Understanding Section 211 reports

Written by Haley Hrymak and Kim Hawkins

For accessibility, this guide has been translated in eleven languages: Arabic, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Filipino, French, Korean, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese

This guide is made possible by generous funding from Women and Gender Equality Canada. Section 211 reports are ordered in difficult family law cases where the parents cannot agree about parenting issues. Sometimes called “custody and access reports”, section 211 reports are written by a neutral professional and provide judges with information about the children and the parties. You may be thinking about asking a judge to order a s. 211 report yourself, your ex-spouse may be asking for one, or a judge may have ordered one even if neither of you requested it. This document provides some basic information, but it is not legal advice and you may want to seek help from a lawyer.

Photographs by Melody Charlie

Graphic report design by Nadene Rehnby