How to Start Adopting a Child in Canada

The short answer

Adoption in Canada is a provincial and territorial process that ends in a court order. The published sequence is the same in outline everywhere this guide checked: apply, complete training, complete a homestudy, receive approval, be matched with a child, go through placement and a period of adjustment with worker visits, and then have the adoption finalized by a court. The names, offices, training programs, and documents differ by province and territory, so start on the adoption page for the province or territory where you live and follow the route that page describes.

This guide describes process only. It is not legal advice, it makes no prediction about any application, and it does not advise which route suits a family. The authorities describe the routes; this guide does not rank them or recommend one. Seek legal advice for the court step, and check the current authority page and the agency or worker handling the file before acting on any detail here.

Start with your province or territory

Adoption is not a single national application. In Ontario, public adoptions are managed by children's aid societies, with a Centralized Adoption Intake Service as the first contact. In British Columbia, Adopt BC Kids is the online portal for applying to adopt a child or youth in foster care with whom the applicant has no existing connection, while a person applying to adopt a child or youth already known to them applies directly to that child's worker. In Manitoba, applications go to a licensed adoption agency or to the local child and family services agency, and for adoption of a permanent ward the application goes to the local child and family services agency. In Alberta, private adoption runs through direct placement or through a licensed adoption agency, and the province names Alberta Adoption and Permanency Services as a contact for questions.

Residency and age conditions are set by the province or territory. British Columbia states that a person must be a resident of British Columbia and at least 19 years of age to apply through Adopt BC Kids. Alberta states that to adopt a child a person must be an Alberta resident, be at least 18 years old, and demonstrate financial and domestic stability. Manitoba states that a person must be a resident of Manitoba and at least 18 years of age, and that a person can be single, married, or living common-law, with or without children. Do not read one province's condition as a national rule. Confirm the condition on the page for the province or territory where you live.

The routes the authorities describe

The authorities describe three broad routes, plus a separate court route for adopting a relative or stepchild. This guide sets out each route only as the authorities describe it.

Public adoption, sometimes described as adoption from foster care or adoption of a child in permanent care, covers children in the care of a children's aid society or a child and family services agency. Ontario describes public adoptions as adoptions of children in the permanent care of children's aid societies, known as children in extended society care, and notes that most are not infants and are often older, may have special needs, and may have siblings also in care. British Columbia describes Adopt BC Kids children and youth as mostly school-aged, often in sibling groups of two or more, and as having complex support needs. Manitoba describes children becoming eligible for adoption through child and family services either because birth parents have consented to an adoption plan or because a court has determined that the parents are unable to care for the child.

Private domestic adoption is facilitated by a licensed agency or a licensed individual or practitioner. Ontario states that a private domestic adoption is facilitated by either a licensed private adoption agency or a licensed individual, and that a private adoption practitioner conducts the homestudy and supervises all private adoption placements. It also states that there are relatively few children available for private adoption compared with the number of families seeking to adopt. Manitoba states that private adoptions are arranged through a child and family services agency or a licensed adoption agency, and that in many cases the process begins when one or both birth parents contact an agency for help. British Columbia describes parent or guardian placement, in which birth parents often work with licensed adoption agencies, and direct placement, in which a birth parent chooses a specific person or couple to adopt the child.

Intercountry adoption is adoption of a child from another country. Ontario states that the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services must approve eligibility before a person can proceed, and that the person must work with an agency or individual licensed to facilitate international adoptions and complete a homestudy and mandatory training. British Columbia states that intercountry adoption requires working with a licensed British Columbia adoption agency and follows legislation and regulations from both countries. Manitoba states that a person living in Manitoba who wants to adopt a child from another country must work with a licensed adoption agency or a child and family services agency, and that intercountry adoptions are regulated under provincial adoption laws, federal immigration laws, and the laws of the child's country of origin.

Adopting a relative or stepchild follows a court route that the authorities describe separately. Ontario states that a person can apply directly to an Ontario court for an adoption order for a relative living in Ontario, and does not require an adoption licensee unless the judge requires an assessment. British Columbia states that a person adopting a relative or stepchild must apply to the court and will need to seek legal advice. Alberta describes direct placement, step-parent, or relative adoption as one of the two methods of private adoption. Manitoba lists extended family adoption and adoption by a spouse or common-law partner of the child's parent as separate types, each requiring legal assistance from a lawyer. Seek legal advice for this route.

Step 1: Apply

The application step formalizes the intent to adopt and records the applicant's preferences and circumstances. In Ontario's public process, the applicant contacts the Centralized Adoption Intake Service, which provides general information and can help complete an adoption application for children's aid societies, and then contacts the local children's aid society, attends an orientation session, and completes an application form. In British Columbia, an Adopt BC Kids application is made through the online portal, and a BC Services Card account is required to access the portal. In Manitoba, the applicant applies to a licensed adoption agency or to the local child and family services agency after attending an orientation session. In Alberta's private process, the applicant uses a licensed adoption agency or makes direct placement arrangements as the province's process describes.

Orientation comes first in several provinces. Ontario's children's aid societies ask applicants to attend an orientation session about becoming an adoptive parent of a child in permanent care. Manitoba states that all adoption agencies offer orientation sessions that help a person understand that adoption is permanent and decide whether adoption is right for them. Attend the orientation named by the authority or agency in your province or territory before treating any later step as settled.

Step 2: Complete education and training

Training is a mandatory part of approval in the provinces checked, and it runs alongside the homestudy in Ontario. Ontario's program is PRIDE, the Parent Resources for Information and Development and Education program, described as a 27-hour curriculum to help a person prepare for raising an adopted child. Where the adoption concerns an Indigenous child or youth, Ontario states that the SPIRIT program, Strong Parent Indigenous Relationships Information Training, may be completed instead. British Columbia refers Adopt BC Kids applicants to a mandatory five-hour virtual Introduction to Adoption and Permanency Course, and families approved for the next step complete the LEAP program, described as a 10-week course taking about six to eight hours a week, covering grief, trauma, and attachment. Manitoba lists educational seminars covering the emotional and developmental needs of children available for adoption, including separation, loss, trauma, and adjustment. Complete the training your province or territory names, in the order it names it.

Step 3: Complete the homestudy

The homestudy is the assessment at the centre of the process. An adoption worker is assigned, interviews the applicants and visits the home, and prepares a report with a recommendation. Ontario's SAFE homestudy is mandatory and consists of four to six interviews over four to six months. It determines whether the applicant is ready to be an adoptive parent and what type of child the applicant is best suited to adopt, by identifying skills and readiness, assessing the home environment, and helping the applicant understand what is involved in becoming an adoptive parent and raising an adopted child. Where the adoption concerns an Indigenous child or youth, Ontario states the homestudy may use the HEART tool, Helping Establish Able-Resource Homes Together.

British Columbia describes a thorough homestudy assessment involving home visits and interviews with an adoption worker, in which all people residing in the home are interviewed. Manitoba describes the homestudy as an assessment process between the applicant and a qualified adoption worker to determine whether the applicant is able to assume the responsibilities of being an adoptive parent and to identify which children the applicant is most suitable and capable of parenting. The discussion covers the home and community, significant relationships, values and beliefs about parenting, knowledge of adoption issues, and the impacts of trauma and early childhood experiences, including separation and loss.

The documents a homestudy asks for vary, and the worker or agency handling the file will list them. Manitoba states that as part of the homestudy the applicant will need to provide medical reports from a doctor, financial statements, police checks, child abuse registry checks, and letters from references. Ontario directs applicants to information about what to expect during the homestudy and the documents to provide, and Alberta's private process lists criminal record checks, intervention record checks, and medical exams as part of an agency application and home study report. Gather the documents the worker asks for, and keep them current: Ontario states that for international adoption, supplementary documents such as police clearances and medicals are valid for only two years.

Step 4: Receive approval

Approval is a decision made on the homestudy and the training. In Ontario's public process, a person can adopt a child from a children's aid society once the homestudy and training are complete and the children's aid society has approved the applicant. In Ontario's private process, the adoption practitioner recommends the applicant as eligible to adopt once those steps are complete. In Ontario's international process, the agency submits the completed homestudy to the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services for review and approval, and an approved applicant receives a letter of approval confirming eligibility and suitability, valid for two years. In British Columbia, families approved after the homestudy move to approval and matching. In Manitoba, the adoption worker gives the agency a report with a recommendation about placement, and the applicant is entitled to a copy of the report.

Approval allows matching to begin. It does not, on its own, place a child. Matching depends on the children available and on whether the match is in the best interest of the child, as the authorities state in the next step.

Step 5: Matching

Matching is the search for a family for a child, not the selection of a child by a family. Ontario states that the most important consideration in matching is whether the match is in the best interest of the child, and British Columbia states that the focus for workers is finding the right family for the child or youth. Manitoba states the same focus: in adoption, the focus is on finding the right family for the child.

How matching happens depends on the route. In Ontario's public process, the adoption worker works with the approved family, and the family can register on the adoption resources databank, attend the Adoption Resource Exchange, and use AdoptOntario programs. In Ontario's private process, the licensee may contact the family about a proposed match, the homestudy is sent to licensees who present it to birth parents seeking to place children, and birth parents may review a profile and select a family. In Ontario's international process, the licensee prepares a file, sends it to the country, and reviews a proposal from the foreign country against the homestudy recommendations before the practitioner discusses it with the applicants. In Manitoba, the worker shares information about the child's background, including medical and social history, with the adoptive parents before placement, and there is an opportunity for visits before placement.

Before a match proceeds, the applicant has time to consider the information provided. Ontario's public process states that the worker prepares the social and medical history of the child and the birth family and provides a non-identifying version, that the applicant has time to consider the placement, and that the worker shares information about the applicant with the child, based on the child's age and maturity. The child makes several visits to the home, including with the adoption worker, before moving in. Do not treat a proposal as a placement until the authority or agency confirms the next step.

Step 6: Placement and the adjustment period

Placement is the move into the home, followed by a period in which the worker visits, supports the family, and assesses how the child is adjusting. Ontario's public process states an adoption adjustment period of at least six months after official placement, with regular home visits from the adoption worker to provide support and assess adjustment. Ontario's private process states that the adoption practitioner must make at least three visits during the first six months, complete a report on adjustment, and have the licensee submit the report for ministry review and approval. Manitoba states a supervisory period, usually six to twelve months, before finalization in court, during which the child and family services adoption worker continues to support the family. For intercountry adoptions legalized in Manitoba, Manitoba states that a child and family services adoption worker supervises the placement for at least six months and prepares the documentation needed to legalize the adoption in court. Alberta's private process states that a judge may order a Home Study Report, request further information, order a hearing, grant an adoption order, or dismiss the application, and that the applicant is notified of the decision by the court.

Consent and openness are part of placement in the private routes the authorities describe. Ontario's private process states that a child must be at least seven days old before birth parents can consent to adoption, that the ministry must approve the proposed adoption plan before placement, and that a birth parent has 21 days after consenting to change their mind. Manitoba's private process states that birth parents may sign legal consent 48 hours after the birth of the child, with a lawyer, and may withdraw consent up to 21 days after signing. Openness, meaning ongoing contact or communication between the child, the adoptive family, and birth family or other significant people, is described by Ontario, British Columbia, and Manitoba as an agreement or order where it is in the best interest of the child. British Columbia lists fully open, semi-open, partially open, and no-contact categories. Do not assume a level of contact: it is set out in the agreement or order for the individual adoption.

Step 7: Finalization and the court order

Finalization is a court step. In Ontario's public process, once the adjustment period is over and the worker determines the match is a good fit, the children's aid society takes steps to finalize the adoption in an Ontario court, and the court makes an adoption order that legally recognizes the applicants as the child's adoptive parents. In Ontario's private process, the licensee applies to an Ontario court to finalize the adoption, and a judge issues an adoption order making the applicants the legal parents of the child. In Manitoba, the child and family services adoption worker applies to the Court of King's Bench for an Order of Adoption when the family is ready. In Alberta's private process, the clerk presents the Application for Adoption Order to a judge for review, and the judge decides as described above. In British Columbia, relative and stepchild adoption requires an application to the court. Seek legal advice for the court step. This guide does not set out court forms, filing steps, or what a judge will decide in any individual case.

For intercountry adoption, finalization often happens outside Canada. Ontario states that most international adoptions are finalized in the child's country of origin, that the child must remain in the home country until the Canadian immigration process is complete, and that an application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada must be made before the child can be brought to Canada. Where an international adoption is finalized in an Ontario court, Ontario states there is a six-month supervisory period with worker visits and a report on adjustment before the licensee applies for an adoption order. Manitoba states that most intercountry adoptions are legalized in the child's country of origin, and that prospective adoptive parents must also apply for sponsorship or citizenship of the adopted child through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, typically after the homestudy is approved and the country has been determined. Most countries of origin also require post-placement progress reports after the family returns, according to Manitoba.

Costs and timing the authorities state

The only fee and timeline figures in this guide are the ones stated on the authority pages, and each is tied to its province and route. Ontario states there is no cost to go through a public adoption process with a children's aid society, and that matching after approval is likely to take six months to two years or longer. Ontario states private domestic licensee fees generally of $15,000 to $30,000, with additional fees for a homestudy assessment and parent training, and international licensee fees usually of $20,000 to $50,000, with additional fees for a homestudy, training, and travel and accommodation. Alberta states an approximate $300 fee to file court documents for one or more children in a family, and an approximate $3,000 Home Study Report through a licensed adoption agency, in the direct placement, step-parent, or relative context, plus charges for a lawyer or agency where those services are used. British Columbia states that post-adoption assistance programs can provide financial and practical support to qualifying families, without stating an amount on those pages. Manitoba states that financial assistance may be available for families adopting a permanent ward with special needs or siblings, in the form of one-time start-up costs, costs of special services, and ongoing maintenance payments based on income and family size, without stating amounts on that page.

No figure in this paragraph is a Canada-wide figure, and none should be used as a budget. Fees and timelines change, and the agency or authority handling the file states the current position for the route in question.

Figures this guide does not give

This guide gives no Canada-wide fee, no Canada-wide timeline, and no total cost for adopting a child. No private adoption fee figure for British Columbia or Manitoba is stated, because none is stated on the authority pages, and no intercountry timeline by country is stated, because Ontario states that waiting times vary by country and directs applicants to consult the Ontario-based agency about current timelines. No Alberta intercountry cost or timeline figure is stated, because none is stated on an Alberta authority page. Any fee, timeline, or eligibility figure not stated in this guide was left out rather than estimated, and any figure that is stated should be confirmed on the current authority page or with the agency or worker handling the file before it is relied on.

Related guides:

• How to Start Getting a Birth Certificate in Canada — how birth registration and a birth certificate work in Canada, including the registration step that comes before a certificate can be ordered.
• How to Apply for the Canada Child Benefit — the federal monthly benefit for families with children under 18: who applies, the three application routes, and what changes to report.
• How to Start Getting Childcare Covered in Canada — fee reductions and subsidies for licensed childcare, province by province, and how renewal works.
• How to Start Applying for Canadian Citizenship in Canada — the citizenship application process, including the route for a person applying from outside Canada.

Sources

• Government of Ontario, "Public adoptions" — the public adoption process in seven steps, no cost for the public process, the SAFE homestudy and PRIDE training, matching, the adjustment period of at least six months, and finalization by an Ontario court order.
• Government of Ontario, "Private domestic adoptions" — private adoption through a licensed agency or individual, the homestudy and training, matching, consent and placement, the adjustment period, and the $15,000 to $30,000 licensee fee range.
• Government of Ontario, "International adoptions in Ontario" — ministry approval before proceeding, the homestudy and training, the two-year approval letter, matching and travel, finalization in the country of origin or in Ontario, the immigration application, and the $20,000 to $50,000 licensee fee range.
• Government of British Columbia, "Ways to Adopt in BC" — the routes in British Columbia, including Adopt BC Kids, parent or guardian placement, direct placement, intercountry adoption, custom adoption, and relative or stepchild adoption.
• Government of British Columbia, "Adopt BC Kids" — the age and residency condition, the application portal, the education courses, the homestudy, approval and matching, and openness categories.
• Government of Alberta, "Private adoption" — the two methods of private adoption, eligibility, the approximate court filing and Home Study Report figures, the court decision after an application, and the licensed adoption agencies listed.
• Government of Manitoba, "Adoption" — the types of adoption in Manitoba, the steps to becoming an adoptive parent, the homestudy and its documents, placement and the supervisory period, private adoption consent periods, intercountry adoption safeguards, and the court route for relative, step-parent, de facto, extended family, and adult adoption.