Form 35.1A, the Affidavit (child protection information), is a two-page sworn statement that rides along with an Ontario parenting claim when a children's aid society has been part of the family's history. The edition in use is printed at the foot of each page as FLR 35.1A (December 1, 2020), and the table of forms in the Family Law Rules still lists that date.
Rule 35.1 (1) sets the trigger. When an application, an answer or a motion to change a final order includes a claim for decision-making responsibility, parenting time or contact, the party making the claim serves and files Form 35.1 with it. Where a child protection case or services from a child protection agency touched the child or any party, Form 35.1A goes in the same package. Paragraph 14 of Form 35.1 asks the yes or no question, and paragraph 15 records that a yes means this second affidavit.
The form asks two questions about two sets of people
Below the court heading and the deponent's name and municipality, the form is four tables and nothing else. Page 1 is about the person signing. Page 2 is about the other party and the children. On each page, the first table covers court cases and the second covers services.
Cases the deponent is in now or has been in. The form asks for copies of any relevant orders or endorsements to be attached.
The ways the deponent has been involved with child protection services, with the dates of agreements or other measures.
Court cases the deponent knows about, to the best of their knowledge.
Services the deponent knows the other party or the children received, again to the best of their knowledge.
Drawn for this article from the four numbered paragraphs of FLR 35.1A (December 1, 2020). It is a map of the form, not a copy of it.
A person can land in one quadrant only, or in all four. A parent who once signed an agreement with a society and whose former partner was a party to a protection application would fill table 2 and table 3, and the other two tables stay empty.
Court case or services: where the line falls
The Ministry of the Attorney General's self-help guide to Form 35.1, dated March 2021, defines both terms in the questions it answers about paragraph 14. The line between them is whether a judge heard a child protection application.
A court case
A parent or legal caregiver was involved in a child protection court case if a child protection application was heard by a court. The guide counts a person as a party in three ways:
- as the applicant;
- as one of the respondents named in the case;
- by being added as a party by the court.
Services, with no court at all
Children's aid societies provide child protection services, and the guide points out that much of it happens on a voluntary basis or under a voluntary service agreement, with no court involvement. Its examples are counselling for a parent or a child, help with an addiction, and society workers visiting the home. Receiving services from a society, being referred by one to a community service, or entering a voluntary service agreement with one all count as involvement, and each of them leads to Form 35.1A.
The columns change between the two kinds of table
Tables 1 and 3 share one set of headings and tables 2 and 4 share another. Two columns are the same throughout; two are not.
| Column | Court case tables (1 and 3) | Services tables (2 and 4) |
|---|---|---|
| First | Names of people involved in the case | Names of other people involved (table 2) or names of people involved (table 4) |
| Second | Name of children's aid society | Name of children's aid society |
| Third | Court location | Location of children's aid society |
| Fourth | Court orders made, with the dates of the orders | Child protection services, with the dates of any agreements or other measures |
Column headings as printed on FLR 35.1A, set side by side for this article.
The fourth column carries the dates in both cases. Only table 1 carries an instruction about attachments: copies of the relevant court orders or endorsements the deponent has.
What changes on page 2
Tables 3 and 4 open with the words "to the best of my knowledge". The deponent is not swearing to the other party's full record, only to what they know of it. Those words do not lower the stakes of the oath: the guide reminds readers that knowingly swearing or affirming a false affidavit is a criminal offence. Swearing and affirming carry the same weight here, as described in the article on oaths and affirmations.
Where the sworn form goes, and where it does not
Four provisions of the Family Law Rules follow Form 35.1A from the commissioner's desk to the end of the case.
With the application, answer or motion to change that holds the parenting claim, together with Form 35.1.
Where it applies, the clerk shall not accept the claim for filing without it.
It is not filed in the continuing record, the bound file that holds the rest of the case.
Forms 35.1 and 35.1A may be used as evidence without an order, unless the court directs oral evidence.
The route of the form through the rules, drawn for this article from O. Reg. 114/99 as read on ontario.ca on November 13, 2026.
Subrule 35.1 (2) is one sentence long:
Form 35.1A shall not be filed in the continuing record.
The rule says nothing more about who may read the form, so this article does not either.
One signature block, at the foot of page 2
Unlike Form 35.1, which has two jurats and a choice between them, Form 35.1A has a single "Sworn/Affirmed before me" block after table 4. It asks for the municipality, the province, state or country, the date, and the signature of the commissioner for taking affidavits, with the name typed or printed below it if the signature is hard to read. The deponent signs on the right. The line under that signature names who may be in the room: a lawyer, a justice of the peace, a notary public or a commissioner for taking affidavits.
It is a separate oath. Someone who takes both forms to one appointment swears or affirms Form 35.1 at the end of its last part and then swears or affirms Form 35.1A on its own page, as the Form 35.1 article explains for the first of the two.
At this office the commissioner's part is the one set out on the commissioning page: Ilya Kershtein, a notary public and commissioner for oaths, confirms the deponent's identity from government photo identification, administers the oath or affirmation, watches the signature and completes the block. Which cases or services belong in the tables, and how a judge weighs them, is outside that role. The guide also notes that many family court staff are commissioners for taking oaths.
When something changes after the form is filed
Subrule 35.1 (7) applies to Form 35.1A exactly as it does to Form 35.1. As soon as a person discovers that the affidavit is wrong or incomplete, or that its information has changed, they serve and file either a new Form 35.1A with the correct information or, where the change is minor, a Form 14A affidavit describing it and any effect on the plan for the child's care. A new society agreement signed after filing is the kind of change the subrule covers. Either paper is sworn again, so it goes back in front of a commissioner.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Form 35.1A needed if a children's aid society only offered counselling?
The Ministry's guide to Form 35.1 counts counselling, help with an addiction, home visits, referrals and voluntary service agreements with a society as child protection services, even with no court involvement. Rule 35.1 (1) asks for Form 35.1A where a child or party has received such services.
Does Form 35.1A go into the continuing record?
No. Subrule 35.1 (2) of the Family Law Rules says Form 35.1A shall not be filed in the continuing record. It is still served and filed with the document that contains the parenting claim, together with Form 35.1.
Who can take the oath on Form 35.1A?
The line under the deponent's signature on page 2 names a lawyer, a justice of the peace, a notary public or a commissioner for taking affidavits. The form has one signature block, after table 4, and it is completed at the same sitting as the signature.
What if a child protection case starts after Form 35.1A was filed?
Subrule 35.1 (7) requires the person to serve and file a new Form 35.1A with the updated information as soon as they learn of the change, or a Form 14A affidavit if the change is minor. Either one is sworn before a commissioner.