A Toronto judge has made baby Angelica-Leslie a ward of the Crown.
The decision means adoption proceedings can begin for the child who was found abandoned in a freezing Toronto stairwell last January.
"We can move on to find a loving, caring family for her and there are no further legal impediments," said Corrie Tuyl, an official with CAS.
The Toronto Children's Aid Society, which will be overseeing the adoption process, told CTV Toronto that 149 families from across Canada have contacted the organization in hopes of adopting Angelica-Leslie.
Three families are being considered as possible candidates, CAS said.
"We're very eager to find her a family," Tuyl said. "She deserves that and she needs that at this point."
The baby has been in foster care since shortly after she was found in the Toronto parking garage stairwell.
For months, officials searched for the child's parents until they were eventually located in the Kitchener region in May.
The parents, who have three other children, were charged with a list of offences that includes neglect, abandonment, abuse and failing to provide the necessities of life.
They have not been named in order to protect the children's identities.
The parents were given notice to appear in court today if they wanted to fight to keep their daughter but neither of them showed. CAS officials say they were obligated to look at the girl's extended family as an option for her permanent residence but that they could not find anyone suitable.
Angelica-Leslie was given her nickname by Children's Aid workers after she was found by a shopper in the stairwell of a plaza on Leslie Street in North York. The workers said the eight-month-old looked "like an angel."
The parents lived near the plaza where the baby was found but moved to Kitchener following the incident.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon
