Parenting After Separation

For your child's future.

Free Information Sessions

Are you a parent currently going through separation?
Are you helping children adjust to changes after family separation?
Would you like information about options for resolving family disputes, including mediation, counselling and court?)

What are Parenting After Separation (PAS) information sessions?

Parenting After Separation(PAS) is a three-hour information session for parents and others who have a responsibility to make decisions for children.
Sessions are sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. Their purpose is to help people make informed choices about family separation that take into account the bests interests of children.
Each session is led by facilitators experienced in helping families

What will I learn at the sesion?

I attended your parenting after separation course a couple weeks ago, and wanted to write to say thank you. It has helped SO much in my communication with the kids. It's completely changed how I approach conversations with them about having two houses, time at their dad's, what their dad says about me, etc. I'm able to just listen to them now and focus on their feelings instead of reacting with my own emotions about the situation. This is such a good shift and I'm so grateful to have the perspective from the course to help us right now

How adults and children experience the process of separation
Strategies to help families adjust to change
How to speak to children about separation
Effective ways to communicate and reduce conflict
How to keep children out of the middle of the conflict
Options for resolving family disputes, including mediation, counselling and the court process
How the Child Support Guidelines are applied
Resources in the community for parents and children

Legal advice is not provided at the information session.

Who attends Parenting After Separation and when?

Parenting After Separation is available to all adults dealing with issues of guardianship, parental responsibilities, parenting time, contact with and/or support.
If both parents are registered, they will attend separate sessions
In some communities in British Columbia, a certificate from a PAS session is mandatory before going to court on matters such as guardianship, parenting arrangements(including parental responsibilites, parenting time), contact with and/or support. This also including changing an existing order for these matters.
The court registry where you file your application can tell you if attendance is mandatory.
In these communities:

Both parents, whether they are married, living together, common law or who have never lived together.
Other parties who have made an application to court, such as grandparents and step-parents.

Certificate

At the completion of the session, participants will receive a certificate of attendance tied to the name that was used at registration. The certificate can then be filed at the court registry. It may be a good idea to make a copy for your records.
If it has been more than 24 months (2 years) since the date of attendance, the certificate may no longer be valid.
If you attended a session in Victoria, and the certificate is lost, another copy can be obtained by calling us. Be sure to allow up to two business days for the request to be processed.

Schedule

Sessions are only offered on Thursdays only from

6:00 to 9:00 pm, or
9:30 am to 12:30 pm.

This is depending on the schedule as sessions aren't offered every week.Some sessions do fill up quickly and they may be not available when you contact us.
Childcare services are not provided while you are attending, and your children are not permitted to be in attendance.

The sessions take place in Downtown Victoria. The address will be given upon registration. The sessions are not held at our office. We can only register participants for sessions in Victoria. Everyone who wishes to attend must contact us themselves by phone or in person.

For sessions elsewhere in British Columbia, please click here.

If you think your situation warrants an exemption from attending a Parenting After Separation session, please contact the Justice Access Centre in Victoria at 250-356-7012.

For sessions in Victoria
250-386-4331 or 1-877-386-4333