Ontario

For more information, visit the information sheet on Ontario's child welfare system.

Overview

Children’s Aid Societies in Ontario have the exclusive mandate under the Child, Youth and Family Services Act (CYFSA) to protect children who have been or are at risk of being abused and/or neglected by their caregivers, to provide for their care and supervision where necessary and to place children for adoption (CFYSA, 2017). A total of 38 Children’s Aid Societies and 13 Indigenous Child and Family Wellbeing Agencies (ICFWBA) are specifically designated by the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services to investigate child abuse and neglect and take the necessary steps to care for children and youth in need of protection. Three Children’s Aid Societies specifically serve religious communities. Children’s Aid Societies are independent legal entities (corporations run by Boards of Directors) or Indian Bands (that operate under the Indian Act) and are accountable to the communities they serve. In addition to the CYFSA, the Ontario Child Welfare Eligibility Spectrum and Child Protection Standards guide child protection workers at each phase of service delivery. 

Statistics
Child Maltreatment Investigations in Ontario, 20081, 20132 and 20183
 200820132018
Child population (0-15)2,382,0352,349,6002,361,870
Number of child maltreatment investigations128,748125,281148,536
Incidence of child maltreatment investigations per 1,000 children54.0553.3262.89
Type of Child Maltreatment Investigation in Ontario, 20183
 NumberRate per 1,000 childrenPercent
Maltreatment Investigation94,47640.0064%
Risk Investigation54,06022.8936%
Categories of Substantiated Child Maltreatment Investigations in Ontario, 20183
Category of MaltreatmentNumberRate per 1,000 childrenPercent
Physical Abuse7,0813.0019%
Sexual Abuse1,0190.433%
Neglect8,0823.4221%
Emotional Maltreatment4,6891.9912%
Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence17,0517.2245%
Placement in Child Maltreatment Investigations in Ontario, 20081, 20132 and 20183
 2008 #2008 Rate2013 #2013 Rate2018 #2018 Rate
No Placement121,43650.98121,02051.51144,35161.12
Informal Kinship Care3,6161.521,8740.802,4881.05
Formal Placement3,6961.552,3871.021,6970.71
Children and youth in out-of-home care in 20224
Children in out-of-home care Child (0-17) populationRate per 1000
7, 489 2, 750, 0142.72

Child welfare services fall under the jurisdiction of provincial and territorial authorities, making it difficult to compile statistics at the national level.

The most notable variations between provinces include, mandate variation by jurisdiction with respect to the age to which children are eligible for service, differences in the length of time a child can receive out-of-home care and the definition of out-of-home care.

Reference List

1 Fallon, B., Trocmé, N., MacLaurin, B., Sinha, V., Black, T., Felstiner, Schumaker, K., Van Wert, M., Herbert, A., Petrowski, N., Daciuk, J., Lee, B., DuRoss, C., & Johnston, A. (2010). Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect-2008 (OIS‑2008). Toronto, ON: Child Welfare Research Portal. https://cwrp.ca/publications/ontario-incidence-study-reported-child-abuse-and-neglect-2008-ois-2008

2 Fallon, B., Van Wert, M., Trocmé, N., MacLaurin, B., Sinha, V., Lefebvre, R., Allan, K., Black, T., Lee, B., Rha, W., Smith, C., & Goel, S. (2015). Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect-2013 (OIS‑2013) Toronto, ON: Child Welfare Research Portal. https://cwrp.ca/publications/ontario-incidence-study-reported-child-abuse-and-neglect-2013-ois-2013.

3 Fallon, B., Filippelli, J. Lefebvre, R., Joh-Carnella, N., Trocmé, N., Black, T., .... Stoddart, J.(2020). Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect-2018 (OIS‑2018). Toronto, ON: Child Welfare Research Portal. https://cwrp.ca/publications/ontario-incidence-study-reported-child-abuse-and-neglect-2018-ois-2018.

4 Pollock, N., Ouédraogo, A., Trocmé, N., Hovdestad, W., Miskie, A., Crompton, L., Campeau, A., Tanaka, M., Zhang, C., Laprise, C., Tonmyr, L. (2024). Rates of out-of-home care among children in Canada: an analysis of national administrative child welfare data. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada (44)4. https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.44.4.02

 

Reports
Title Year
London & Middlesex Annual Report Children's Aid Society Year in Review 2010-2011
Youth on the Street and Youth Involved with Child Welfare: Maltreatment, Mental Health and Substance Use
'Not so Easy to Navigate': A Report on the Complex Array of Income Security Programs and Educational Planning for Children in Care in Ontario
2009-2010 Annual Report
Jurisdictional Comparisons of Child Welfare System Design: Working Paper Number 2
Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect-2008 (OIS‑2008)
Problématique spécifique aux enfants et aux jeunes autochtones
Review of the Child and Family Services Act: Recommendations of the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies
Towards Sustainable Child Welfare in Ontario: First Report from the Commission
Your Children's Aid Child Welfare Report 2009/10
Report of the Paediatric Death Review Committee and Deaths Under Five Committee
Report of the Paediatric Death Review Committee and Deaths Under Five Committee
Life Domain Research Report Series
Empowering Families, Strengthening and Protecting Children: Introducing Kinship Program and Family Group Conferencing Program at the Children’s Aid Society of London and Middlesex
Lessons Learned from the "Changing the Script " Program: Supporting Foster Parents to ‘Go the Distance’ with the Children in their Care
Legislation
Links