Open Adoption in Ontario: Agreements vs. Orders and What's Enforceable

Open adoption is now the norm in Ontario, not the exception. Most private domestic adoptions and many public adoptions include some form of ongoing contact arrangement between adoptive families and birth family members. What families often don't realize until they're in it is that "open adoption agreement" and "open adoption order" are legally very different things — and that difference matters enormously if the arrangement breaks down.

What Open Adoption Actually Means

Open adoption refers to ongoing contact or information-sharing between the adoptive family and members of the child's birth family after the adoption is finalized. Contact can range from annual letters and photos to regular in-person visits, depending on what the parties agree to and what the court approves.

The underlying premise is that maintaining some connection to biological roots serves the child's long-term identity and well-being. Ontario's Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 (CYFSA) explicitly supports openness as a value — the legislation requires that, when placing children for adoption, agencies must consider the importance of continuity of relationships and the preservation of the child's identity.

Open adoption does not mean shared parenting. The adoptive parents are the legal parents and make all decisions about the child's life. Birth parents in an open adoption have contact, not custody or decision-making authority.

Openness Agreements: Voluntary, Flexible, and Generally Unenforceable

An openness agreement is a written, voluntary arrangement between adoptive parents and members of the birth family — this can include birth parents, birth grandparents, or birth siblings. Openness agreements are governed by Section 153.6 of the CYFSA.

Agreements can cover:

• Frequency of contact (visits, calls, letters, photos)
• Logistics (who initiates, where, supervision requirements)
• Information sharing (medical updates, school milestones)
• Photo and social media guidelines

The critical limitation: openness agreements are generally not legally enforceable if one party simply stops participating. If you have an openness agreement and the birth parent stops showing up for visits, you have little legal recourse without returning to court. Similarly, if you as the adoptive parent stop sending photos, the birth parent cannot compel you through the agreement alone.

Agreements can be modified by mutual consent at any point. They are flexible by design — as the child grows and their needs change, the arrangement can evolve. But that flexibility comes at the cost of enforceability.

Openness Orders: Court-Mandated and Legally Binding

An openness order is a court-imposed contact arrangement under Sections 194–198 of the CYFSA. A court can make an openness order if it determines that:

• The contact is in the child's best interests
• The relationship being continued is genuinely beneficial to the child

Openness orders are legally binding. If an adoptive parent refuses to comply with an openness order, they can face consequences through the court system. If a birth parent violates the terms (showing up unannounced when visits are supervised, contacting the child outside agreed channels), there are legal mechanisms to address that.

However, openness orders are harder to obtain than agreements — they require a court application — and harder to modify. Changing an openness order requires returning to court and demonstrating a material change in circumstances. They are less common than agreements precisely because most families prefer the flexibility of a voluntary arrangement.

Openness orders are most common in public adoption (ESC) situations where a court is already involved in finalizing the adoption and where ongoing contact with birth family is identified as clearly in the child's best interests during the hearing.

When Agreements Break Down

The reality that many adoptive parents don't hear clearly enough before finalizing: openness agreements are emotional and social commitments, not legal ones. If a birth parent's circumstances change — substance use, instability, a new partner — and they stop maintaining the arrangement, you cannot compel them. If your circumstances change and you feel the contact is harming the child, stopping it unilaterally is legally permissible under the agreement structure, though it may damage the relationship permanently.

Families who approach openness arrangements with that clarity — knowing it is maintained by goodwill and mutual commitment, not legal compulsion — tend to build more sustainable arrangements than those who treat the agreement as a contract.

If you anticipate that enforcement may become necessary, or if there are significant concerns about the birth family's stability, an openness order at the time of adoption finalization is worth considering. Your adoption lawyer or licensee can advise on the process.

Post-Adoption Contact for ESC Children

For children adopted from Extended Society Care (public adoption), openness is particularly common. These children often have existing relationships with birth family members, siblings, or extended family that the CAS has documented. Courts frequently include openness provisions when finalizing ESC adoptions, and adoptive parents are expected to support these connections as part of the child's broader permanency plan.

The Adoption Council of Ontario provides resources on managing openness arrangements long-term. Post-adoption support organizations like Adopt4Life also support families navigating complex contact situations.

For a detailed explanation of how to structure an openness agreement, what to include in one, and how to apply for an openness order if needed, the Ontario Adoption Process Guide covers both mechanisms and the court process for each.

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