3. Get help from the Central Authority

If your child was taken to a country that is part of the Hague Convention, you should contact the Central Authority in Canada as soon as possible. They will tell you how to make an application. They will also tell you what steps you need to take and the documents you need.

You can make an application if the other country has also signed the Hague Convention and all of these things are true:

• Your child is younger than 16 years old.
• Your child usually lived in Canada before being taken to or kept in the other country without your permission. This is called “wrongful removal or retention” from the child’s “habitual residence“.
• You had decision-making responsibility or parenting time with your child and were using them when your child was taken. Decision-making responsibility and parenting time used to be called custody and access.