Canadian Runaway Laws

[ccsmod11]

Hi there,

Thank you for reaching out to us at the National Runaway Safeline.

It sounds like you are in a difficult situation, and we understand it takes courage to reach out for help. The National Runaway Safeline is located in the United States of America (USA). Our knowledge of helpful community based resources and our understanding of youth in crisis related laws is limited to the USA. If you are located in a country outside of the USA, you can use this link to find a youth helpline in or around your country: http://www.childhelplineinternationa...where-we-work/

We hope that by reaching out to a local resource, you are able to get the support you need from an organization that understands the laws and circumstances that affect youth in your country.

Best, NRS

We hope this response was helpful! We’d love to hear from you about your experience using our crisis email/forum. Your feedback plays an important role in helping us improve our services to youth and families. Please click the link to fill out our survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/we_care_what_you_think

I am 12 and would like to run away but I'm concerned about if it's illegal or not. If it is not plz tell me because I've been considering running away for 3 years and this is the last thing I haven't planned.

[ccsmod10]

Hi there,

Thank you for reaching out to us at the National Runaway Safeline. It sounds like you are in a difficult situation, and we understand it takes courage to reach out for help. The National Runaway Safeline is located in the United States of America (USA). Our knowledge of helpful community based resources and our understanding of youth in crisis related laws is limited to the USA. If you are located in a country outside of the USA, you can use this link to find a youth helpline in or around your country: http://www.childhelplineinternationa...where-we-work/

We hope that by reaching out to a local resource, you are able to get the support you need from an organization that understands the laws and circumstances that affect youth in your country.

I’m 15 and want to leave home

[ccsmod0]

Re: Canadian Runaway Laws

Thank you for posting a bullentin. It sounds like you have been through a lot and became resilient with your mom's threats of throwing you out as away to cope. It is understandable why you would want to leave home. We are glad that you have been looking into ways of keeping yourself safe. Have you ran away before? Were you able to discuss your plan with your sister? Will you feel safe staying with her? It seems that home will take some of the weigh off your shoulders. What do you feel would be somethings that would need to change at home if you stay? It sounds like you were able to do some good planning to make leaving home permanent and legal.

You are right about it being hard to not let your family get to you, because you are confronted with them daily. It is great that you have been able to continue your education with good grades and maintain a part-time job!

Emancipate can sometimes be a long process depending on the court system. Although we are not able to provided legal advise, we can assist with resources. Justice for Children and Youth can help with Ontario laws and information. They can be reached by phone at 1-866-999-JFCY (5329) or via email at mailto:[email protected]. Also you can view their web page that has tabs for "Your Legal Rights" and "Ask a Lawyer a Question".

We are a 24/7 confidential crisis line if you want to discuss more in-depth. We can also assist with conference calls (3-way call) if you want help and/or support. You are welcome to post another bulletin or call us at 1800-RUNAWAY (786-2929) anytime. Take care and best wishes to you!

~NRS

I have a very complicated life.
My mother and father seperated when I was 9, since then, they have been in one massive fight. It's involved my father getting jealous, tapping our phonelines, breaking into our house, and getting arrested for breaking a restraining order (he also used to hit us, although it wasn't too often). I don't talk to my father, and I haven't for about 5 years. My mother (whom I currently live with) has kicked my older sister out (she's not a bad kid either, she's spent over 500 hours during volunteer work, holds a respectable job and is an all around nice girl), threatened to kick me out three times, each time throwing my clothes and personal items out of the house for me to run back out a retrieve. Whenever we get into a fight she threatens kicking me out and says she doesn't need me, she'd be better off without me ect. She has also dragged me around by my hair and thrown things. Recently, she got engaged. My almost step father hates me, and all of the sudden my mother has taken to asking him before she does ANYTHING even if it doesn't involves him whatsoever.
I started to fall apart last december, I am normally a honour roll student and I also volunteer and hold down a part time job. I have normal friends and am in an incentive program at school but starting december, I just couldn't bring myself to go to classes, see my friends, I couldn't sleep and became withdrawn. I went to a doctor who said I was suffering from depression. I talked to concillers who said I didn't to build a 'wall' and not let my family get to me. I have found this to be impossible. They also said once I was free of my parents, I would do so much better in life. I am hoping this is a good enough reason to emancipate myself, but I am not sure if in canada this was legal. I've heard I can 'runaway' as soon as I turn 16 (in two months.) I plan on living with my older sister who is 18 and lives in a different city. What kind of legal information do I need to know? What do I do when something asks for parental permission?
Thanks.