Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Indian Act
Know Your Rights
Criminal Law
Child Protection
Fair Decision Making
Sometimes people sign an agreement with a family or community member allowing their child to live with that family or community member and agreeing that the family or community member can make decisions on behalf of the child.
These parenting agreements may be sufficient, for example, for your mother to care for your child for a time, including being able to take your child to the doctor or enroll them in school. It may also allow them to collect the monthly Canada Child Benefit from the government.
Sometimes people sign agreements that suggest they have given up their "parental rights" or have given up their parenting responsibilities for their child. It is important to know that agreements between people other than parents cannot generally decide matters of parenting and decision-making on a long-term basis. This is because you can always withdraw your agreement. However, if the person who has been looking after your child does not want to end the agreement, it may be necessary to have the court review the matter through an application for a parenting order. The court would consider the best interests of the child and make a decision about who should have parenting and decision-making responsibility (this used to be called custody) for the child.
Because it is not necessarily easy to end these agreements and have your child returned, it is very important to consider any such agreement carefully and to get legal advice before signing if possible.
