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

National - 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

Reports

Title	Authors	Year
Denouncing the Continued Overrepresentation of First Nations Children in Canadian Child Welfare: Findings from the First Nations/Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect-2019	Fallon, Barbara Lefebvre, Rachael Trocmé, Nico Richard, Kenn Hélie, Sonia Montgomery, Monty Bennett, Marlyn Joh-Carnella, Nicolette Saint-Girons, Marie Filippelli, Joanne MacLaurin, Bruce Black, Tara Esposito, Tonino King, Bryn Collin-Vézina, Delphine* Dallaire, Rachelle Gray, Richard Levi, Judy Orr, Martin Petti, Tara Thomas Prokop, Shelley Soop, Shannon *Subsequent authors are listed alphabetically	2021
Equity Concerns in the Context of COVID-19: A Focus on First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Communities in Canada	Saint-Girons, Marie Joh-Carnella, Nicolette Lefebvre, Rachael Blackstock, Cindy Fallon, Barbara	2020
Child Welfare and Pandemics Literature Scan	Sistovaris, Marina Fallon, Barbara Miller, Steven Birken, Catherine Denburg, Avram Jenkins, Jennifer Mishna, Faye Sokolowski, Marla Stewart, Suzanne	2020
Honouring Jordan's Principle: Obstacles to accessing equitable health and social services for First Nations children with special healthcare needs living in Pinaymootang, Manitoba	Vives, Luna Sinha, Vandna Burnet, Eric Lach, Lucyna	2017
Child Death Review in Canada: A National Scan	Saskatchewan Prevention Institute	2016
Fairness for Children: A League Table of Inequality in Child Well-being in Rich Countries	UNICEF Office of Research	2016
Living Arrangements of Aboriginal Children Aged 14 and Under	Turner, Annie	2016
Nistawatsimin: Exploring First Nations Parenting: A Literature Review and Expert Consultation with Blackfoot Elders	Lindstrom, Gabrielle Choate, Peter Bastien, Leonard Weasal Traveller, Audrey Breaker, Stewart Breaker, Kathy Good Striker, Wilton Good Striker, Evelyn	2016
Research Brief: Identifying and Responding to Intimate Partner Violence Against Women	Wathen, C. Nadine MacMillan, Harriet L. MacGregor, Jennifer	2016
Shameful Neglect: Indigenous Child Poverty in Canada	Macdonald, David Wilson, Daniel	2016
Jordan’s Principle – Background Information	Jordan's Principle Working Group	2015
Jordan’s Principle Advocacy Needed Soon	Jordan's Principle Working Group	2015
Without Denial, Delay, or Disruption: Ensuring First Nations Children’s Access to Equitable Services Through Jordan’s Principle	The Jordan's Principle Working Group	2015
Efficacité des interventions en matière de négligence auprès des enfants, des familles et des communautés autochtones	McGinn, Carrie Anna Damasse, Jean	2014
Research Brief: Interventions to Prevent Child Maltreatment	MacMillan, Harriet L. Wathen, C. Nadine	2014

Legislation

National - 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:

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Program Manual
Since 1991 the Canadian government has formally committed to ratifying the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child

Links

National - Links


Adoption Council of Canada
Assembly of First Nations
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada
Campaign 2000
Canadian Association of Social Workers
Canadian Child Care Federation
Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children
Canadian Council of Child and Youth Advocates
Canadian Council on Social Development
Canadian Institute for Child Health
Canadian Mental Health Association
Canadian Paediatric Society
CANGRANDS National Kinship Support
Caring for First Nations Children Society
Centre for Children and Families in the Justice System
Centres of Excellence for Children's Well-Being
Child Welfare League of Canada
Cybertip.ca
First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada
Human Resources and Social Development Canada
Indigenous Child Welfare Research Network
Infant Mental Health Promotion Program
Kids Help Phone
National Clearinghouse on Family Violence
National Youth in Care Network
Offord Centre for Child Studies
Parachute Canada (Safe Kids Canada)
Public Health Agency of Canada Child Maltreatment Division
Reconciliation in Child Welfare
Statistics Canada, Children and Youth
Statistics Canada, Juristat (Justice Statistics)
Stop Family Violence, Public Health Agency of Canada
UNICEF Canada