Screening, reporting and confidentiality

Before and during the work

What happens in screening?

Midline would speak with each parent separately. The first questions would be practical. Is it safe to call, leave a voicemail or send email? Can you speak freely from your device? If someone monitors your messages, use a safer device or contact method if you can. Keep identifying details out of a first email.

The coordinator would ask about threats, violence, stalking, coercive control, any protection or no-contact orders, concerns about the children, and whether either parent fears repercussions for disagreeing. An individual conversation gives someone room to speak. It does not make every disclosure secret or mean a joint meeting will follow.

Screening continues if the work goes ahead. A new threat, a change in an order or a parent’s inability to participate freely may call for safeguards, separate arrangements, a pause, referral elsewhere or ending the process. A child-protection report, when required, must proceed without waiting for screening to finish.

Duty to report a child-protection concern

Where do I report a concern about a child?

You do not need proof or the other parent’s consent before making a report that the law requires. Tell the authority what you saw or heard, when it happened and what led to your concern. The authority assesses the information. Do not investigate it yourself or wait for a parenting coordinator to take it on.

Does a private agreement change the duty?

No. In both provinces the statutory reporting duty can apply to confidential information, including information received at intake. Both statutes preserve solicitor-client privilege. Speaking to a parenting coordinator does not by itself create a lawyer-client relationship or that privilege.

Elsewhere, including work across borders

Reporting ages, thresholds, timing and authorities vary. If a child lives elsewhere or is visiting another jurisdiction, contact the child-protection authority where the child is located promptly for direction about where to report. Provincial, territorial, Indigenous or other local laws may apply. If people are in different places, tell the authority where the child and participants are located. Outside Canada, use the local emergency number for immediate danger.

Government of Canada overview of differences across jurisdictions

Who may receive information

What are the limits to confidentiality?

The written terms should identify what can be shared, with whom and for what purpose. They operate alongside applicable law, professional obligations and any court order. A label such as “open” or “closed” does not answer every question. These limits address different situations.

Private intake and sharing within the process

Ask what the coordinator would share with the other parent or counsel and what parts of screening would remain private. Information about a disputed issue may need to be put to both parents so each can respond. A safety disclosure requires separate consideration. It should not automatically be repeated to the other parent, especially if that could put someone at risk.

Children, schools, counsellors and other third parties

Contact with a child or another professional would require an appropriate mandate and any necessary authorization. Clarify in advance what information is sought, who may receive it and how it may be used. A child should hear the limits in language they understand before being invited to speak. No one should promise to keep a child-protection concern secret.

Serious danger to a person

A credible threat of serious harm to the parent, a child or someone else may permit or require protective disclosure. The legal threshold, the coordinator’s professional duties and the circumstances determine who should be contacted, such as emergency services or a person at risk. Limit disclosure to what is reasonably necessary for protection. Other specific statutes can impose duties, for example where abuse of a person receiving care falls under a reporting law.

Reports, affidavits and testimony

An open agreement may allow defined information to be used in court or reported to an arbitrator. A closed agreement may protect settlement discussions while allowing a limited report, such as whether meetings took place or the parents reached agreement. Spell out whether either parent may describe meetings in an affidavit, whether the coordinator may report or testify, and on what subjects. An open process gives no blanket permission to publish family information.

Settlement privilege and written outcomes

Settlement privilege can protect negotiations from use as evidence. In Zrymiak v. McNamee, 2020 ONSC 5850, paras. 9–10, the court excluded parenting-coordination discussions the parents had agreed were confidential and without prejudice. An exception can allow necessary evidence to establish the existence or terms of a settlement. An enforceable award from a lawful arbitration can also be produced for enforcement or review. Midline’s proposed service does not offer binding decisions.

Court orders, subpoenas and other lawful demands

A subpoena, production order or other statutory demand may require records or testimony. The coordinator would check its scope, raise any applicable privilege and seek directions where needed. A request from a parent or lawyer alone does not entitle them to the whole file.

Consent, professional advice and oversight

Informed consent may authorize a specific release, identifying the recipient, purpose and scope. Where legally authorized or required, limited disclosure may also be necessary for professional consultation, legal advice, a regulatory complaint, a defence to a claim or a records-access request. Privilege and third-party privacy still matter.

Records, technology and privacy breaches

Before starting, ask who can access notes, messages or recordings, what technology or service providers would be used, whether recording is permitted, and how long records would be kept. A shared device or forwarded email can expose information outside the agreed process. If records are lost or improperly accessed, applicable privacy law may require notice to a regulator or affected people.

Practice and legal sources
AFCC Guidelines for Parenting Coordination, especially Guideline V · Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario, Standard V · Alberta guidance on authorized disclosure · Canadian privacy regulators on safety-related disclosure · Zrymiak v. McNamee, paras. 9–10 · Supreme Court of Canada on proving a settlement · Ontario guidance on family arbitration · Alberta protection for persons in care · Ontario long-term care reporting, section 28 · Alberta privacy commissioner’s breach guidance.

A question to ask before you share: “If I tell you this separately, what would you have to report, what might the other parent hear, and what could later appear in court?”