Can I Visit My Child While They Are in CAS Care in Ontario?

When a child is in the care of a children's aid society, or living at home under supervision, one of the first worries is often whether you can still see them. Parents, brothers and sisters, and grandparents all ask this question.

In Ontario, access is governed by the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 (CYFSA). This article explains who can ask the court for access, how the court decides, when visits must be supervised, and what changes if the child is placed in extended society care.

Who can ask for access, and how the court decides

Under the CYFSA, the court can make, change or end an access order, and it does so in the child's best interests.

When a child is in society care or under supervision, an application can be made by the following people:

• the child
• any other person, including a sibling
• a band or community representative, if the child is First Nations, Inuk or Métis
• the society

If the access would be with a person who is 16 or older, no access order about that person can be made without their consent.

Waiting six months to change access

Anyone other than the society who wants to change access must generally wait six months after the relevant order, decision or appeal result before applying.

That wait is a reason to raise access early, while the court is already making decisions about the child. A lawyer can tell you how the timing applies to your situation.

When visits must be supervised

Supervised access is required if, when the society applied, the parent had been charged with or convicted of a Criminal Code offence involving violence against the child or the child's other parent. The court must then specify the supervision in the order.

Outside that situation, whether visits are supervised depends on the facts and on what the court decides is in the child's best interests.

Stricter rules once extended society care is ordered

Extended society care means the child stays in the society's care until a judge changes the order, the child is adopted, or the child turns 18. Access works differently in this situation.

So after extended society care is ordered, access is no longer carried forward automatically. It must be asked for again and justified under these tests.

What you can do next

If you are worried about access, these steps may be open to you:

• Raise access on a status review. On a status review, the court can vary or end the original order, make a new order under section 101, or make a custody order under section 102.
• Check whether the six-month wait has passed, then apply to change access if it has.
• Make a written complaint to the children's aid society, which must have an internal panel to review it.
• Ask the Child and Family Services Review Board to review a society decision, or complain to the Ontario Ombudsman.
• Speak to a lawyer before agreeing to any court document, such as a Statement of Agreed Facts (Form 33C).

A parent, the child if 12 or older, or the person the child was placed with under supervision can apply for a status review, but they must wait six months after the latest order or disposition. That wait does not apply to a parent if the court is satisfied that a major element of the plan of care it relied on is not being carried out.

Frequently asked questions