Our mission is to stop international parental child abductions and wrongful retentions, and support victims of this crime.
We work to educate Canadians about the crime of international child abductions, to connect and support seeking parents, to advocate for meaningful regulatory improvement and to bring our children home.
Advocacy
We connect with government, NGOs, and parents to advocate for meaningful change for those who have experienced some aspect of an international child abduction.
Although some international mechanisms are in place to support Canadian parents, they are often insufficient and depend on the harbouring country’s legal system. Not all countries are up to the challenge.
Education
Our aim as left behind parents and as an organization is to bring about awareness of international parental child abductions. We are here not just to inform people that this does happen in Canada, but to support, assist, and find ways to resolve this crises. Although most people may think that these cases are resolved quickly, the fact of the matter is that most drag on for years on end because of laws and regulations, diplomacy and noncooperation. Parental alienation is a crime and has left many victims in despair so we are offering our knowledge and our familiarity of the process and the legal procedures based on our own awareness.
Networking
Each international child abduction is its own story — but there are many common elements. We connect parents to share strategies, stories and resources.
Support
A parent experiencing the abduction of their child to another country is suffering a tremendous, terrifying loss. We know how this feels and we are here to help you.
News
- Petition to the Government of CanadaOn March 29, 2023, NDP MP Randall Garrison presented our petition before Canadian parliament: “I rise today to table E-petition 4151 which deals with the scourge of International Parental Child Abduction. This is where one parent takes a child out of the country to attempt to deny the other parent contact with their child. The … Read more
- 2nd Annual Parents’ ConferenceReturn Our Children Home Canada is proud to launch its second annual Parents’ Conference in Ottawa, Ontario, April 24-27, 2023. For more information, visit: https://returnourchildrenhome.ca/ottawa-2023
- Petition to the Canadian GovernmentReturn Our Children Home Canada, with the help of Member of Parliament Randall Garrison, is taking a petition to the Federal Government: Whereas: The Criminal Code recognizes International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) as a criminal act detrimental to the abducted child; In 1997, a federal committee undertook a series of hearings on IPCA. These resulted … Read more
- Ottawa 2022: Vigil on Parliament HillThis is the third in a series of posts about the 2022 Return Our Children Home Canada conference in Ottawa. For the first, click here. Return Our Children Home Canada connects and supports parents of internationally abducted children — it is our most regular activity. But in a country as large as Canada, it is … Read more
- Ottawa 2022: International ConversationsThis is the second in a series of posts about the 2022 Return Our Children Home Canada conference in Ottawa. For the first, click here. While the Return Our Children Home Canada conference was focused on gathering parents in Canada’s capital, our work is implicitly international. Our children were abducted across an international boundary. Our … Read more
- Ottawa 2022: First Annual ConferenceThis is the first of a series of posts about Return Our Children Home Canada’s first annual conference in Ottawa, Ontario, held from April 25th to April 28th, 2022. Return Our Children Home Canada launched remotely in 2021 as a non-profit organization – in the middle of the pandemic – with ambitious goals and zero … Read more
- 1st Annual Parents’ ConferenceReturn Our Children Home Canada is proud to launch its first annual Parents’ Conference in Ottawa, Ontario, April 25-28, 2022. For more information, visit: https://returnourchildrenhome.ca/ottawa-2022
- Statement on Al-Aazawi SentencingDear Justice Stirling,To Whom It May Concern, We are a community of Canadian parents whose children have been abducted internationally. Ms. Mahdi is one of our members; her resilience, generosity and resolve have inspired and supported us in the years since we were brought together by this terrible shared circumstance. She has suffered immeasurably and … Read more
- Calls to Action PublishedReturn Our Children Home Canada calls upon the Canadian government to change its approach to resolving international family abduction. We are publishing a set of Calls to Action that identify concrete changes Canada can make in order to better protect Canadian children abducted abroad. These changes are informed by our community, whose experiences unfortunately mirror … Read more