Intercountry adoptions: General Overview
This section contains policy, procedures and guidance used by IRCC staff. It is posted on the department’s website as a courtesy to stakeholders.
This section provides a general overview of intercountry adoptions and describes the options for adoptive parents to obtain permanent resident status or a grant of Citizenship for their adopted child.
On this page
Intercountry adoptions
Intercountry (or international) adoption is a process in which a person or couple who habitually resides in one country becomes the legal parent of a child who habitually resides in another country. In most intercountry adoptions, both Canada and the country of origin are parties to the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, which sets out a process for intercountry adoptions to ensure protections for the best interests of the child. Some intercountry adoptions, however, involve a country that is not a party to the Hague Convention.
An intercountry adoption involves two separate processes:
- the adoption process; and
- the immigration or citizenship process.
The provinces and territories are responsible for the adoption process in Canada, as they have exclusive constitutional responsibility over adoption and child welfare issues. This provincial or territorial jurisdiction is reflected in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), which requires that the Central Authority of the province and territory to which the child is destined provide a written statement, a letter or notice of agreement (LOA/NOA), that they approve the adoption as conforming to the Hague Convention, or in the case of international adoptions where the child’s country of origin is not a party to the Hague Convention, that they do not object to the adoption, a letter of no objection (LONO). A written statement to this effect is required in all cases where provincial or territorial jurisdiction applies. For detailed information on provincial notification letters, see: Intercountry adoptions: Provincial notification letters.
Refer to the Intercountry adoptions: The Hague Convention PDI for further details on the Hague Convention and its requirements.
In Canada, two streams are available for adoptive parents to obtain permanent status for their adopted child: the immigration process or the citizenship process. The federal government is responsible for the immigration or citizenship process of an adopted child or child to be adopted.
The citizenship process
The citizenship process allows adoptive parents who are Canadian citizens to apply directly for Canadian citizenship for their adopted child under the Citizenship Act. There are two parts to the citizenship application process:
- Part 1 is an assessment of the adoptive parent’s eligibility to pass on Canadian citizenship;
- Part 2 is an assessment of the adoption against the requirements of provisions that apply in the adoption context under section 5.1 of the Citizenship Act.
If the adoption meets the requirements of the Citizenship Act and part 1 and 2 of the application is approved, the adopted child is considered to be granted Canadian citizenship. The adopted person could lose their non-Canadian citizenship once they become a Canadian citizen, depending on the laws of that foreign country. It is important to note that the first generation limit to citizenship by descent applies to the adopted person’s children if these children are born outside Canada.
For additional information on citizenship by way of grant to persons adopted by a Canadian citizen, see Acquisition of citizenship PDIs.
The citizenship process for persons adopted by Canadian citizens is outlined in the manual CP 14: Citizenship Adoptions (PDF, 1.2 MB).
The immigration process
The immigration process allows an adoptive parent to sponsor their adopted child or child to be adopted for permanent residence in Canada. Adoptive parents who are Canadian citizens and who reside or intend to reside in Canada once the immigration process is completed, or permanent residents who reside in Canada can use the immigration process.
The immigration process may be used for a dependent child who was adopted when they were under the age of 18 R117(2), as well as 18 years of age or older R117(4), where the adoption has been finalized in the child’s country of habitual residence (FC9), or for children under 18 years of age who are to have the adoption finalized in Canada (FC6) R117(1)(g). In addition, if an adoption was finalized when the adoptive parents and the child were both habitually residing in the same country (which is not considered an intercountry adoption), and later apply to immigrate to Canada they could include their adopted child within their permanent residence application as a dependent child, or after becoming permanent residents, apply to sponsor their adopted child as a dependent child (FC3) R117(1)(b).
Both adopted and biological children are required to meet the definition and requirements of a dependent child under R2. Although adopted children (FC9) and dependent children (FC3) are separate categories for the purposes of the Global Case Management System (GCMS), adopted children are not a category of their own as per the Regulations and must first and foremost meet the definition of a dependent child under R2. Children under 18 years of age whose adoption will be finalized in Canada fall under a separate category of their own (FC6).
If the sponsorship application and application for permanent residence are approved, the child will be granted permanent resident status in Canada. By acquiring permanent resident status rather than Canadian citizenship, there is no risk (until and unless the adopted person does acquire Canadian citizenship) that the adopted person could lose their non-Canadian citizenship if that citizenship is from a country that does not recognize dual citizenship. If the adopted person acquires Canadian citizenship at a later date under section 5(1) or 5(2) of the Citizenship Act, the first-generation limit to citizenship by descent will not apply to the adopted person’s children if these children are born outside of Canada.
Adoptive parents should choose the process that best corresponds to their needs and situation.
Children to be adopted in Canada (FC6) versus adopted children (FC9)
For most intercountry adoption cases, the adoption is completed in the child’s country of origin and an adoption order is issued in that country. The application for permanent residence must be processed against the requirements of an adopted child, according to subsections R117(2) and (3), and coded under the “FC9” category in GCMS.
However, in some cases, the adoption is completed in Canada. Child to be adopted in Canada (FC6) cases must meet the regulatory requirements of paragraph R117(1)(g). This category can be used for all countries, regardless of whether they are party to the Hague Convention.
The spirit of the Hague Convention must also be respected in non-Hague Convention cases. As a result, the requirements involving the best interests of the child in subsection R117(3) must be considered for non-Hague Convention FC6 cases.
Note: For grant of citizenship applications for adopted persons the adoption must be completed, either overseas or in Canada, before citizenship status is granted.