday periods with the child.
Splitting a holiday can work where the parents live close together and transitions do not interfere significantly with the child's day.
Keeping certain holidays with the same parent every year may make sense where a particular religious, cultural or extended-family tradition is especially important.
The question is not which arrangement looks most equal on paper.
It is which arrangement is practical and works for the child.
What Should Happen During Winter Break?
Winter break often requires more detail than simply writing “Christmas alternates.”
Parents may need to decide whether they are dividing:
the entire school break;
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day;
Christmas and New Year's separately; or
particular blocks of days.
The exact beginning and end times matter.
For example, a plan might define winter break as beginning when school finishes on the last school day and ending when school resumes.
This is usually clearer than saying “half of Christmas break” without identifying where the midpoint falls.
How Should March Break Be Divided?
March Break can be handled in several ways.
Alternating the entire spring break by year or dividing the break between the parents is a common solution.
Which arrangement works better may depend on the child's age, whether either parent travels during the break, how far apart the parents live and whether splitting a one-week break creates too many transitions.
For some families, alternating the entire week creates simplicity.
For others, sharing the break works well.
Again, there is no Ontario rule requiring one approach.
What About Summer Vacation?
Summer usually requires two separate decisions:
What does the ordinary summer parenting schedule look like?
and
Can either parent select additional vacation time that overrides that schedule?
Establishing both the amount of vacation time and a deadline by which parents choose their dates is advisable. It also provides an example where one parent receives first choice in even-numbered years and the other receives first choice in odd-numbered years.
A clear summer provision might address how many consecutive weeks each parent may take, whether vacation time overrides the ordinary schedule, when selections must be provided, who chooses first if requested dates conflict, whether out-of-country travel requires additional information, and when the normal schedule resumes.
The important part is the selection process.
A provision saying only that “the parents will agree on summer vacation” still leaves unanswered what happens if they do not.
How Early Should Parents Choose Summer Vacation Dates?
There is no statutory date that applies to every parenting plan.
The parents can select a deadline that fits their circumstances.
What matters is choosing a date early enough to make travel, camps and other summer arrangements reasonably possible.
For example, the parents might exchange proposed summer dates in March or April.
The agreement can then provide a process if they request overlapping dates.
How Should Long Weekends Be Handled?
Long weekends can create ambiguity because they often extend an ordinary weekend by one day.
A parenting plan may address holidays such as Family Day, Easter, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day and Thanksgiving individually.
Parents can also group certain long weekends together under one alternating schedule.
Whatever approach is chosen, define when the weekend begins and ends.
“Thanksgiving weekend” could mean Friday after school through Monday evening, or it could extend until the child returns to school Tuesday morning.
Both can work.
The agreement should tell you which one applies.
What Happens on the Child's Birthday?
There is no automatic Ontario rule.
The child can remain with whichever parent has parenting time under the regular schedule, the birthday can alternate between parents by year, or the parents can create another arrangement.
Some families also divide the day.
Whether that is practical depends partly on the child's age and the distance between homes.
For older children, birthday plans may increasingly revolve around friends, school and activities rather than spending a defined block of time with either parent.
Ontario's best-interests framework includes the child's needs given their age and stage of development and the child's views and preferences where they can reasonably be determined.
A schedule that works for a six-year-old may therefore need to evolve.
Do Mother's Day and Father's Day Automatically Go to That Parent?
No.
It is common for parenting plans to provide that the child spends Mother's Day with their mother and Father's Day with their father, but it is not an automatic Ontario legal rule.
It also expressly offers another option under which Mother's Day, Father's Day and the parents' birthdays do not change the regular parenting schedule at all.
The parents should therefore decide what applies rather than assuming there is a universal convention.
If these days do override the regular schedule, the plan should specify the start and end times.
Should Parents' Birthdays Be Included?
They can be.
Some parenting plans give each parent time with the child on their birthday.
Others leave the ordinary schedule untouched.
Whether the provision is useful depends on how important the occasion is to the family and whether another transition during the school week is worth creating.
Not every special occasion needs a separate rule.
What About Religious and Cultural Holidays?
These should not be overlooked.
That could include Eid, Diwali, Hanukkah, Passover or other religious and cultural celebrations.
The plan can alternate them, divide them or assign certain observances consistently to one parent.
This can also be particularly useful where each side of the family celebrates different traditions.
The aim is to reflect the child's actual family and cultural life rather than relying only on the public-school calendar.
What If Two Holidays Overlap?
This is another place where hierarchy matters.
For example, Mother's Day may fall during one parent's scheduled vacation.
A child's birthday may occur during March Break.
Christmas may overlap with the ordinary weekend rotation.
The parenting plan can establish an order of priority, such as:
special days → holiday schedule → vacation schedule → regular parenting schedule
or another hierarchy that works for the family.
There is no required hierarchy under Ontario law.
But if the plan contains multiple schedules, explaining which one controls can prevent conflicting provisions.
What About Travel During School Breaks?
Holiday scheduling and travel provisions should work together.
If one parent intends to travel with the child, the plan can address advance notice, travel dates, destination, accommodation information, emergency contact information and any necessary travel-consent documents.
For international travel, passport arrangements may also need to be considered.
Parents should avoid assuming that a right to parenting time automatically answers every documentation requirement for international travel.
Should Children Have a Say in Holiday Arrangements?
Their views can become increasingly relevant as they grow.
Ontario's Children's Law Reform Act includes the child's views and preferences among the factors considered in determining best interests, with appropriate weight given to the child's age and maturity. The child's developmental needs and need for stability are also relevant.
That does not mean children should be asked to choose between their parents.
But a teenager's school, employment, sports and social commitments may make a rigid holiday schedule designed years earlier less practical.
What If the Parents Want to Change the Schedule for One Year?
They can agree to be flexible.
A parenting plan can establish the default arrangement while still allowing the parents to make different arrangements by mutual agreement.
It is useful for temporary changes to be documented in writing so that everyone knows what was agreed.
For example, parents might exchange an email confirming that they are swapping Thanksgiving and Easter that year.
The temporary agreement does not necessarily need to rewrite the entire parenting plan.
The important distinction is between:
what happens by default when the parents do not agree otherwise
and
what the parents are free to agree to together.
Should the Holiday Schedule Be Exactly Equal?
Not necessarily.
Ontario parenting decisions are governed by the best interests of the child, not by a requirement that every holiday or special occasion be mathematically divided in half.
Under the Children's Law Reform Act, the court considers all of the child's circumstances and gives primary consideration to the child's physical, emotional and psychological safety, security and well-being.
The child's relationships, history of care, age, developmental needs and views can also matter.
Parents may ultimately create a schedule that is balanced overall without making every individual holiday identical.
What Should a Good Holiday Schedule Specify?
The most useful provisions tend to answer the practical questions that otherwise create ambiguity. A parenting plan may identify:
which holidays and special days have separate schedules;
which parent has each holiday in odd and even years;
the exact start and end time;
whether school dismissal or school resumption defines the transition;
who provides transportation;
whether holidays override vacation and regular parenting time;
how winter, March and summer breaks are divided;
summer vacation-selection deadlines;
what happens when requested vacation dates conflict;
how birthdays and Mother's/Father's Day are handled;
religious and cultural celebrations important to the family;
travel notice requirements; and
whether parents may vary the schedule by written agreement.
Not every family needs every one of these provisions.
Can Different Children Have Different Holiday Schedules?
Potentially.
That might become relevant where siblings are widely separated in age or have significantly different needs.
Keeping siblings together can obviously be important.
But a schedule should still reflect the actual circumstances rather than assuming that every child in the family necessarily requires the same arrangement indefinitely.
How Detailed Should the Schedule Be?
Detailed enough that both parents can understand what happens without renegotiating the same issue each year.
That does not mean writing a rule for every possible event.
The useful details are usually the ones that determine:
when the parenting period begins, when it ends, who handles transportation and which schedule controls when two provisions overlap.
Those are objective questions.
A provision answering them is generally more useful than language saying the parents will simply be “reasonable” or “fair.”FF
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the holiday parenting schedule automatically override the regular schedule?
Not automatically. If that is what the parents intend, the parenting plan should state clearly that holiday or special-day parenting time takes precedence over the ordinary rotation.
Is alternating holidays required in Ontario?
No. Parents may alternate, split holidays, permanently assign particular holidays or allow the regular schedule to continue. The child's best interests remain the focus.
Who gets March Break?
There is no automatic rule. Parents can alternate the entire break, divide it or create another arrangement appropriate for the child.
Does the mother automatically get Mother's Day?
No. That is a common drafting option, but it is not a legal entitlement. Justice Canada's Parenting Plan Tool also provides an option where Mother's Day and Father's Day do not change the regular schedule.
How should summer vacations be chosen?
Parents can establish how much vacation time each receives, a deadline for submitting dates and a priority system where requests conflict. Alternating first choice between odd and even years is one possible structure.
What happens if a child's birthday falls during the other parent's holiday?
The parenting plan should establish which provision has priority. There is no universal legal hierarchy.
Can parents agree to change the holiday schedule temporarily?
Yes. Parents can generally agree on a different arrangement, although documenting the temporary change in writing can reduce future misunderstandings.
Should teenagers follow the same holiday schedule as young children?
Not necessarily. The child's age, developmental needs and views may become increasingly relevant as circumstances change.
Build the Exceptions Into the Plan
A regular parenting rotation is only part of the calendar.
Winter break, March Break, summer vacation, birthdays, long weekends and important cultural or religious celebrations should be addressed clearly enough that parents know which schedule applies before the date arrives.
If you are preparing for separation or divorce, Willing Law's Divorce and Separation Checklist can help you organize the parenting, financial, property and practical issues that may need to be addressed.
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This article provides general legal information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create a solicitor-client relationship.
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