Children in Quebec can have more than two parents, according to a Superior Court decision that now gives the provincial government 12 months to amend the Civil Code to legally recognize this type of family structure.

In a ruling issued on Thursday, Judge Andres C. Garin examined complaints from two separate cases.

The plaintiffs in those cases were La Coalition des familles LGBT+ — a group that seeks to have all families recognized regardless of how they're formed — as well as three families who were unable to put the names of three parents on their children's birth certificates.

The judge determined that the Civil Code's inability to legally recognize multi-parent families violates the complainants' Canadian Charter right to equality.