Child Abuse Law
The authority responsible for child abuse law in Canada rests with the federal government.
In December, 1991, Canada signed and ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. As a ratified member, Canada is internationally accountable with regard to its universal legislation on the rights of children and youth. These include the right for children and youth to live in a safe, protective and nurturing environment.
It is interesting to note here that 2 countries that have signed the Convention but not ratified it are the United States and Somalia. Somalia has stated it intends to ratify the Convention soon.
Statute of Limitations
When it comes to child abuse, there is no statute of limitations in Canada. Whether the child abuse occurred 5 minutes ago, 5 weeks ago, 5 or 50 years ago, an offender can still be charged. Nowhere is the latter more evident than with our Aboriginal people: more than 7,000 lawsuits have been filed against the Canadian Federal Government claiming sexual, physical and cultural abuse suffered at Residential Schools.
Though it is not the intent of this page to go into detail on laws that govern child abuse, it is worth identifying the various legislation that cover child abuse in Canada:
¤ Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
¤ Canadian Human Rights Legislation
¤ Canadian Criminal Code
¤ Canadian Civil Law
¤ Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IPRA), 2001
¤ Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations and Rules, 2002
¤ Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB)
¤ Provincial and Territorial Child Welfare Legislation
Child Abuse Law pages on this site:
| Child Abuse Law | Age of Majority | Duty to Report |
Child abuse information pages on this site:
References
NOTE: Information pages on this site were based on material from the 
Canadian Red Cross RespectED Training Program. Written permission was obtained to use their copyrighted material on this site.