The Five Court Outcomes in a CAS Protection Case in Ontario

If a children's aid society has started a child protection application against you, the most pressing question is usually what the court can actually order. The range runs from your child staying home with oversight to a long-term order in society care.

This article describes five outcomes that appear in the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 (CYFSA). Which one is made depends on the facts, the plan put forward and the child's best interests, so treat this as a map and not a prediction.

How the court gets to an order

A society may apply to the court to decide whether a child is in need of protection. The grounds include physical harm inflicted, or caused by a failure to care for or protect the child, by the person in charge, and a risk that the child is likely to suffer physical harm or emotional harm.

When choosing an order, the court considers the child's best interests. Factors include the child's views and wishes, given due weight according to age and maturity, the child's physical, mental and emotional needs, relationships with family and community, continuity of care, and the risk of harm from removal.

The five outcomes

Which terms people use matters. The CYFSA no longer uses society wardship or Crown wardship. Interim society care is a time-limited order, and extended society care is the current equivalent of what used to be called Crown wardship. If you see the older term society wardship in older documents, a lawyer can confirm how it lines up with today's orders.

Removal is not the starting point

The court must not order a child removed from the person who had charge of them unless less disruptive alternatives would be inadequate. Before ordering removal, it must consider placing the child, with consent, with a relative, neighbour or other member of the child's community under a supervision order.

For a First Nations, Inuk or Métis child, unless there is a substantial reason to place the child elsewhere, the court must place the child with extended family if possible, and if not, with another family from the child's community.

If a child is removed, the court must order access to the person who had charge unless it is satisfied that continued contact would not be in the child's best interests.

Time limits and later changes

The court may not make an interim society care order that results in a child being in society care and custody for more than 12 months if the child is younger than 6, or 24 months if the child is 6 or older, and earlier periods in care count toward the limit. The court may extend the limit by up to six months if that is in the child's best interests.

A final order is not always the end. A status review may be started on notice to the society by the child if at least 12, a parent, the person a child was placed with under a supervision order, a person granted custody, a foster parent who has cared for the child for at least two years, or a band or community representative for a First Nations, Inuk or Métis child. A parent needs the court's leave in some cases.

A custody order cannot be made in favour of a foster parent under the usual custody provision, though on a status review the court may grant custody to a person, including a foster parent, with that person's consent.

What to do next

• Read the application and the society's plan of care carefully.
• Think about relatives or community members who could care for your child and who would consent.
• Write down what you can offer: housing, supports, routines and services.
• Ask about access arrangements if your child is removed.
• Get legal advice early, since deadlines in these cases are short.

Frequently asked questions