About the report

Between 2005 and 2015, the Motherisk Laboratory at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto tested more than 24,000 hair samples for drugs and alcohol, from over 16,000 different individuals, for child protection purposes.

In 2015, the Honourable Susan E. Lang conducted an independent review that found testing was “inadequate and unreliable for use in child protection and criminal proceedings” and that the use of this evidence had “serious implications for the fairness of those proceedings.”

In January 2016, in response to Justice Lang’s report, the Ontario government established a Review and Resource Centre (the Motherisk Commission) to assist people whose lives had been affected by the testing.

During its two-year mandate, the commission reviewed 1,271 cases from children’s aid societies (CASs) across Ontario and produced a report of the findings.

Read the full report

Harmful Impacts: The Reliance on Hair Testing in Child Protection.

Disclaimer

If you require this information in an alternative format, please contact attorneygeneral@ontario.ca. We will:

  • acknowledge your request within three business days
  • provide you with the content within 15 business days