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Countries with adoption suspensions or restrictions

Some Canadian provinces and territories have suspended adoption from certain countries. There are also countries that don’t allow international adoption. Make sure you know which countries you can and can’t adopt from.

 Don’t adopt during a crisis

A crisis (such as a war or natural disaster) often separates children from their families. In these situations, you shouldn’t adopt a child because

  • reuniting the child with their parents or family must take priority
  • it’s difficult to confirm if a child is actually available for adoption

For more information, check the statement from UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund).

Countries with a suspension on adoptions

Some Canadian provinces and territories (PTs) have suspended adoptions from these countries:

  • Cambodia (all PTs except Quebec)
  • Georgia (all PTs)
  • Guatemala (all PTs)
  • Liberia (all PTs)
  • Nepal (all PTs)
  • Ukraine (all PTs) Temporary

Countries that restrict international adoptions

These include

IRCC has received a notification from the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China advising that effective August 28, 2024, China will no longer consider applications for adoptions by non-Chinese nationals. The only exception is for “adoptions by foreigners of stepchildren and children of collateral blood relatives within the third generation”.

IRCC is working closely with contacts in China to get more information about these changes.

Other countries you can’t adopt from

There are also some countries that you can’t adopt from because they don’t follow these Hague Convention requirements:

  • the child must be legally available for adoption
  • the child must have no legal ties to their birth parents once the adoption is complete
  • the adoption will form a legal parent-child relationship between the child and adoptive parents

To check if you can adopt a child from a specific country, contact

International adoptions are restricted in the Czech Republic

On December 14, 2023, the Czech Republic confirmed that they

  • restricted the number of countries they work with
  • would no longer process intercountry adoptions with Canada

International adoptions are restricted in Ethiopia

In January 2018, the Ethiopian Government changed a law to ban all intercountry adoptions.

Canada is aware that some people in other countries have adopted relatives from Ethiopia. However, the Ethiopian Government has confirmed to Canada that the intercountry adoption ban remains in effect.

International adoptions are restricted in Russia

Russia currently prohibits the adoption of Russian children

  • by same-sex couples  
  • by single applicants who are citizens of countries that recognize same-sex marriage
  • by couples from all countries that recognize same-sex marriage
  • by citizens of countries where gender transitioning is legal
  • by couples from all countries that do not have a bilateral agreement on intercountry adoption with Russia
  • from all countries that allow the re-adoption of Russian children without the oversight of Russia’s adoption authority (in cases where the original adoption fails)

This effectively bans Canadians from adopting Russian children.

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