Your Guide to Adoption in Ontario
Let’s get familiar with adoption in Ontario. In this blog, we’ll be examining the types of adoption, necessary steps, and important legal documents that you’ll need notarized along the way.
You’ve made an important, and live changing decision to become a parent through adoption in Ontario. You’re looking forward to making a long term commitment to giving a child a secure, nurturing, and loving home. Taking on the responsibility of raising and supporting this child is something you know you’re ready for. The next stage of this journey is the start of a multi-step adoption process.
Throughout this process, you’ll likely encounter a handful of documents that will require authentication. Having a notary you trust can help!
Anything from birth certificates to financial documents, or even court forms like the Affidavit of Adoption (34D) or Affidavit of Adopting Relative or Stepparent (34H), will require a notary’s seal and signature. Best of all, many of these documents can be completed online without the hassle of having to meet with your notary in person.
Let’s get started.
4 Types of Adoption in Ontario
1. Public adoption: Adopting a child through the Children’s Aid Society (CAS)
Children who are adopted through the Children’s Aid Society are typically older, and have entered CAS care for usually one of two reasons:
- their birth parents made the decision to place them for adoption
- they were permanently removed from their birth parents’ care by a judge and the CAS was involved because of child protection concerns
As an adoptive parent, you won’t pay any fees to adopt through the CAS. You may actually qualify for financial help from the government if you adopt a child this way.
Once you have been approved to adopt, the process usually takes between 6 months to 2 years, or sometimes longer, to be matched with a child.
2. Private adoption: Adopting a child through an adoption agency or person approved by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services.
The majority of children placed through private adoption are babies. It’s important to note that children cannot be adopted until after they are born, even if their birth parents have already decided to place them for adoption during their pregnancy.
Typically, the cost to privately adopt a child ranges from $15,000 to $25,000 for the adoption itself. You’ll also be required to pay for a parent training program and for a social worker to do your home study. This lengthy process helps the agency ensure that your home will be the right fit for a child.
Once your home study is done, being matched with a child could take months or years, depending on when the birth parents select you to adopt their child.
3. International adoption: Adopting a child from outside of Canada through an adoption agency that the Ministry of Children and Youth Services has approved
Compared to adoption in Ontario, or Canada, children adopted internationally can range in age. With many of them having spent at least some time in an orphanage.
Choosing to adopt this way will likely result in an amount of travel, as most international adoptions are finalized in the child’s country of origin, and the child must remain in their country until the Canadian immigration process is complete.
International adoption costs often range from $20,000 to $50,000, plus the cost of a parent training program, a social worker to complete your home study.
The time it takes to be matched with a child depends on the country you are adopting from.
4. Family adoption: Sometimes called “relative” or “stepparent adoption”, means adopting a child in Canada that is related to you
Unlike the other 3 types of adoption, you don’t need to work with a CAS or an adoption agency approved by the government to adopt a relative’s child, if that child is living in Ontario.
However, family adoption requires you to be the adoptive child’s step-parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, great-aunt, or great-uncle in order to adopt them.
To complete this type of adoption, you can apply directly to an Ontario court for an adoption order. This is done at either the Family Court Branch of the Superior Court of Justice or the Ontario Court of Justice. If you’re not sure which court to go to, call the family courthouse in your municipality to ask.
In a family adoption, if the child lives in Ontario, the court holds a hearing to decide if it will allow you to adopt. You get notice of the hearing.
If the birth parents have already given their consent to the adoption or if the court has decided that their consent is not needed, they do not get notice of the hearing.
Mandatory parent training course & home study for successful adoptions
You must take a parent training course for every type of adoption (public, private and international), except for a family adoption where the child being adopted also lives in Ontario.
This course is called PRIDE (Parent Resources for Information, Development and Education), and over the course of 27 hours, you’ll learn:
- how adoption works
- how to deal with issues related to parenting an adopted child
- how neglect, lack of stimulation, abuse, and living in an institution can affect children
- how important a child’s culture and heritage are
- how important it is for a child to have connections and continuity
After you’ll complete your mandatory parent training course, you’ll begin the process of a home study with an adoption social worker. The study is called a “Structured Analysis Family Evaluation” (SAFE).
What is a ‘home study’ for adoption?
A home study is an assessment written by an adoption social worker that validates whether an individual, or a couple, are suitable to parent an adopted child. This detailed report contains information about adoptive parents like: their values, beliefs, personalities, experience with children and adoption, education, and work experience. The home study will also include what type of child the worker thinks is the best match for the parents.
How long does a home study take?
A home study can take 4-6 interviews that are done over 3-8 months. Most importantly, the home study has to be current in order for it to be valid. Meaning, it must be updated whenever there is an important change, like if an adoptive parent changes their job or is diagnosed with a medical condition.
Which notarized documents will be requested during a home study?
The adoption worker who is completing your home study will also ask that you and anyone living in your home who is over the age of majority (18 or 19, depending on the province) to provide:
- an updated medical report
- report of any history with Children’s Aid Society
- a police record check
Having these documents authenticated by a notary public can help smooth out the home study process, by ensuring that the social worker accepts your documents as true and valid.
Once you’re approved for adoption
After you’ve completed your mandatory PRIDE training and your SAFE home study, if eligible, you’ll be approved and will work with the Children’s Aid Society adoption worker, your private adoption worker, or agency to be matched with a child.
Steps after an adoptive match is found
- First, you’ll usually be given the social and medical history of the child and their birth family. You’ll also have some time to think about going through with the adoption or not.
- Next, pre-placement visits. The adoptive child will visit your home several times to allow them to get to know your family and your home before moving in.
- Then, the official placement is made and the adoption probation period begins. This period is usually 6 or more months long, and is to make sure that both, your family and the child, are happy together before the adoption is finalized.
- Last, at the end of the probationary period the adoption worker submits a report to the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. Once the report is approved, the adoption is usually finalized in an Ontario court. You;ll then become the legal parent of your adoptive child.
How to Notarize Adoption Affidavits and Forms
Notarizing key forms quickly and correctly can help smooth out the adoption process. At NotaryPro, we’re able to help you get each adoption document notarized quickly and easily online. Whether you’re notarizing Form 34H: Affidavit of adopting relative or stepparent, Form 34D: Affidavit of adoption applicant(s), or any other documents requested by the CAS or your social worker. When you’re ready to submit a document, book an appointment with us online or in-person for prompt, friendly service.