Permanency, guardianship and relative adoption.
A child can have a permanent home without every family using the same legal arrangement. Understand the difference before making a long-term change.
Part of our Legal & Guardianship resource series. See the main Legal & Guardianship guide for the wider topic and related resources. Following a guided route? Return to the Child Protection & GACP route.
Information reviewed September 2026. Employment, benefit and program rules can change, so use the linked official source for current requirements.
Permanency means more than one thing
PEI's GACP program describes permanency in four ways:
Physical permanency
The child has a safe, stable place to live.
Relational permanency
The child has lasting relationships with people who are family or feel like family.
Cultural permanency
The child remains connected to culture, identity and community.
Legal permanency
The child belongs within a legally recognized caring family arrangement.
Permanent GACP placement is not the same as adoption
Under PEI's permanent GACP stream, a caregiver can have legal custody or guardianship of the child through a court order or a parental agreement. The child is not in the care of the Director, and the GACP service can provide ongoing support while eligibility continues.
Adoption is different. PEI describes adoption as the legal process through which a child or youth becomes a permanent part of a new family.
Relative adoption in PEI
PEI allows birth parents to make a plan for a child to be adopted by a close relative. These relative adoptions can proceed through a Permit to Make an Adoption Placement with a Relative.
The province says the process includes legal requirements under the Adoption Act and Regulations, including birth-parent counselling and a home-study assessment of the proposed adoptive family.
Questions to consider before pursuing adoption
- What legal rights and responsibilities would change?
- Would adoption affect GACP financial support or other benefits?
- How would the child's legal relationship to their birth parent change?
- What contact with parents, siblings or extended family is expected?
- What does the child understand and want, considering their age and maturity?
- What cultural or family relationships need to be preserved?
- Would guardianship or another arrangement better fit the child's needs?
Open relationships and family contact still matter
A permanent legal arrangement does not erase the child's history. PEI notes that private adoptions often include ongoing contact agreements, and Adoption Services emphasizes the importance of understanding a child's birth family, grief and loss.
If you adopted a child from the public system, ask about Supported Adoption
Adoption and GACP are different legal arrangements. Under PEI's current GACP rules, a care provider is someone other than the child's parent. Once an adoption order is made, PEI's Adoption Act makes the adopting person the child's parent for all purposes of law. That is why a grandparent, relative or other caregiver who adopts a child is generally no longer treated as a GACP care provider, even though the day-to-day caregiving and costs may look very similar.
What can Supported Adoption include?
An adoption support agreement can include a maintenance payment for a child’s ongoing basic needs and special supports related to the child’s needs. The regulations list examples such as medical expenses, counselling or therapy, equipment, respite, remedial or rehabilitation services, extraordinary transportation costs, parenting programs or training, and other care or treatment expenses.
Can a grandparent or caregiver ask years after the adoption?
Potentially, yes. Under the current post-adoption rule, the Director may enter into an agreement at any time after the final adoption order if the child is still under 18, the child was in the permanent custody and guardianship of the Director immediately before the adoption, and the child has, or is at risk of developing, qualifying special needs because of circumstances such as disability, serious attachment issues, emotional or behavioural issues, abuse, neglect, multiple placements, prenatal risks or a parental genetic illness. The rule does not say the adoption itself had to occur after 2024.
Financial support is not automatic
A maintenance payment is only available where the Director is satisfied that caring for the child creates an undue financial burden on the family. Special supports are generally limited where comparable support is available elsewhere without charge, and prior approval is required for expenses claimed as special support. Adoption support agreements are reviewed at least every two years.
Assistance normally ends when the child turns 18, although the regulations allow the Director to extend assistance to age 25 where the Director considers that necessary and important in the child’s best interests.
Who should a grandparent or caregiver contact?
Contact PEI Adoption Services and ask specifically about the Supported Adoption Program and a post-adoption support agreement. The Provincial Adoption Coordinator can be reached at 902-368-6511 or adoption@gov.pe.ca.
- Government of PEI: Adoption and Supported Adoption Program
- Government of PEI: Supported Adoption Regulations
Get legal information before changing an arrangement that is already working
A caregiver may understandably want certainty. But “more permanent” is not automatically “better” if the legal or financial consequences are not understood. Speak with Community Legal Information PEI, a family lawyer, the GACP worker where relevant, and Adoption Services before making a decision.
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