How to Get Help Raising a Relative's Child in Ontario

You Took In a Child You Did Not Plan For — Now What

Whether the phone call came from a hospital, a caseworker, or a family member in crisis, you are now raising a child who was never part of your household budget. The questions hit all at once: can you enroll them in school, take them to the doctor, claim any money for their care, and do you have any legal standing at all?

Ontario has more help available to kinship caregivers than most people realize. The problem is that the programs sit across three different levels of government and nobody hands you a checklist at the door. Here is where to start.

Your Legal Standing as a Non-Parent Caregiver

You do not need a court order to apply for TCA, CCB, or OCB as a non-parent caregiver, but you will need evidence of the care arrangement. Many grandparents and relatives assume they need legal custody before they can apply for benefits. That is not true.

School enrollment: school registration records naming you as the child's primary caregiver can help document that the child lives with you. Ask your school board which documents it requires for enrollment.

Medical care: a caregiver does not automatically have authority to consent to every treatment. Ask the provider which authorization or decision-making documents it requires. In an emergency, seek urgent care and let the provider advise on consent steps.

Benefits: Temporary Care Assistance (TCA), the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), and the Ontario Child Benefit (OCB) are all available to non-parent caregivers without a custody order. The programs assess the child's financial circumstances (TCA) or the caregiver's household income (CCB/OCB), not your legal relationship to the child.

If you later want formal legal standing — for a long-term arrangement, to prevent the biological parent from removing the child, or to strengthen your position with agencies — you can apply for a decision-making responsibility order under the Children's Law Reform Act. But it is not a prerequisite for accessing benefits or getting the child into school and the doctor's office.

The Money Available to the Child

Ontario kinship caregivers can typically access several programs at the same time. Here are the main ones:

Temporary Care Assistance (TCA): a monthly payment through Ontario Works that covers a child living with a non-parent caregiver. The first child receives $274 per month (standard rate) or $440 per month in northern Ontario communities without road access. TCA assesses only the child's income and assets — your pension, salary, savings, and home are completely excluded. The child's asset limit is $500, and RESP and RDSP balances are exempt.

Canada Child Benefit (CCB): a federal tax-free monthly payment based on the caregiver's household income. A grandparent on a modest pension may receive the maximum CCB — up to $679.75 per month for a child under 6 in the July 2026–June 2027 benefit year, if adjusted family net income is at or below $38,237. You apply by filing CRA Form RC66 with proof that you are the child's primary caregiver.

Ontario Child Benefit (OCB): a provincial top-up administered by CRA alongside the CCB, up to $146.66 per child per month for low-income households.

CAS Kinship Service supports: if a Children's Aid Society is involved, the agency can provide start-up funds (furniture, clothing, safety equipment), episodic grants, and referrals to community services. These payments are exempt from TCA income calculations.

ACSD: if the child has a severe disability, the Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities program provides up to $678 per month for extraordinary care costs (respite, specialized equipment, therapeutic services).

These programs may overlap, but eligibility depends on the care arrangement and each program's rules. Formal foster-care per diem compensation makes the caregiver ineligible for TCA. A grandmother raising one grandchild informally could receive up to about $1,100 per month for a child under 6, or $994.24 for a child aged 6–17, if the household qualifies for maximum CCB and OCB; the caregiver's own income is not assessed for TCA.

Where to Call First

The order matters. Start with the programs that take the longest to process:

1. Your local Ontario Works office — request an intake interview specifically for Temporary Care Assistance on behalf of a non-dependent child. Bring the child's birth certificate, proof that the child lives with you (school registration naming you as primary contact, a doctor's letter, a CAS letter, or a statutory declaration), and your ID. If approved, the payment effective date is the initial application date.

2. Canada Revenue Agency — file Form RC66 (Canada Child Benefits Application) to claim CCB and OCB. Processing can take several months. If you were already receiving CCB for your own children, the new child is added to your existing account.

3. 211 Ontario (dial 2-1-1) — for immediate needs like food, emergency financial assistance, and referrals to local agencies that serve kinship caregivers.

4. Your local Children's Aid Society — if the child came to you through a CAS referral or you want to ask about Kinship Service supports. Ask the agency how its intake and involvement may apply to your situation.

5. CANGRANDS or a local support group — connecting with other grandparents and relatives raising children provides practical guidance from people who have already navigated the same systems.

You Have Rights and You Have Options

The single most important thing to know as a kinship caregiver in Ontario is that you do not have to figure this out alone, and you do not need to spend money on a lawyer before you can access help. The benefits exist. The legal framework supports non-parent caregivers. And free resources — community legal clinics, Legal Aid Ontario, Steps to Justice, 211 Ontario — are designed for exactly your situation.

Our Ontario Kinship Financial Help Guide covers every program in detail: what each one pays, who qualifies, what documents to bring, how the programs interact, and what to do if you are denied. It is the preparation tool for the appointments ahead.

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