Openness Orders After Adoption in Ontario Child Protection Cases

When a Children's Aid Society plans adoption for a child, parents and relatives often worry that contact will end completely. An openness order is one way the court can address that, but there is a strict deadline to ask for it.

This article explains the basics in plain language: what the notice looks like, the 30-day time limit, and what to ask about if you want an order or later want to change one. It is general information, and a lawyer can tell you how it applies to your situation.

What an openness order is

What an order can include, who can apply, and what a judge looks at depend on the Act and the facts of your case, so a lawyer can confirm them for you.

To see how an openness order fits in, it helps to look at the child protection case first. In that case, the judge decides who has care and custody and the parent's access, and the society must prove that the order it seeks serves the child's best interests. Openness is about what happens once adoption is planned.

The 30-day deadline

The court forms are clear on timing. A person has 30 days after receiving the society's notice of intention to place a child for adoption to apply for an openness order, otherwise the right to apply is lost.

That makes the notice the most important document to protect. Note the day you received it and count forward right away.

First Nations, Inuk and Métis children

For First Nations, Inuk or Métis children, the court must consider whether an openness order helps the child maintain connection to culture, heritage and community (section 197).

Other options may also be relevant for these children. Customary care is the care and supervision of the child by a person who is not the parent, and societies must make all reasonable efforts to pursue a customary care plan. The caregiver needs a band or community declaration, a customary care agreement and a home meeting foster care licensing standards.

If you are a relative rather than a parent

The 30-day wording refers to a person who receives the notice, so relatives and others who are served should not assume it applies only to parents. Whether you are entitled to notice or can apply depends on your relationship to the child and the facts, which a lawyer can confirm.

If you are a relative who may care for the child, societies must use the SAFE or HEART homestudy to assess caregivers, 'inclusive of kinship care'. Relatives, extended family or community members caring for a child in need of protection who is not in a society's care may get kinship service funding, but must be approved by the society to offer kinship service.

What to do next

Changing or ending an existing openness order is a separate question. The rules for that depend on the Act and the wording of the order, so have a lawyer read the order before you act.

• Mark the date you received the notice of intention to place for adoption.
• Count 30 days and book legal advice well before that date.
• Gather the notice, any court orders and the last access arrangements.
• Write down who the child has had meaningful contact with and what contact you are hoping for.
• Do not post about the case online or share court documents.

Frequently asked questions