Bill 60, Disclosure and Protection of Adoption Information Act, 2003

Versions

Bill 60 2003

An Act to amend the
Vital Statistics Act and the
Child and Family Services Act
in respect of disclosure and protection
of adoption information

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Vital Statistics Act

1. Section 28 of the Vital Statistics Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 27, section 102, is amended by adding the following subsections:

Access by adopted person

(6) Despite anything else in this Act, but subject to subsection (8), a person whose birth was registered in Ontario and in respect of whom an adoption order was registered under subsection (1) or a predecessor of that subsection after this subsection comes into force is entitled, on application and payment of the prescribed fee, to obtain a copy of the original birth registration from the Registrar General.

Conditions

(7) Subsection (6) applies only if the adopted person,

(a) is 18 years of age or older at the time of the application; and

(b) produces evidence of identity that is satisfactory to the Registrar General.

No contact of birth parent

(8) If a birth parent has filed a notice that has become effective under section 165.1 of the Child and Family Services Act, the Registrar General shall give to the adopted person, instead of the copy of the original birth registration,

(a) the notice, or the information contained in it;

(b) the information, if any, that the Registrar General has received under subsection 165.1 (3) of that Act with respect to the parent; and

Access by birth parent

(9) Despite anything else in this Act, but subject to subsection (11), the birth parent of a person whose birth was registered in Ontario and in respect of whom an adoption order was registered under subsection (1) or a predecessor of that subsection after this subsection comes into force is entitled, on application and payment of the prescribed fee, to obtain from the Registrar General a copy of,

(a) the original birth registration;

(b) the birth registration that was substituted in accordance with subsection (2); and

Conditions

(10) Subsection (9) applies only if,

(a) the adopted person is 19 years of age or older at the time of the application; and

(b) the birth parent produces evidence of identity that is satisfactory to the Registrar General.

No contact of adopted person

(11) If the adopted person has filed a notice that has become effective under section 165.1 of the Child and Family Services Act, the Registrar General shall give to the birth parent, instead of the copy of the original birth registration,

(a) the notice, or the information contained in it;

(b) the information, if any, that the Registrar General has received under subsection 165.1 (5) of that Act with respect to the adopted person; and

2. The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Unsealing file

29.1 The Registrar General may, for the purposes of subsections 28 (6) and (9) and section 29 and for the administrative purposes that he or she considers appropriate, unseal any file that was sealed under this Act or a predecessor of this Act.

Child and Family
Services Act

3. Clauses 163 (2) (b) and (c) of the Child and Family Services Act are repealed and the following substituted:

(b) ensure that counselling is made available on request to persons,

(i) who receive identifying or non-identifying information from the Registrar,

(ii) who are or may wish to be named in the register,

(iii) who are concerned that they may be affected by the disclosure of identifying information, including the disclosure of information under subsection 28 (8) or (11) of the Vital Statistics Act, or

(iv) who receive a document under subsection 28 (6) or (9) of the Vital Statistics Act;

4. Subsection 165 (2) of the Act is amended by adding the following clauses:

(j) the disclosure of information for the purposes of section 165.1;

(k) the disclosure of information for the purposes of prosecutions under section 176.1.

5. The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Notices for Non-Disclosure of Information

Notices for non-disclosure of information

165.1 (1) In this section,

"adopted person" means a person who was adopted in Ontario and is 18 years of age or older; ("personne adoptée")

"birth parent" means a person whose name appears on an original birth registration as parent. ("père ou mère de sang")

Identifying information of birth parent

(2) A birth parent who wishes that the Registrar not disclose his or her identifying information to the person named as his or her child in the original birth registration may file written notice of the wish with the Registrar.

Other information

(3) The birth parent shall be given an opportunity to provide, together with the notice,

(a) a written statement of the parent's reasons for not wishing to be contacted;

(b) a written statement that briefly summarizes any information that the parent has about,

(i) any genetic conditions that the parent has and any past and present serious illnesses,

(ii) any genetic conditions and past and present serious illnesses of,

(A) his or her own parents,

(B) the other birth parent or the other biological parent, if only one person's name appears on the original birth registration as parent, and

(iii) the cause of death and age at death of any of the persons named in subclause (ii) who are no longer alive, and

(iv) any other health-related matters that may be relevant; and

Identifying information of adopted person

(4) An adopted person who wishes that the Registrar not disclose his or her identifying information to the person named as his or her birth parent in the original birth registration may file written notice of the wish with the Registrar.

Other information

(5) The adopted person shall be given an opportunity to provide, together with the notice,

(a) a written statement of the person's reasons for not wishing to be contacted;

(b) a written statement of any other information that the person wishes to provide; and

(c) a written authorization allowing the birth parent to disclose the reasons and other information to any other birth relatives.

Disclosure to Registrar General

(6) The Registrar shall disclose the notice or the information contained in it, together with any other information that the birth parent or adopted person, as the case may be, provides, to the Registrar General under the Vital Statistics Act and the Registrar General shall match the material received with the original birth registration.

Non-application

(7) Subsections 2 (2), (3) and (4) of the Vital Statistics Act do not apply to anything disclosed under subsections (3), (5) and (6).

Effective notice

(8) A notice under subsection (2) or (4) becomes effective for the purposes of subsection 28 (8) or (11) of the Vital Statistics Act, as the case may be, when the Registrar General has matched it with the original birth registration and completed the match or upon the expiry of seven days, whichever is less.

Advice to Registrar

(9) When a notice becomes effective, the Registrar General shall advise the Registrar of the fact.

Withdrawal of notice

(10) A person who files a notice under subsection (2) or (4) may withdraw it at any time in writing.

Effect of withdrawal

(11) A person who has withdrawn a notice under subsection (10) may file a further notice under subsection (2) or (4), as the case may be, in respect of the same original birth registration.

Privacy

(12) For the purposes of subsection 165 (5), a notice or withdrawal of a notice under this section and the information it contains, and all other information dealt with under this section or generated in connection with its administration, constitute information relating to an adoption.

Forms

(13) The Registrar may provide for and require the use of forms under this section.

6. (1) Subsection 167 (5) of the Act is amended by striking out "each of them receives counselling" and substituting "counselling has been made available to each of them on request".

(2) Subsection 167 (6) of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1999, chapter 12, Schedule E, section 1, is repealed and the following substituted:

Registrar to compile relevant material

(6) If both persons give the further consent referred to in subsection (5), the Registrar shall compile the material described in paragraphs 1 and 2:

1. All relevant identifying information from the records of the Ministry and of societies and licensees.

2. If the adopted person requests it, copies of the documents referred to in subsection 162 (2) (court file).

(3) Clause 167 (9) (a) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(a) make the compiled material available to the adopted person or the other person named in the register, or to both, first ensuring that counselling has been made available on request to each person to whom the material is made available;

(4) Clause 167 (9) (c) of the Act is amended by striking out "the person will receive appropriate counselling" and substituting "appropriate counselling will be made available to the person on request".

(5) Subsection 167 (11) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Duty of society

(11) A society that receives compiled material under clause (9) (b) shall promptly make it available to the adopted person or the other person named in the register, or both, as the case may be, first ensuring that counselling has been made available on request to each person to whom the material is made available.

(6) Subsection 167 (13) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Duty of society

(13) A society shall make counselling available on request to persons who receive identifying information from the society, who are named or may wish to be named in the register or who are concerned that they may be affected by the disclosure of identifying information.

7. The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Offence, contacting persons

176.1 (1) No adopted person who shall knowingly contact or attempt to contact his or her birth parent, directly or indirectly, except if,

(a) the adopted person uses information that the person is authorized to obtain under section 167 or 169; or

(b) the adopted person has obtained a document that the person is authorized to obtain under subsection 28 (6) of the Vital Statistics Act.

Same, agent

(2) No person shall knowingly contact or attempt to contact the birth parent, directly or indirectly, on behalf of an adopted person who is prohibited from doing so by subsection (1).

Offence, contacting adopted person

(3) No birth parent of an adopted person shall knowingly contact or attempt to contact the adopted person, directly or indirectly, except if,

(a) the parent uses information that the parent is authorized to obtain under section 167 or 169; or

(b) the parent has obtained a document that the parent is authorized to obtain under subsection 28 (9) of the Vital Statistics Act.

Same, agent

(4) No person shall knowingly contact or attempt to contact the adopted person, directly or indirectly, on behalf of a birth parent who is prohibited from doing so by subsection (3).

Penalty

(5) A person who contravenes subsection (1), (2), (3) or (4) is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $100,000.

Commencement and Short Title

Commencement

8. (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.

Same

(2) Section 1, subsection 6 (2) and section 7 come into force on the first anniversary on the day on which section 5 comes into force.

Short title

9. The short title of this Act is the Disclosure and Protection of Adoption Information Act, 2003.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the Vital Statistics Act to give adopted persons who are at least 18 years old a right of access to their own original birth registration and to give birth parents of an adopted person who is at least 19 years old a right of access to the original birth registration of the adopted person. The rights of access do not apply if either party has, by filing the appropriate notice under the Child and Family Services Act, requested no disclosure of identifying information. The difference of one year allows adopted persons time to file the notices after they reach the age of 18 years.

Under the Child and Family Services Act, birth parents and adopted persons are entitled to file with the Registrar of Adoption Information written notices of their wish not to have the Registrar disclose their identifying information to each other. A person who files that notice can provide a statement of reasons for not wishing to be contacted. A birth parent who files that notice can provide a statement of medical information.

The Registrar forwards the notices to the Registrar General under the Vital Statistics Act who matches them with documents on file. The notices take effect no later than seven days after their filing, so that the Registrar General has time to do the matching. Once the notices are effective, the Registrar General communicates them to adopted persons and birth parents who request a copy of the original birth registration of the adopted person. Contacting the other party despite having received a notice of non-disclosure of information constitutes an offence.

The Bill also amends the Child and Family Services Act to provide that counselling for adopted persons, birth parents and others who may be affected by the disclosure of information about the adoption must be made available on request, but is no longer mandatory.

The provision that gives a right of access to birth records comes into force one year after the provision that allows birth parents and adopted persons to file notices requesting no disclosure of their identifying information.