Revised: July 11, 2025
Originally published: August 10, 2021

Children’s aid societies (societies) collect child welfare program and service information, including personal information, to provide services and promote the best interests, protection, and well-being of children and youth. The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (‘the ministry’) requires this information for the purposes and uses listed below.

What kinds of information are collected

As part of the administration of child welfare programs and services, societies may collect the following personal information:

  • identifying information for children, youth and families receiving service, including names, dates of birth, and addresses
  • demographic information such as Indigenous identity, religion, ethnic or cultural origin, race, gender, place of birth, citizenship, languages, and other personal attributes or grounds protected under the Ontario Human Rights Code or required or authorized to be collected under ministry legislation, regulations, policy directives or the Ontario Anti-Racism Act, 2017
  • descriptions of referrals and actions taken by the children’s aid societies including dates, caregiver type, referral source, eligibility spectrum code, disposition, closure reason, etc.
  • case information for investigations, ongoing service, and children in care or out of home care including plans of care, services received and detailed descriptions of contact with children, youth, families and their service providers
  • program and service information for the children, youth and families receiving child welfare services such as the program name(s), client identifiers, start/end dates, financial information, etc.

How personal information is collected and accessed

The ministry will collect information, including personal information, for the purposes and uses listed below from children’s aid societies in Ontario through the Child Protection Information Network (CPIN) which is used by many societies for case management purposesfootnote 1. The collection source of information from Indigenous societies on CPIN will be identified by those societies.

To maintain the privacy of children, youth and families, use of specific types of personal information collected by the ministry from societies through CPIN will be limited to that which is necessary for the purposes outlined below. Access to Indigenous-specific or potentially Indigenous-specific data will be limited to that which is necessary for program administration, program oversight, statistical reporting, compliance with applicable laws, and to improve the identification of records of Indigenous children, youth and families to support Indigenous partners.

How personal information is used

Except as limited above, we may use the personal information collected to:

  • assess the integrity of system and program data
  • forecast and plan for child welfare programs and services
  • evaluate how child welfare programs and services can be designed to improve the quality of the supports and services provided
  • conduct research and analysis to inform programs and services for children, youth and their families, including longitudinal studies, as they relate to:
    • the utilization of policies, programs or services under the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 (CYFSA)
    • the transition of children, youth and their families into and out of services, including in and out of care, and between programs and services under the CYFSA, including the resulting outcomes
    • policies and programs that support the learning, development, health and well-being of children, youth and their families, including programs provided or funded (in whole or in part) by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services or other ministries of the Government of Ontario

We are authorized to collect this personal information under:

  • section 38 (2) and 39 (1) (h) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990 Chapter F.31 (FIPPA)
  • section 283 (1) of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, S.O. 2017, Chapter 14 Sched. 1 (CYFSA)

Questions about this notice

If you have questions about the collection of your personal information described above, please contact the manager of the Access & Privacy Office:

Address:    
Access & Privacy Office    
Business Planning and Corporate Services Division    
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services    
PO Box 978    
Toronto, Ontario    
M7A 1N3

Footnotes

  • footnote[1] Back to paragraph Some societies do not use CPIN for case management purposes and the ministry works with these societies to collect information through a separate reporting mechanism.