Grandparents as parents on the rise in Canada
In February of 2005, Elizabeth sent her husband out into Ottawa’s downtown streets in search of her five-year-old granddaughter. Shehad just received word that Sharon was in the care of her drug-addictedmother, in violation of orders from the Children’s Aid Society. Hours later, the child was found at a Salvation Army shelter and anew chapter in the Inuit girl’s life, and that of her grandparents,began. Sharon became one of thousands of aboriginal children to permanentlyfall under the care of grandparents who had thought that theirchild-rearing days were behind them.
The real names of the family are not being used to protect the child’s identity.Elizabeth’s situation is far from unique, research at the University of Toronto shows. One study states that the number of Canadian grandparents raisingchildren under the age of 18 jumped 20 per cent between 1991 and 2001. While the trend is evident across all ethnic groups, research shows that Canada’s native population is the most represented. Esme Fuller-Thompson, an associate professor of social work at theUniversity of Toronto, said that 17 per cent of all grandparentcaregivers are of aboriginal origin.