Ontario Child Support: Calculation, Enforcement & Variation

How Child Support Is Calculated

Ontario follows the Federal Child Support Guidelines (FCSG) for married couples (under the Divorce Act) and the Ontario Child Support Guidelines for unmarried parents — both use the same table amounts.

The monthly base amount is determined by:

• The number of children entitled to support
• The annual gross income of the paying parent
• The province of residence of the paying parent

You can look up the table amount at the Department of Justice Child Support Tables. For example, for one child in Ontario with a paying parent earning $70,000/year, the table amount is approximately $633/month.

Section 7 Special or Extraordinary Expenses

On top of the base table amount, parents share Section 7 expenses — certain necessary costs not included in the table. These are split in proportion to each parent's income.

Common Section 7 expenses include:

• Childcare costs (daycare, after-school care) while the recipient parent works or studies
• Medical and dental expenses not covered by insurance
• Orthodontics and prescription eyewear
• Post-secondary education costs
• Extracurricular activities (where reasonable given family income and the child's history)
• Private school tuition (if there is a history of private schooling)

Shared Parenting Time and Support

Where each parent has the child 40% of the time or more, the court may deviate from the straight table amount and use a set-off calculation (the higher-income parent pays the difference between the two table amounts). This is not automatic — courts consider the actual increased costs of the shared arrangement.

Changing (Varying) Child Support

Either parent can apply to vary support when there is a material change in circumstances:

• Significant change in the paying parent's income (up or down)
• Change in the child's needs (e.g., medical diagnosis)
• Change in residential arrangement
• Child turning 18 and becoming financially independent (though support may continue through post-secondary)

Support should be reviewed annually — parents are obligated to disclose income each year. Do not assume support is automatically adjusted when income changes.

Family Responsibility Office (FRO)

All Ontario court orders and domestic contracts that include child support are automatically filed with the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) unless both parties opt out in writing. FRO collects support on behalf of the recipient and enforces payment.

FRO enforcement tools include:

• Wage garnishment (up to 50% of net wages)
• Seizure of bank accounts and income tax refunds
• Driver's licence suspension for arrears of 3+ months
• Suspension of federal licences (passport, federal benefits)
• Reporting to credit bureaus
• Imprisonment as a last resort

What If the Paying Parent Is Self-Employed or Hiding Income?

Courts are well-versed in income-hiding. Where a parent is self-employed and runs expenses through a corporation or claims excessive deductions, the court can impute income — assign an income higher than reported. Financial disclosure is mandatory. Refusing to disclose can result in adverse inferences drawn by the court.