Adoption Order and New Birth Registration in Ontario: What to Expect

Placement is a joyful moment, but the adoption is not complete until a court makes the adoption order. Many new parents then want to know what happens in between, what the court reviews, and how the child's new legal identity shows up on official records, including a birth certificate.

This article walks through the stages after placement and what the order changes. The exact steps for requesting a new birth registration or certificate can depend on your situation, so confirm them with your lawyer or the court before you plan around a date.

The adjustment period after placement

In a public adoption, placement is followed by an adoption adjustment period of at least six months before the court finalizes the adoption. In a private adoption, the ministry must approve the proposed plan before the child is placed.

During the first six months of a private adoption's adjustment period, the practitioner must make at least three visits, and the licensee then submits an adjustment report for ministry approval. A Director's statement filed before the hearing is based on a report of the child's adjustment in the home.

Residence time and the Director's statement

Before the hearing, a Director must file a statement. It generally requires that the child has lived with the applicant for at least six months, or two years for a placement that a society or licensee did not make.

• Shorter residence: for a child placed by a society or licensee, the application may go ahead with less than six months if the Director's statement gives the reasons.
• Stepparent and relative adoptions: the statement and the six-month rule apply only if the child did not live in Canada before placement, though the court may order that they apply if the child did live in Canada.
• Negative statement: it must be filed and served on the applicant at least 30 days before the hearing.

Consents and appeal periods before the order

An adoption order for a child under 16 generally cannot be made without the written consent of every parent, or a Director's written consent if the child is in extended society care. However, if a parent refuses consent or cannot be found, the court may dispense with that parent's consent if that is in the child's best interests, as long as the parent received notice of the proposed adoption or a reasonable effort to give notice was made. A person who consented may withdraw in writing within 21 days after giving consent.

If the court dispensed with a consent, or allowed a late withdrawal, no adoption order may be made until the appeal period has passed or any appeal has been decided. If your file involves either situation, expect extra time before finalization.

What the adoption order does

On the date of the order, the adopted child becomes the child of the adoptive parent, and each former parent stops being a parent. In a stepparent adoption, the former parent who is the spouse of the adoptive parent keeps parent status.

An adoption order is final and irrevocable, subject only to appeals, and no extension of the time to appeal will be granted. After adoption, no court may make an order for access to the child by a birth parent or a member of a birth parent's family.

Contact with birth relatives can still happen by agreement. An openness agreement may be made before or after the adoption order, and not following it does not affect the validity of the order. Open adoption does not always mean visits.

Birth records and what comes later

The adoption order changes the child's legal parentage, because on the date of the order the adopted child becomes the child of the adoptive parent. How and when the birth registration and certificate are updated depends on your situation, so confirm the application steps, forms and timing with your lawyer or the court once the order is made.

Later in life, an adopted person who is at least 18 may apply to the Registrar General for uncertified copies of the original birth registration and the registered adoption order, and no fee is charged to access adoption records. A birth parent may apply for identifying information about the adopted person once they are at least 19.

Either side may file a notice of contact preference, which is not binding, or a no-contact notice. Knowingly contacting someone despite their no-contact notice is an offence with a fine of up to $50,000 for an individual.

What to do next

• Keep a record of the placement date and the adjustment period, since finalization depends on it.
• Gather signed consents and any court orders dispensing with consent, and note any appeal period.
• Ask your lawyer or practitioner when the Director's statement will be filed before the hearing.
• After the order, confirm how to request the updated birth registration and certificate.
• Store the adoption order safely, because the adopted person may need it later.

Frequently asked questions