In Gordon v. Goertz, 1996 CanLII 191 (SCC), [1996] 2 S.C.R. 27, McLachlin J. (as she then was) set out seven principles for a court to consider in such a scenario (at para. 49): . . . . . (a) the existing custody arrangement and relationship between the child and the custodial parent; (b) the existing access arrangement and the relationship between the child and the access parent; (c) the desirability of maximizing contact between the child and both parents; (d) the views of the child; (e) the custodial parent’s reason for moving, only in the exceptional case where it is relevant to that parent’s ability to meet the needs of the child; (f) disruption to the child of a change in custody; (g) disruption to the child consequent on removal from family, schools, and the community he or she has come to know.
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