Settled Intent and Temporary Care Assistance in Ontario: What Grandparents Need to Know

What Settled Intent Means for TCA

Temporary Care Assistance in Ontario is built on a foundational rule: the adult caregiver must have no legal obligation to support the child. Under the Ontario Works Act, a legal obligation exists in two situations — you are the child's natural or adoptive parent, or you have demonstrated a "settled intent to treat the child as a child of your own family."

That second trigger — settled intent — is the one that catches grandparents off guard. It does not require adoption or a formal court order. It is an administrative determination that the care arrangement has shifted from temporary to permanent in the eyes of Ontario Works.

How Ontario Works Assesses Settled Intent

Ontario Works assesses the actual care arrangement and responsibility. No single order or event automatically decides whether settled intent exists. Circumstances that may be relevant include:

• A decision-making responsibility order (formerly a custody order) under the Children's Law Reform Act or the Divorce Act; the order alone does not determine settled intent
• Formal adoption, which creates a separate legal obligation to support the child
• Making statements to OW staff indicating you intend to raise the child permanently
• Years of continuous care without any realistic plan for the child to return to the biological parents

At a 24-month review, a caseworker may ask about a court order as part of the overall circumstances. The order alone does not establish settled intent or automatically end TCA.

Does a Custody Order Always End TCA?

Not necessarily. Under Directive 3.10, Ontario Works evaluates actual circumstances, not just the existence of a court order. A grandparent who obtains an interim CLRA order specifically to handle school enrolment or medical consent — while the biological parent is in treatment and expected to resume care — may be able to show that the arrangement remains temporary.

A decision-making responsibility order does not automatically end TCA. If OW determines from the full circumstances that settled intent exists, TCA ends.

This does not mean you lose all financial support. The Canada Child Benefit and Ontario Child Benefit continue regardless of settled intent — they are federal and provincial tax benefits based on primary care, not on the temporary nature of the arrangement. What you lose is the TCA payment ($274/month for the first child in southern Ontario) and the associated health benefits card.

The Practical Dilemma

Many grandparents face a genuine catch-22. Without a court order, they struggle to:

• Consent to medical treatment beyond emergencies
• Enrol the child in school without the biological parent's cooperation
• Travel across provincial or national borders with the child
• Make decisions about the child's education or extracurricular activities

But a court order may lead Ontario Works to review the care arrangement; only a finding of settled intent based on the full circumstances ends TCA.

The guide product covers strategies for handling this — including how some caregivers use specific interim orders, limited-scope orders, or CAS-supported arrangements to preserve TCA eligibility while securing necessary legal authority. The right approach depends on your specific circumstances, and ideally involves a conversation with a community legal clinic before filing anything.

What Happens at the 24-Month TCA Review

Every TCA file is reviewed at least once every 24 months to confirm the care arrangement remains temporary and the child remains in financial need. This is the review where settled intent is most likely to come up. The caseworker will ask whether the biological parents are still expected to resume care and whether any court orders have been obtained.

If you are approaching a review and have concerns about settled intent, prepare documentation showing that the arrangement remains temporary — communication with the biological parent about resumption of care, CAS notes about ongoing safety planning, or any other evidence that return to the parent remains the expected outcome.

Our Ontario Kinship Financial Help guide includes a detailed section on the settled intent rule, worked scenarios showing how different court orders affect TCA, and a 24-month review preparation checklist to help you navigate the review with confidence.

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