Does a non-custodial parent have any residual rights over the child?

In Young v. Young, supra, L’Heureux-Dubé J. considered the term “custody” to be akin to the concept of guardianship, encompassing the full bundle of parental powers. But at 40-41 she acknowledged that a non-custodial parent retains certain residual rights over the child, including the right to apply to the court for a variation of custody and access terms, the right to contest the child’s adoption, the right to claim guardianship upon the death of the custodial parent and the right to succeed to the child’s property.

The residual rights referred to in Young v. Young, supra, and prescribed under provincial law, evince an ongoing legal relationship between the child and a non-custodial parent with or without access. Moreover, the exercise of most of those rights necessarily implies the right to be informed of or consulted about, and to participate in significant decisions pertaining to the child’s education, health and welfare. It is reasonable to assume that “significant” decisions would not include day to day decisions while the child is in the care of the other parent, but would include those decisions likely to have long term consequences for the child.