The Impact of Part X of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act (CYFSA)

  • 23 avril 2021
  • Farhana Hossein (PBSC student volunteer at Justice for Children and Youth)

The Child, Youth and Family Services Act (CYFSA) came into force on April 30, 2018 and Part X of the CYFSA came into force on January 1, 2020. Part X has sought to establish new rules for the collection, use, disclosure of, and access to, personal information held by ministry-funded and licensed service providers.

The Child Youth Family Services Act (CYFSA) is an Ontario law that governs certain programs and services for children, youth, and families. The CYFSA is divided into parts and part X sets the rules that service providers must follow to protect privacy and enable access to records of personal information. The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner is the oversight body for Part X of the CYFSA.

Privacy and use of personal information have come into the spotlight due to the growing concerns caused by the myriad of privacy concerns and data leaks. When it comes to personal information of children and youth, it becomes even more important to protect these information. Prior to Part X coming into effect, the legislation about privacy in the child, youth and family service sector was complex and resulted in inconsistencies and a lack of clarity around information sharing and privacy rights and protections.