Adoptions
Adoptions do not meet the legal requirements for vulnerable sector checks; however, the Criminal Record Act has a different process that allows the RCMP's Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services (CCRTIS) to determine if adoptive parents have record suspensions for sex offences. The RCMP's CCRTIS encourages police agencies to conduct fingerprint-based criminal record checks for all applications related to adoptions to ensure that they are screened for record suspensions for sex offences.
Adoptions require the following components:
- List of police occurrences for your last five (5) years of address history;
- Fingerprints taken by the Ottawa Police Service.
The Children's Aid Society and the Ministry of Children and Youth Services request that individuals applying to adopt a child obtain a list of police occurrences that you have been involved in or a letter indicating that there has been no police for the past five (5) years.
If you have lived outside the Ottawa jurisdiction within the last five (5) years, please the police agency responsible for that jurisdiction in order to receive instructions on how to obtain a list of Police Occurrences through their Record services.
Fingerprint submissions are required for all adoption requests and are submitted to the RCMP by the Ottawa Police. The RCMP then conducts the appropriate database searches. These searches include pardoned sex offences and record suspensions for each applicant.
Fingerprint Fees
The fee for fingerprints is included in your Adoption application fee.
Where to apply
To schedule an appointment, please email recordscheck@ottawapolice.ca.
You must bring:
- Proof of Ottawa residency (i.e., identification, utility bill)
- Two (2) pieces of valid identification
It may take up to ten business days for your list of police occurrences to be completed.
Additionally, there may also be a delay in the receipt of the fingerprint results from the RCMP.
Once the fingerprint results have been received from the RCMP, the Background Clearance Section will notify you that your adoption application has been completed.
The Ottawa Police Service no longer offers Criminal Record Checks for adoptions.