Visiting Your Child in CAS Care: Access Orders in Ontario

When a child is in the care of a Children's Aid Society (CAS), or home under a supervision order, one of the first questions is often simple: can I still see them? Parents, grandparents and brothers and sisters all ask it, and the answer depends on the kind of order in place and who is asking.

This article explains how access works under Ontario's Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 (CYFSA). It covers who can apply, how the court decides, the waiting periods and limits, and what you can do if you disagree with a decision. It is general information, not advice for your situation.

Who can ask for access, and how the court decides

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 child, by any other person (including a sibling), by a band or community representative for a First Nations, Inuk or Métis child, or by the society.

So access is not only a parent's right to ask. A sibling or any other person can apply too, and so can the society. The central question is always what is best for the child, not what is fair to the adult.

The six-month wait and other limits

Anyone other than the society who asks to change access must generally wait six months after the relevant order, decision or appeal result before applying. This is why timing matters. If an access term was just set, you may have to wait before asking for a change.

Two other limits apply:

• No access order about a person 16 or older can be made without that person's consent.
• No access application can be made for a child in extended society care who has been placed for adoption and still lives with that family.

Supervised access after charges or convictions for violence

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, the court decides access in the child's best interests. How that applies to whether visits are supervised, where they happen and how often depends on your situation. If supervision applies to you, a lawyer can explain how the order's wording works in practice.

What changes under extended society care

Extended society care means the child stays in the care of the Children's Aid Society until a judge changes the order, the child is adopted, or the child turns 18. Existing access orders end when extended society care is ordered.

That does not mean contact is impossible. The court can make or change access only if it is in the child's best interests, and it must consider whether the relationship is beneficial and meaningful to the child and whether access will impair the child's future adoption opportunities. The court must also end an access order for a child in extended society care once it is no longer in the child's best interests.

If you disagree: status review, forms and complaints

A status review is one route to revisit an order. A parent, the child (if 12 or older), or the person the child was placed with under supervision can apply on notice to the society, and those applicants must wait six months after the latest order or disposition. For a parent, that wait does not apply if the court is satisfied that a major element of the plan of care it relied on is not being carried out.

If the society serves you with a status review, it must do so at least 30 days before the supervision order or interim society care order expires, and a parent must file and serve Form 33B.1 (Answer and plan of care) within 30 days of receiving it. Do not let that deadline pass.

Separately from court, anyone can make a formal written complaint to a children's aid society, which must have an internal panel to review it. You can also ask the Child and Family Services Review Board to review a society decision, or complain to the Ontario Ombudsman.

What to do next

• Find your current order or agreement and note its date, since waiting periods run from the relevant order or decision.
• Write down any deadline in documents you have been served, especially the 30-day Form 33B.1 deadline for a status review.
• Keep a simple record of visits: dates, who attended, and anything missed or changed.
• Get a lawyer's advice before signing a Statement of Agreed Facts (Form 33C).
• Ask whether a complaint to the society or a review request makes sense alongside any court step.

Because the rules differ by order type, the child's age and who is applying, speaking with a lawyer early can help you choose the right route and avoid missed deadlines.

Frequently asked questions