Quebec Adoption Records and Bill 2: Open Records and Searching for Birth Parents

For decades, Quebec operated one of the most closed adoption records systems in Canada. Later reforms changed that framework in stages: Bill 113 (2017) began expanding adult adoptees' access to origins, and Bill 2 broadened access further while keeping the full adoption file confidential.

That system changed in stages. The 2017 reform (Bill 113) took the first significant step. Then, effective June 8, 2024, Bill 2 (An Act respecting family law reform with regard to filiation and amending the Civil Code in relation to personality rights and civil status) broadened access to adoption-origin information and reunion services. It did not make the full adoption file public: that file remains confidential.

If you are an adult adoptee seeking your biological family, a birth parent wondering about contact rights, or a prospective adoptive parent who wants to understand how openness will work in your child's future — this is what the current law says.

What Bill 2 (2024) Changed

The key shift is broader access to origin information and reunion services. The applicable identity-disclosure and contact-veto rules still matter and depend on the adoption date and the veto involved.

The contact veto remains relevant: a person may be identified subject to the applicable rules, while contact can be barred or conditioned. The full adoption file remains confidential, and requests are handled through the responsible institution or SASIE.

This is a meaningful distinction. An adoptee who searches and finds a contact veto knows their parent's identity and can make their own choices about how to proceed. They cannot be contacted through a registry by the adoptee directly, but they cannot be kept in the dark about their origins.

Who Can Access What

Adult adoptees (18+):

• Have the right to obtain information identifying their biological parents from the Directeur de l'état civil or the relevant CISSS/CIUSSS
• Can learn the names of biological parents, siblings, and in some cases extended family
• Access is subject to applicable identity-disclosure and contact-veto rules; a contact veto can restrict contact even when identity is disclosed

Birth parents:

• Can obtain information about an adult child who was placed for adoption
• Can register a contact veto if they do not want to be reached directly
• May have an identity-disclosure veto under the applicable timing rules, and can register or withdraw a contact veto

For older adoptions (pre-2017): The reforms can also affect adoptions that occurred before 2017 and 2024, subject to the applicable adoption date, identity-disclosure rules, contact vetoes, and the records available. Adults adopted decades ago may therefore have routes to origins information that were not available under the older closed system.

How to Search for Birth Family

Step 1: Request your adoption information.

Adult adoptees can request origins information and authorized adoption records through the responsible CISSS/CIUSSS or, for international and intergovernmental files, SASIE. The government website at quebec.ca/en provides the current process for requesting origins information; the full adoption file remains confidential.

For adoptions from other Canadian provinces or from international sources, the MSSS (Ministry of Health and Social Services) provides guidance through a specific publication on cross-provincial searches.

Step 2: Contact Mouvement Retrouvailles.

Mouvement Retrouvailles (mouvement-retrouvailles.qc.ca) is the primary non-profit organization supporting reunions between adult adoptees and birth family in Quebec. They offer:

• Search assistance and case management
• Intermediary services for cases where a contact veto is registered
• Emotional support and post-reunion counseling
• Connections to regional resources across the province

Mouvement Retrouvailles operates in both French and English. They are not a government agency — they are an independent organization that has been facilitating searches for decades. Their English-language services are particularly important for adoptees from the Anglophone community whose records may be held by Batshaw or other English-language institutions.

Step 3: Understand what you may find.

Not every search results in a reunion. Birth parents may have died, may have registered a contact veto, or may have limited information on file. Some adoptions — particularly those from the early and mid-twentieth century — have incomplete records due to historical practices of that era. Managing expectations is part of the process.

For Prospective Adoptive Parents: What This Means for Your Child

If you are adopting today, your child will grow up in an era where they have a legal right to access information about their biological origins when they reach adulthood. This is the legal reality regardless of whether you adopt domestically or internationally.

Practically, this means the question of how to talk to your child about their adoption and biological origins is not a philosophical nicety — it is connected to a legal framework that gives the child independent rights as an adult. The psychosocial evaluation for adoption in Quebec may touch on your approach to openness and your child's right to their history.

Communication agreements (ententes de communication) introduced by Bill 113 allow adoptive and biological families to voluntarily agree to ongoing contact — letters, photos, occasional visits. These are not legally enforceable like a custody order, but they create a framework for openness from the start of the adoption. Some families in the Banque mixte program maintain contact with a child's biological family as part of the child's support network.

Mouvement Retrouvailles: Navigating Search

If you are searching or considering a search, Mouvement Retrouvailles is the appropriate starting point. Website: www.mouvement-retrouvailles.qc.ca. The organization has English-language support and can direct you to the right regional services.

For a broader overview of how Quebec's adoption system works — including the pathways to adoption, the psychosocial evaluation, and how the DPJ process connects to these records questions — the Quebec Adoption Process Guide provides a plain-English walkthrough of the CCQ framework.

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