Children's Law Reform Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.12 (Consolidation Period: From October 18, 2021 )

• Jurisdiction: Ontario
• Coming into Force: 18 October 2021
• Status: current

Children’s Law Reform Act

R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER C.12

Consolidation Period: From October 18, 2021 to the e-Laws currency date.

Last amendment: 2021, c. 4, Sched. 2.

CONTENTS

Part I
Parentage

Interpretation and Application

Definitions and interpretation, Part I

Definitions

1 (1) In this Part,

“assisted reproduction” means a method of conceiving other than by sexual intercourse; (“procréation assistée”)

“birth” means birth as defined in the Vital Statistics Act and includes a still-birth as defined in that Act; (“naissance”)

“birth parent” means, in relation to a child, the person who gives birth to the child; (“parent de naissance”)

“court” means the Family Court or the Superior Court of Justice; (“tribunal”)

“embryo” means embryo as defined in the Assisted Human Reproduction Act (Canada); (“embryon”)

“insemination by a sperm donor” means an attempt to conceive a child through sexual intercourse in the circumstances described in subsection 7 (4); (“insémination par un donneur de sperme”)

“reproductive material” means all or any part of a sperm, ovum or other human cell or a human gene; (“matériel reproductif”)

“spouse” means the person to whom a person is married or with whom the person is living in a conjugal relationship outside marriage; (“conjoint”)

“surrogate” means a person who agrees to carry a child conceived through assisted reproduction if, at the time of conception, the person intends to relinquish entitlement to parentage of the child, once born, to one or more persons. (“substitut”) 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

If marriage is void

(2) For the purposes of the definition of “spouse” in subsection (1), two persons who, in good faith, go through a form of marriage with each other that is void but who live in a conjugal relationship are deemed to be married during the time they live in a conjugal relationship, and the marriage is deemed to be terminated when they cease to do so. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Interpretation, conception through assisted reproduction

(3) For the purposes of this Part, a child conceived through assisted reproduction is deemed to have been conceived on the day the reproductive material or embryo used in the assisted reproduction is implanted in the birth parent. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1) - 01/01/2017

Rules of construction

Relationship by blood or marriage

2 (1) For the purposes of construing any Act, regulation or, subject to subsection (3), instrument, unless a contrary intention appears, a reference to a person or group or class of persons described in terms of relationship by blood or marriage to another person,

(a) includes a person who comes within that description by reason of the relationship of parent and child set out in this Part; and

(b) in respect of a child conceived through assisted reproduction or through insemination by a sperm donor, does not include,

(i) a person who provided reproductive material or an embryo for use in the conception if that person is not a parent of the child, or

(ii) a person related to a person referred to in subclause (i). 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Application to Acts, statutory instruments

(2) Subsection (1) applies to an Act, regulation or other instrument made under an Act, regardless of when it was enacted or made. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Application to other instruments

(3) In the case of an instrument that is not made under an Act,

(a) subsection (1) applies to the instrument if it was made on or after the day subsection 1 (1) of the All Families Are Equal Act (Parentage and Related Registrations Statute Law Amendment), 2016 came into force;

(b) subsection (1) as it read immediately before the day subsection 1 (1) of the All Families Are Equal Act (Parentage and Related Registrations Statute Law Amendment), 2016 came into force continues to apply to an instrument made before that day, if it was made on or after March 31, 1978. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

References assuming two parents

(4) If, under this Part, a child has more than two parents, a reference in any Act or regulation to the parents of the child that is not intended to exclude a parent shall, unless a contrary intention appears, be read as a reference to all of the child’s parents, even if the terminology used assumes that a child would have no more than two parents. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

References to “le père ou la mère”, “le père et la mère”, etc.

(5) For the purposes of construing the French version of any Act or regulation, unless a contrary intention appears, the terms “père” and “mère” used together, conjunctively or disjunctively, in relation to a child, shall be construed as referring to a parent or parents of the child as set out in this Part. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1) - 01/01/2017

Application

3 This Part governs the determination of parentage for all purposes of the law of Ontario. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1) - 01/01/2017

Rules of Parentage

Person is child of parents

4 (1) A person is the child of his or her parents. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Determining parent of a child

(2) A parent of a child is,

(a) a person who is a parent of the child under sections 6 to 13, except in the case of an adopted child;

(b) in the case of an adopted child, a parent of the child as provided for under section 217 or 218 of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1); 2017, c. 14, Sched. 4, s. 4 (1).

Kindred relationships

(3) The relationship of parent and child set out in subsections (1) and (2) shall be followed in determining the kindred relationships that flow from it. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

For all purposes of Ontario law

(4) For greater certainty, this section applies for all purposes of the law of Ontario. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1) - 01/01/2017

2017, c. 14, Sched. 4, s. 4 (1) - 30/04/2018

Provision of reproductive material, embryo not determinative

5 A person who provides reproductive material or an embryo for use in the conception of a child through assisted reproduction is not, and shall not be recognized in law to be, a parent of the child unless he or she is a parent of the child under this Part. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1) - 01/01/2017

Birth parent

6 (1) The birth parent of a child is, and shall be recognized in law to be, a parent of the child. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Exception, surrogacy

(2) Subsection (1) is subject to the relinquishment of an entitlement to parentage by a surrogate under section 10, or to a declaration by a court to that effect under section 10 or 11. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1) - 01/01/2017

Other biological parent, if sexual intercourse

7 (1) The person whose sperm resulted in the conception of a child conceived through sexual intercourse is, and shall be recognized in law to be, a parent of the child. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Presumption

(2) Unless the contrary is proven on a balance of probabilities, there is a presumption in respect of a child conceived through sexual intercourse that a person is, and shall be recognized in law to be, the parent referred to in subsection (1) if any of the following circumstances applies:

1. The person was the birth parent’s spouse at the time of the child’s birth.

2. The person was married to the child’s birth parent by a marriage that was terminated by death or judgment of nullity within 300 days before the child’s birth or by divorce where the judgment of divorce was granted within 300 days before the child’s birth.

3. The person was living in a conjugal relationship with the child’s birth parent before the child’s birth and the child is born within 300 days after they cease to live in a conjugal relationship.

4. The person has certified the child’s birth, as a parent of the child, under the Vital Statistics Act or a similar Act in another jurisdiction in Canada.

5. The person has been found or recognized by a court of competent jurisdiction outside Ontario to be a parent of the child. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Conflicting presumptions

(3) If circumstances exist that give rise to a presumption by more than one person under subsection (2), no presumption shall be made under that subsection. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Non-application, insemination by a sperm donor

(4) This section is deemed not to apply to a person whose sperm is used to conceive a child through sexual intercourse if, before the child is conceived, the person and the intended birth parent agree in writing that the person does not intend to be a parent of the child. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Same, sperm donor not a parent

(5) A person to whom subsection (4) applies is not, and shall not be recognized in law to be, a parent of a child conceived in the circumstances set out in that subsection. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1) - 01/01/2017

Birth parent’s spouse, if assisted reproduction or insemination by sperm donor

Assisted reproduction

8 (1) If the birth parent of a child conceived through assisted reproduction had a spouse at the time of the child’s conception, the spouse is, and shall be recognized in law to be, a parent of the child. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Insemination by a sperm donor

(2) If the birth parent of a child conceived through insemination by a sperm donor had a spouse at the time of the child’s conception, the spouse is, and shall be recognized in law to be, a parent of the child. 2016, c. 23, s. 1 (1).

Non-application, lack of consent

(3) This section does not apply if, before the child’s conception,

(a) the spouse did not consent to be a parent of the child; or

(b) the...