child visitation rights

Typically, grandparents do not have visitation rights with their grandchildren. According to the Children's Law Reform Act and the Divorce Act, only the child's mother and father have custody and visitation rights. However, anyone who has the child's best interests at heart can petition in court for custody or visitation rights of the child.
This means that the grandparents can apply to the court and demonstrate that their visitation rights are in the child's best interests. In general, the court is hesitant to overturn a parent's decision about the child's best interests. However, the courts will consider all circumstances in determining the best interests of a child, including the child's love and emotional ties with the grandparents.
Thus to answer your query precisely, if a minor child's mother dies, the father becomes the child's natural custodian, but this does not preclude the maternal grandparents from having visitation rights. The grandparents have the right to visit their grandchildren under the guardian and wards act.

I hope I could assist your query accurately.

Thank you!