Check immediate safety
Call 911 when a child is in immediate danger. Report suspected abuse or neglect to the child-protection authority or police in your province or territory.
Get help
Start with safety. Then find the right kind of help.
Child-related concerns can involve different legal and public-service systems. These steps help you identify where to begin without asking a child to carry the adult problem.
Urgent help
If a child is in immediate danger, call 911.
Kids Help Phone provides free, confidential support across Canada. Call 1-800-668-6868, text CONNECT to 686868, or visit Kids Help Phone.
A practical sequence
Four decisions that narrow the search.
Identify the system
Clarify whether the concern involves parenting after separation, a child-welfare agency, a school, health care, youth justice, or another public service.
Find the right role
An advocate helps a young person navigate a public system. A lawyer gives legal advice and may represent a parent or child in a proceeding.
Protect deadlines
Court dates, appeal periods, school-placement decisions, and agency notices may have short deadlines. Get jurisdiction-specific advice promptly.
Where to look
Advocacy, legal aid, and family justice.
Provincial and territorial child and youth advocates generally deal with public services such as child welfare, youth justice, education, or health. Their mandates vary. Legal aid plans and family justice services address different needs and eligibility rules.
Before contacting a service
Gather the document, deadline, and short chronology.
Have any current order, agreement, safety plan, school decision, agency letter, or hearing notice available. Write down the next deadline and a concise, factual timeline focused on the child.