Child Support in Ontario: A Guide for Parents

What Is Child Support?

Child support is a regular payment made by one parent to the other to contribute to the costs of raising their children. It is designed to ensure that children benefit from the financial support of both parents after separation. It covers everyday expenses such as food, housing, clothing, and education.

How Is Child Support Calculated?

Child support in Ontario is governed by the Federal Child Support Guidelines (for divorcing couples) and the Child Support Guidelines under the Family Law Act (for common law couples and unmarried parents). The amount of child support is primarily determined by the paying parent’s income and the number of children.

Table Amount

The Guidelines include tables that set out the monthly child support amounts based on the payor’s province of residence, gross annual income, and number of children. This is known as the ‘table amount’ and serves as the starting point for all child support calculations.

Section 7 Special and Extraordinary Expenses

In addition to the table amount, parents may be required to share certain special and extraordinary expenses — often called ‘Section 7 expenses.’ These include childcare expenses, costs for post-secondary education, extraordinary extracurricular activities, and medical and dental expenses not covered by insurance. These are typically shared in proportion to each parent’s income.

Child Support in Shared Parenting Arrangements

When each parent has the children at least 40% of the time (a ‘shared custody’ arrangement), child support is calculated differently. Rather than simply paying the table amount, courts look at the Guidelines amounts for both parents and may adjust the support based on the increased costs of a shared arrangement and each parent’s income.

What Income Is Used for Child Support?

Income for child support purposes is generally the payor’s total income from line 15000 of their federal income tax return. However, the court may adjust this figure if the payor has non-recurring income, corporate income, or if there are other special circumstances. Imputing income (attributing income that a parent is not actually earning but should be) is also possible where a parent is voluntarily underemployed or unemployed.

Can Child Support Be Reduced or Increased?

Child support is not necessarily permanent. If either parent’s income changes significantly, or if there is a change in parenting arrangements, either parent can apply to vary the child support order or agreement. It is important to update child support when there is a material change in circumstances rather than allowing arrears to accumulate.

Enforcement of Child Support

In Ontario, child support orders are automatically filed with the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) unless both parents agree otherwise. The FRO enforces child support by intercepting income tax refunds, garnishing wages and bank accounts, suspending driver’s licences, and other enforcement mechanisms. Support arrears can also be registered against real property.