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Children we foster
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Becoming a foster parent
Southern Ontario
contactus@keyassetson.ca - (905) 279 4500
Northern Ontariocontactus@keyassetson.ca - (705) 336 0968
Foster care statistics
Child welfare services in Canada fall under the jurisdiction and different legislations of individual provincial and territorial authorities. This makes it difficult to generate or compare foster care statistics across the provinces.
However, information gathered by Key Assets Fostering can give an impression of foster care statistics in the two provinces in which we are currently operating:
- Across Northern and Southern Ontario, almost 18,000 children and young people are in out of home care.
- 63% of young people in out of home care in Northern and Southern Ontario are currently living with foster families.
Aboriginal foster care statistics
The development of Aboriginal children served within their home communities is an area in which Key Assets Fostering has a special interest, particularly in regards to our provision of foster care in Northern Ontario.
In 2006, a study was undertaken by federally legislated body Statistics Canada in relation to Aboriginal children living off-reserve. According to the Aboriginal Children’s Survey:
- Aboriginal families are far more likely to be living in poverty or with overcrowding than non-Aboriginal peoples.
- In 2006, there were around 47,000 Aboriginal children under the age of 6 living off-reserve across Canada.
- Less than half of off-reserve children had someone who could help them to understand their history and culture.
The percentage of Aboriginal children in foster care across Canada continues to be far higher than that of non-Aboriginal children.
Promoting Aboriginal identity
As part of our ‘Caring For Our Own Children’ program at Key Assets Fostering, we are recruiting foster parents across Northern and Southern Ontario who can support Aboriginal communities. Our focus is particularly in the Moosonee area of Northern Ontario, where the community is 85% Aboriginal.
Key Assets Fostering provides comprehensive cultural training to foster parents who are Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, to encourage ties between Aboriginal children and their native people and culture.
If you think you could become a foster parent with Key Assets Fostering, please inquire online today and speak with a member of the team in your local office.
* All foster care statistics on this page are from internal Key Assets Fostering statistics or sourced by the Aboriginal Children’s Survey, undertaken by Statistics Canada. Figures are correct as of 2006.