Children are precious in any society. In Canada, all levels of governments are taking extra precautions in processing dependent child sponsorship.

Under most circumstances, individuals coming to Canada as temporary foreign workers or permanent residents have the right to bring their dependents, including any dependent children, to Canada with them. However, circumstances arise when this is not possible at the time of immigration.

For Canadian citizens and permanent residents with dependent children abroad, the government has created a special program to facilitate their loved ones’ entry into Canada. And every year, over hundreds of children are coming in Canada under the Dependent Child Sponsorship Program or Intercountry Adoption.

Dependent children, both natural and adopted, may be sponsored to live with their parent(s) as Permanent Residents in Canada.

Application for dependent children from their birth parents are straight forward. However, on many occasions, the applicant may be the child’s aunt, uncle, grandparent or cousin, depending on the country of origin’s definition of relative. Applicants, who apply to adopt a relative, must follow the same preparation for intercountry adoption in Ontario as non-relative applicants. Non-relative applicants and relative applicants must complete the two main processes: the adoption process and the immigration process.

The adoption process involves a licensed adoption agency, social workers and provincial government. In this process, the professionals will explain the requirement of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions to you and how you are required to work closely with them to comply with the Ministry’s regulations. Once you get the provincial Approval to Adopt, your adoption agency will need to liaise with the appropriate child welfare authorities and legal professionals in the child’s country of origin to complete the adoption in compliance with the laws and protocols of that country.

The second process is the immigration process, and it is at the federal government level. International adoption is a process that recognizes an individual or couple as the legal and permanent parent(s) of a child from another country. An international adoption complies with the laws of both the sending and receiving countries. Lanes Consulting provides services to assist families who are in this situation and which may result in the adoption being recognized in Ontario and the other provinces as well as Canada. Please give us a call today and let us be your partner in handling these dedicated processes.