CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES REVIEW BOARD
BETWEEN:
AL Applicant
-and-
Children’s Aid Society of the District of Nipissing and Parry Sound Respondent
INTERIM DECISION
Adjudicator: Tamara Jordan Date: April 07, 2025 Citation: 2025 CFSRB 45 Indexed As: AL v Children’s Aid Society of the District of Nipissing and Parry Sound (CYFSA s.109)
OVERVIEW
1This is an Application filed with the Child and Family Services Review Board (“CFSRB”) under section 109 of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, S.O. 2017, c.14, Sched.1 (the “Act”).
2The Applicant has been the foster parent of the child named in the Application (the “Child”), continuously since March 2022.
3On March 26, 2025, the Respondent provided written notice to the Applicant and her husband that it intended to remove the Child from their care (“March 26 Letter”). In the Respondent’s March 26 Letter, the Respondent confirmed that the Child is in extended society care and it intends to place the Child, along with the Child’s siblings, in an adoptive home.
4On April 7, 2025, the Applicant filed this Application with the CFSRB.
ISSUE
5The issue is:
a. Is the Application eligible for review by the CFSRB?
RESULT
6The CFSRB finds that the Application is eligible for review.
ANALYSIS
7Subsection 109(7)(a) of the Act requires a children’s aid society to give at least 10 days written notice of a decision to remove a child in extended society care from a foster home when the child has lived continuously with a foster parent for two years. When a person receives written notice under section 109(7)(a), they may under subsection 109(8) of the Act and Rule 14.1 of the CFSRB’s Rules of Procedure, apply within 10 days to the CFSRB for a review of the decision to remove the child.
8The Child is in extended society care and has lived continuously with the Applicant for more than two years.
9The Applicant was required to file her Application within 10 days of the March 26 Letter, that is, by April 5, 2025.
10Rule 2.1(c) of the CFSRB’s Rules of Procedure provides that where a rule of CFSRB refers to a period of time, and the time expires on a holiday, “the act may be done on the next day that is not a holiday”. The CFSRB defines as a holiday, a Saturday, Sunday, or any day when the CFSRB’s offices are not open.
11As April 5, 2025 was a Saturday, a holiday, the Applicant was required to file her Application by the next day that was not a holiday, Monday, April 7, 2025. She has done so.
12For these reasons, the Application is eligible to proceed to a hearing.
ORDER
13The Application is eligible for review by the CFSRB and shall proceed to a hearing.
14In accordance with subsection 109(16) of the Act, the Respondent shall not carry out the proposed removal of the Child until the CFSRB completes its review of the Application.
NEXT STEPS
15To ensure that this hearing proceeds expeditiously, the CFSRB has set the first day of hearing for April 10, 2025. A one-hour videoconference will be held on that date at 2:00 p.m.
16The purpose of the first day of hearing is to:
identify any preliminary issues;
provide directions about evidence and witnesses;
set timelines for document disclosure and submission of witness statements;
set a date or dates for continuation of the hearing;
discuss the possibility of mediation; and
deal with any other necessary procedural matters.
17The CFSRB expects subsequent hearing day(s) will take place within a short time given the importance of resolving disputes about the removal of a child from a foster home as soon as possible.
CONFIDENTIALITY ORDER
18Pursuant to Rules 9.3 and 9.4 of the CFSRB’s Rules of Procedure, parties and their representatives must not use, share, discuss or disclose any CFSRB documents or decisions or any other documents or information provided or used in this Application with anyone, including through the media or online. The CFSRB prohibits the use of any of this information for any purpose outside of the CFSRB’s proceedings, except with an order of the Court or the CFSRB, as appropriate.
Dated at Toronto, April 07, 2025.
Tamara Jordan Vice-Chair