National

Child welfare services fall under the mandate of provincial and territorial governments, including a rapidly expanding system of Aboriginal child welfare authorities. This section contains material related to federal initiatives concerned with child welfare services as well as statistics compiled at the national level.

All Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect reports can be found here.

Statistics

Child Maltreatment Investigations in Canada, 1998 and 2008*

  1998 2008
Child population 6,301,295 6,022,005
Number of child maltreatment investigations 134,566 235,842
Incidence of child maltreatment investigations per 1,000 children 21.36 39.16


Type of Child Maltreatment Investigation in Canada, 2008*

  Number Rate per 1,000 children Percent
Maltreatment Investigation 174,411 28.97 74%
Risk Investigation 61,431 10.19 26%


Primary Categories of Substantiated Child Maltreatment Investigations in Canada, 2008*

Category of Maltreatment Number Rate per 1,000 children Percent
Physical Abuse 17,212 2.86 20%
Sexual Abuse 2,607 0.43 3%
Neglect 28,939 4.81 34%
Emotional Maltreatment 7,423 1.23 9%
Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence 29,259 4.86 34%


Placement in Child Maltreatment Investigations in 1998 and in Child Maltrement and Risk Investigations in Canada in 2008*

  1998 Number 1998 Rate 2008 Number 2008 Rate
Informal Kinship Care 5,851 0.93 8,713 1.45
Formal Placement 11,003 1.74 10,886 1.81


Public Health Agency of Canada. (2010). Canadian incidence study of reported child abuse and neglect 2008: Major findings (p. 122). Public Health Agency of Canada. Retrieved from http://cwrp.ca/publications/2117

Publications
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Title Year Sort ascending
The role of child protection in cannabis grow-operations
Douglas, Janet; Sullivan, Richard
2013
The relationship between dimensions of physical abuse and aggressive behavior in a child protective services involved sample of adolescents
Ellenbogen, Stephen; Trocmé, Nico; Wekerle, Christine
2013
The relationship between internal resilience, smoking, alcohol use, and depression symptoms in emerging adults transitioning out of child welfare
Goldstein, Abby L.; Faulkner, Breanne; Wekerle, Christine
2013
Involvement with child protective services: Is this a useful question in population-based surveys?
Hamilton, Hayley A.; Boak, Angela; Mann, Robert E.
2013
A developmental approach to the risk of a first recurrence in child protective services
Hélie, Sonia; Laurier, Catherine; Pineau-Villeneuve, Catherine; Royer, Marie-Noële
2013
Making complex decisions: Child protection workers' practices and interventions with families experiencing intimate partner violence
Hughes, Judy; Chau, Shirley
2013
Mothers and infants exposed to intimate partner violence compensate
Letourneau, Nicole; Young Morris, Catherine; Secco, Loretta; Stewart, Miriam; Hughes, Jean; Crichley, Kim
2013
Emotion regulation and psychopathology in a sample of maltreated children
Muller, Robert T.; Vascotto, N. Angela; Konanur, Sheila; Rosenkranz, Susan
2013
Attentional and executive functions in neglected children
Nadeau, Marie-Eve; Nolin, Pierre
2013
Patterns of service use, individual and contextual risk factors, and resilience among adolescents using multiple psychosocial services
Ungar, Michael; Liebenberg, Linda; Duddling, Peter; Armstrong, Mary; van de Vijver, Fons J. R.
2013
Legislation

Child welfare services fall under the jurisdiction of provincial and territorial authorities as a result each province and territory has different legislation pertaining to child protection interventions. For more information click here.

The only child welfare regulations and legislation that apply to all provinces and territories are the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development First Nations Child and Family Services National Program Manual and the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child: