CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES REVIEW BOARD
BETWEEN:
MK
Applicant
-and-
The Children’s Aid Society of the Regional Municipality of Halton
Respondent
DECISION
Adjudicator: Michelaine Lahaie
Indexed As: MK v The Children’s Aid Society of the Regional Municipality of Halton (CYFSA s.120)
BACKGROUND
1This is an Application filed with the Child and Family Services Review Board (“CFSRB”) under section 120 of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, S.O. 2017, c.14, Sched.1 (the “Act”).
2The Application proceeded by way of a written hearing. In its decision dated May 16, 2025 (“May 2025 Decision”), the CFSRB determined that the Applicant was not provided an opportunity to be heard regarding her concerns that the investigative process did not consider the abuse disclosures that were made to various professionals. Additionally, the CFSRB found that the Respondent did not provide the Applicant with its reasons for its decision surrounding the rationale behind suspending the Applicant’s Internal Complaints Review Procedure eligibility.
3The May 2025 Decision included the following confidentiality order:
Pursuant 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.
4The confidentiality order was also attached to earlier CFSRB communications to the parties, including the Pre-Hearing Reports dated February 5 and March 5, 2024, and a Case Management Direction dated April 15, 2025.
5On July 21, 2025, the Applicant contacted the CFSRB “to respectfully request the Board’s permission to reference and submit the decision issued on May 16, 2025, in case CA24-0228, as part of my ongoing family court proceedings.” The Applicant further stated that she sought the “Board’s express permission to include the decision in court filings or submissions, as the issues addressed are directly relevant to matters currently before the court.”
analysis
6The Applicant has not provided any persuasive reason to depart from the CFSRB’s usual practice of waiving confidentiality only in exceptional circumstances.
7Section 120 applications are distinct from child protection or family law court proceedings. These applications are limited to service issues and the CFSRB cannot review substantive issues before the Court.
8The questions considered and decided by the CFSRB in the May 2025 Decision related to whether the Respondent provided the Applicant with the opportunity to be heard and represented when decisions affecting her interests were made or with reasons for a decision that affect the Applicant’s interests under s.120(4)4 and 5 of the Act.
9The Applicant also did not provide evidence of a current Court proceeding.
10If and when the Applicant is before the Court, it remains open to the Applicant to ask the Court for an order permitting the May 2025 Decision to be used in the proceeding before it. The Court would be more fully informed of the nature and details of that proceeding than is the CFSRB and thus better able to determine the appropriateness of such an order, if at all.
11For the reasons above, I deny the Applicant’s request to waive confidentiality of the unredacted copy of the May 2025 Decision.
order
12The Applicant’s request that the CFSRB waive the confidentiality order applicable to the unredacted May 2025 Decision is denied.
confidentiality order
13Pursuant 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, July 22, 2025.
Michelaine Lahaie
Michelaine Lahaie
Vice-Chair