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.
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
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:
