CAS Records Search Ontario: Form 35.1A and the Children's Aid Society Check

Two Separate Requirements

Ontario's screening process for non-parent applicants involves two distinct background checks, and confusing them is common. The police record check (attached to Form 35.1) and the CAS records search (authorized through Form 35.1 Part B and reported via Form 35.1A) are different processes with different timelines and different handling rules.

The CAS records search checks the non-parent applicant's history with Ontario Children's Aid Societies, based on the applicant's address history. The police record check covers criminal history. Form 35.1A is a separate affidavit for child protection involvement involving the child or any party to the case. The records search and police check are mandatory for non-parents seeking decision-making responsibility.

How the CAS Search Works

Under section 21.2 of the Children's Law Reform Act, a non-parent applicant must authorize a provincial child welfare records search. Here is the practical sequence:

Step 1: Your address history. In Part B of Form 35.1, you list every municipality in Ontario where you have lived since turning 18 or since becoming a parent, whichever happened first. Ontario operates 53 independent, localized Children's Aid Societies — each one covers a specific geographic area and maintains its own records.

Step 2: The court sends the requests. After you file, the court clerk transmits formal search requests to every CAS on your list. You do not contact the societies yourself.

Step 3: CAS searches and reports. Each society checks its historical databases for any record involving you — investigations, referrals, voluntary services, or protection proceedings. Results go directly to the court clerk, not to you.

Step 4: Review. The judge, the parties, and the Office of the Children's Lawyer (if involved) can review the CAS returns. If a party wants to seal or withhold sensitive non-relevant information from a CAS report, they must file a motion within 20 days of the report reaching the court.

When Form 35.1A Is Required

Form 35.1A — the Affidavit (Child Protection Information) — is required when the child or any party to the case, including the applicant, has been involved in a child protection case or received services from a child protection agency. If the child has been the subject of a CAS investigation, if you have received CAS services, or if any parent or party has been involved in a child protection case, Form 35.1A must be completed.

The form asks for details about the nature of CAS involvement: which society, when, what type of service or investigation, and the outcome.

A critical procedural rule: under Rule 35.1(2), Form 35.1A is not filed in the continuing record. It is submitted separately to the court and maintained outside the public docket. The judge reviews it confidentially. This privacy protection exists because CAS records can contain sensitive information about children and families that should not become part of the publicly accessible court file.

Processing Times

Unlike the police record check — where you receive the results yourself and have a 60-day window — the CAS search timeline is largely outside your control. Processing times vary by society and by backlog. Some societies return results within a few weeks; others may take longer.

The court does not refuse to hear your case while CAS returns are outstanding. Your application can proceed through its early stages (case conference scheduling, Mandatory Information Program attendance) while the CAS searches are processing. However, a judge will want to see the returns before making any final order about decision-making responsibility.

If a CAS on your list is slow to respond, the court clerk can send a follow-up request. You can also ask your local FLIC about the typical turnaround time for CAS searches in your municipality.

What the Results Mean

A CAS report that shows prior involvement — an investigation that was unsubstantiated, voluntary services you received, or a protection case involving the child — is not automatically disqualifying. The court weighs CAS history as one factor among many in the best interests analysis under section 24 of the CLRA.

What the court is screening for is patterns of serious concern: substantiated findings of abuse or neglect, ongoing protection proceedings, or circumstances that would make placing a child in your care unsafe. A single referral that was investigated and closed is a very different picture from an active protection file.

If the CAS search reveals information you did not anticipate, ask the duty counsel or advice lawyer at your courthouse's FLIC how it might affect your case.

For a step-by-step guide to managing both the CAS records process and the police record check alongside your Form 35.1 filing, the Ontario Decision-Making Order toolkit walks through the full sequence with tracking tools for each deadline.

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