Fresh evidence in Child Welfare cases

Children's Aid Society of Toronto v. P.M., 2015 ONCA 695:

[22]       Fresh evidence should be admitted in child protection proceedings if: (a) it could not have been adduced before; (b) it is highly relevant in that it enables the court to make determinations on an accurate picture of the situation at hand; (c) it is potentially decisive as to the child's best interests; (d) it is credible; (e) it is uncontroverted; and (f) it bridges the gap between the evidence submitted in prior hearings and the appeal: Catholic Children's Aid Society of Metropolitan Toronto v. M. (C.), [1994] 2 S.C.R. 165, at p. 190. 

[23]       A flexible standard should be adopted for the admission of fresh evidence in family law cases involving children in circumstances where accurate and up-to-date information concerning the best interests of the child, when considered with the evidence adduced at trial, might reasonably affect the outcome of the appeal: Children's Aid Society of Oxford Country v. W.T.C., 2013 ONCA 491, 308 O.A.C. 246, at para. 43.

Of the Law Societies of Upper Canada and Nunavut