The report “Eliminate Systemic Barriers to Obtaining and Keeping Ontario Birth Certificates: A Three-Year Study Conducted in Partnership With the Kinna-Aweya Legal Clinic” (PDF) has the following calls to action. The report was produced by Dr. Kristin Burnett (Lakehead University), Dr. Chris Sanders (Lakehead University), Kinna-Aweya Legal Clinic, Northwest Community Health Centres, and the ID Action Group of Thunder Bay.
CALLS TO ACTION
- WE CALL FOR THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FEES for all types of birth certificates because the fees are not a significant revenue source for the province, but they are a hardship for people living in poverty;
- WE CALL FOR THE SIMPLIFICATION OF BIRTH CERTIFICATE APPLICATIONS, including a reduction of the personal/parental information sections (e.g., parent age at time of child’s birth, weight at birth, name/address of attending doctor), because the phrasing of certain questions confuses people and much of this information is not required to issue a birth certificate;
- WE CALL FOR THE ELIMINATION OF THE GUARANTOR REQUIREMENT on the Ontario birth certificate application as the guarantor requirement is an additional barrier and not all provinces have this requirement;
- WE CALL FOR ALL MINISTRIES TO RECOGNIZE KINSHIP AGREEMENTS OR CUSTOMARY CARE AGREEMENTS to support family unification and to enable families to access services;
- WE CALL FOR BIRTH CERTIFICATES TO STAY WITH PEOPLE IN CARE OR CUSTODY so that ID travels with individuals and they do not lose possession of their ID upon transfer or release, and;
- WE CALL FOR THE SMALLER AND MORE DURABLE BIRTH CERTIFICATES that were previously used by the Ontario government so that people without safe places to store the document can carry them on their person again. While digital ID has been suggested as a possible solution, digital ID is not accessible to people without technology and resources.