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Legislation

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Child and Family Services Act
R.S.O. 1990 Chap. C.11
The Child and Family Services Act: funding of services for children including child development, child treatment, child welfare, community support, young offenders, and child and family intervention services. It also governs the operation of children's aid societies and other agencies approved to provide these services and the licensing of residential programs.

Ontario is making changes to the Child and Family Services Act to strengthen Ontario's child protection system. Find out more about how these changes are improving accountability and providing stability to vulnerable children and youth.

Day Nurseries Act
R.S.O. 1990 Chap. D.2
The Day Nurseries Act: funding and licensing of operators, child care centres and private-home child care agencies.

Intercountry Adoption Act, 1998
S.O. 1998 Chap. 29
The Intercountry Adoption Act, 1998: establishes provincial requirements for all intercountry adoptions that are finalized outside of Ontario. Persons wishing to adopt a child from another country must submit an application and have a homestudy approved by the Ministry. Persons involved in facilitating intercountry adoptions will be required to have a licence issued by the Ministry. The Act also implements the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, an international arrangement that specifies the rules under which intercountry adoptions will be processed by signatory countries.

The French Language Services Act (FLSA)

More than thirty years ago, the Government of Ontario recognized the need to provide French-language services to the province's Francophone community.

The right to French-language services contained in the French Language Services Act came into effect on November 19, 1989. It gives all citizens who request French-language services the right to be served in French:

• in any head office of a provincial government ministry or agency;
• in most provincial ministry and agency offices that serve or are located in the 24 designated regions.

The French Language Services Act came into effect in 1989.  Section 5 guarantees to every person the right to communicate with and receive government services in French in 24 designated regions of the province. It is the responsibility of each government ministry and agency to provide services in French that are equivalent to those provided in English.

The Youth Criminal Justice Act in Ontario  ( 2002, c. 1 )

The Government of Canada's new Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), which came into effect on April 1, 2003, introduces significant changes to the Canadian youth justice system. The new legislation, which holds youth accountable proportionate to the severity of the committed offence, places:

• more emphasis on rehabilitative programming for serious and chronic offenders;
• a stronger reliance on community supports and reintegration programs; and
• greater use of assessment, alternatives to custody and measures other than judicial proceedings.

The YCJA gives the provinces and the territories some flexibility when implementing the YCJA, by allowing them to design their systems to reflect their philosophies and the specific needs of their jurisdictions.  The YCJA allows the Ontario government to develop a system that will permit the province to meet its objectives in working with youth, while still adhering to the requirements of the legislation. Ontario will continue to improve and develop new services and programs for youth that are more effective, accountable, structured and efficient, and that maintain the highest level of public safety for Ontarians.