Vulnerable sector checks and offence declarations

Centres need a vulnerable sector check from every employee before they start, and agencies from every home child care visitor or other staff member who may interact with children, as well as from the provider and everyone 18 or older who lives in the home or is regularly there (s. 60(2); nobody under 18 needs one, s. 61(2)); volunteers and students need one before they interact with children (s. 60). The check counts only if a police service prepared it within the six months before the licensee obtained it (s. 59(2)). A new one is due on or before every fifth anniversary, and in each year without a new check an offence declaration is due no later than 15 days after the anniversary date (s. 62). Someone who leaves and comes back six months or more later needs a new check first; after a shorter break or a leave of absence, only what fell due during it (s. 63).

Who needs a check, and when (s. 60)

Centres obtain a vulnerable sector check from every employee before the person begins employment, and from every volunteer and student on an educational placement before they begin interacting with children. Home child care agencies obtain one, before signing the agreement, from the provider, from everyone ordinarily resident at the premises and from everyone regularly there; afterwards from anyone who intends to move in, before they become a resident, or to be regularly there, before they begin interacting with the children in care (s. 60(2)); in a home as anywhere, nobody under 18 needs a check (s. 61(2)); and from home child care visitors, agency staff who may interact with children, volunteers and students.

How recent (s. 59(2))

A police record check, including a vulnerable sector check, satisfies the regulation only if it was conducted by a police service and prepared no earlier than six months before the day the licensee obtains it. A check a new hire brings from a previous job is fine if it is within that window; otherwise it is not.

Starting before the check arrives (s. 61(1))

A person may start before providing a check if the licensee requires them to apply as soon as reasonably possible, the waiting time justifies it, and the employer puts additional measures in place to protect children until the check arrives. The measures have to be in the written policy, and s. 65(e) itself gives the example: requiring the supervision of all interactions between the person and the children.

The five‑year and one‑year cycle (s. 62)

The anniversary that matters for the declaration is the date of the most recent declaration or check, so the due date can drift forward by a few days each year if declarations are collected late. Many programs fix a date for everyone instead, which is allowed as long as nobody’s declaration falls later than the regulation permits. The screening dates tool works the dates out for one person.

Breaks and leaves (ss. 63, 62.1)

If the relationship ends and later resumes after six months or more, a new check is required before the person comes back. If the gap was shorter, whatever check or declaration would have fallen due during it is obtained before the person comes back (s. 63(1)). A leave of absence is not a break in the relationship: on the person’s return, the licensee obtains only the check or declaration that would have fallen due during the leave (s. 63(2)), so a year’s parental leave calls for a new check only if the five-year renewal fell in that year. While a renewal check is applied for, the person may continue with additional protective measures in place (s. 62.1).

Volunteers, students and copies (s. 60(3))

For volunteers and students, a licensee may accept a copy of a check rather than the original. If the copy is more than six months but less than five years old, the person also provides an offence declaration covering the time since; at five years or more, a new check is needed.

People under 18, and turning 18 or 19 (s. 61(2) to (4))

No check or declaration is required from anyone under 18. Someone who turns 18 in a position interacting with children provides, within a month, a statement disclosing any Youth Criminal Justice Act findings of guilt that led to an adult sentence; someone who turns 19 must apply for a vulnerable sector check within a month of the birthday.

Contractors and visiting professionals (s. 61.1, centres)

For other people who provide services to children at a centre and are employed elsewhere, such as a contracted music teacher, a recreation instructor or a resource consultant who works with the children, the centre obtains either an offence declaration or an attestation from the person’s employer (or whoever retained them) that it has obtained and reviewed a vulnerable sector check from the last five years with no listed convictions for the Criminal Code offences listed in subparagraph 1 ii of s. 9(1) of the Act, renewed yearly no later than 15 days after the anniversary (s. 61.1). Members of a regulated health profession acting in their profession, such as a visiting therapist, are among the people s. 61.1(3) exempts.

The Ministry publishes samples of these forms on its page for child care providers: a sample offence declaration form, and an offence declaration and an attestation for other persons providing child care or services to a child in a child care centre. They are linked under the sources below, never copied, so the Ministry’s page stays the place to find the current versions.

The policy (s. 65)

The written policy covers how checks and attestations are obtained, how declarations are submitted, how confidentiality is protected, how any information revealed may be considered and used, and the additional measures used while a check is outstanding.

Sources

• O. Reg. 137/15 (General) under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 — e-Laws
• Child Care Centre Licensing Manual — Ontario Ministry of Education
• Home Child Care Agency Licensing Manual — Ontario Ministry of Education
• Information for child care providers (sample forms) — Ontario Ministry of Education
• Sample offence declaration form (3038) — Ontario Central Forms Repository
• Offence declaration for other persons providing child care or services to a child in a child care centre (0388) — Ontario Central Forms Repository
• Attestation for other persons providing child care or services to a child in a child care centre (0387) — Ontario Central Forms Repository

O. Reg. 137/15 as consolidated on e-Laws (consolidation from July 1, 2026; last amendment O. Reg. 197/26). This guide explains the regulation in plain words; it is not legal advice, and the Ministry’s program advisors decide compliance.

Related

• Screening dates calculator
• What a licensing inspector checks
• Records and retention: what to keep and for how long