Visiting hours and policies

Parent/caregiver presence policy:

When parents and caregivers come with their children and youth to CHEO, they’re not visiting. They are actively working as part of their child’s care team, providing us with vital health information only they would know and giving emotional support in a way only a parent or caregiver can.

In order to help keep everyone safe and minimize the chance of transmission of infections during this pandemic, family caregivers will be screened before entering CHEO's main campus, and will not be allowed to enter if they are sick. All children, youth and family caregivers must enter through the main entrance for clinic visits, or the Emergency Department in urgent cases. Other entrances are closed.

To limit the number of people in the building the following rules apply:

For an appointment in a clinic, the Surgical Day Unit, or an urgent visit to the Emergency Department, only ONE parent or caregiver will be allowed to accompany children and youth while at CHEO.

Children and youth who are admitted as inpatients may have TWO designated parents or caregivers and FOUR designated visitors (designated visitors must be 12 or older). Overnight, only one caregiver is permitted to remain onsite. At other times of the day, only two caregivers or visitors are permitted on site at the same time. For example, one caregiver and one visitor can accompany a child during the morning and another caregiver and visitor can accompany the child later in the day. As a reminder, only one caregiver can remain with the child overnight.

Only those who have been screened daily will be permitted at the bedside.

Siblings younger than 12 are not permitted. We appreciate this requires childcare arrangements for younger siblings and we are grateful for your support in doing so.

For some patients (e.g. persons with disabilities) coming for an appointment in a clinic or the Surgical Day Unit, a second essential support person may be allowed to aid patients and care teams. For patients and caregivers who require additional support, please contact your clinical area to determine if an exception to ONE parent or caregiver at a time can be granted. For Emergency Department (ED) visits, please discuss your need for an exception on arrival to the ED.

Given the seriousness of this pandemic, it is important that designated caregivers refrain from coming to CHEO if they are feeling unwell or displaying symptoms such as fever or cough. Rest assured, CHEO will find extra support for your child if you are unable to be onsite due to sickness

Caregiver screening

Everyone is carefully screened when they come to CHEO — this includes all children, youth, caregivers, staff and medical staff.

Caregivers can now complete a self-screen online before coming to CHEO. This will make it easier and quicker to get to your families appointment or visit your child who is staying as an inpatient. Once you complete the screening, follow the instructions that will be sent to you by email. You will show your confirmation email to our staff validators at the entrance.

Learn more about what to expect when you come to CHEO.

Complete your online screen

Here are some other things you should be aware of:

Allergy alert!

Some of our children, youth and staff have severe allergies, so please remember:

do not bring nuts, nut products or latex products (like balloons)
avoid using scented products like perfume, cologne, aftershave, body sprays or hair care products
shop wisely at CHEO by checking ingredients and asking questions, as you would elsewhere

Preventing the spread of infection

We want to make sure our children and youth get well quickly. Visitors can help us by:

staying home if you are sick (e.g. you have a fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, diarrhea, a new rash or are feeling ill)
cleaning your hands often with soap and water or alcohol-based hand gel (e.g. must wash with soap and water if you can see dirt or if there is mucous on your hands)

We have increased safety precautions in place during COVID-19. Visit our COVID-19 page to learn more.

Searching for restricted items

There are times when we need to check patients for things that could cause harm to themselves or others. We do this when we feel a search is needed, to keep everyone at CHEO safe. Restricted items can be any personal belonging that could harm a patient or someone else. Learn more about a restricted items search.

Service and emotional support animals

At CHEO, service animals are allowed and, in some instances, emotional-support animals may be able to accompany people to their appointments. If you are a child, youth, caregiver or visitor and have an emotional-support animal that you would like to accompany you to your appointment, please consult with your clinical team before the appointment to confirm whether accommodations can be made for the support animal to visit.

More information on service animals at CHEO

Service animals are allowed onsite. If it is not visibly apparent that the service animal is required for a disability then you, as the animal’s owner, may be asked to provide documentation from a registered health-care professional indicating that the animal is required in relation to a disability. There are areas of the hospital where the service animals may not be permitted (including but not limited to the following: the Operating Room, PACU, NICU, PICU, X-ray, CT, and food prep areas). If you need to access one of these areas, please speak to your health-care team or Patient Experience prior to your visit to explore alternatives.

More information on emotional support animals at CHEO

Emotional-support animals provide a valuable service, yet they do not qualify as service animals. In some instances your clinical team may be able to accommodate your request to have your emotional-support animal attend your appointment. It is important that you consult your team before your appointment so that you can identify whether your emotional-support animal can accompany you. If approved, please ensure you bring documentation from a registered health-care professional that indicates the need for the support animal.

We want to make each person’s appointment as comfortable as possible and sometimes this prevents support animals from being permitted at CHEO. If your emotional-support Animal is not able to accompany you we will work with you to identify alternative support strategies ahead of your appointment.

Expected service and emotional-support animal behaviour

Any animal onsite must be fully vaccinated, in good health, and must not pose a threat to people or other animals at CHEO. The owner must be fully responsible for the animal at all times. The animal must be kept on a leash or in a cage while onsite.

Raw food diet carries risks

If the animal consumes a raw food diet they are not able to come onsite due to the risk of foodborne infection to the pet and to household members.

CHEO’s Pet Therapy Program

CHEO offers therapy dog interventions for clients and patients across CHEO. Both the dog and the handler are identified by CHEO-issued ID badges. Please do not touch or engage with a therapy dog.

Smoking on our property

Ontario's hospitals are smoke-free zones — including hospital grounds. Provincial Tobacco Control Officers patrol hospital grounds to ensure the province's no-smoking laws are being followed.

Anyone caught smoking on hospital property will be ticketed and could be fined up to $5,000.

To smoke, you must leave hospital property. We also ask that you respect others and don't litter.

Keep in mind:

parking lots are on CHEO property therefore smoking in personal vehicles parked on our lots is also prohibited
using e-cigarettes and vapes are not permitted anywhere on hospital property

If you are ready to quit smoking, the City of Ottawa offers resources to help.