根据加拿大内科医生和外科医生皇家学院的定义：发育儿科是医学分支，专注于先天或后天疾病和/或身体、运动、认知、感觉和社会情感发展中个体差异的儿童发育轨迹。
发育儿科医生为家庭和社区各个年龄段和发育水平的儿童提供高度专业的保健。这一学科也包括儿童对这些挑战的行为反应。总体目标是促进和维护所有儿童及其家庭，特别是最脆弱群体的家庭发展和情感福祉。
As defined by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada: Developmental pediatrics is the branch of medicine that focuses on developmental trajectories of children with congenital or acquired disorders and/or individual variations in physical, motor, cognitive, sensory and social-emotional development.
Developmental pediatricians provide highly specialized health care to children of all ages and developmental levels in the context of their families and communities. This discipline also encompasses children’s behavioural responses to those challenges. The overall goal is to promote and maintain the developmental and emotional well-being of all children and their families, especially those who are most vulnerable.