Child support in Ontario is money one parent pays the other to help raise their child after separation or divorce. It belongs to the child, not to the parent who receives it, and the obligation to pay it does not depend on whether you were married.
This guide explains:
- How child support works in Ontario
- What the 2025 child support tables changed
- How to calculate child support
- When monthly child support payments end
- How a child support order gets varied or enforced
What Child Support Is and Who Pays It After Separation or Divorce
Ontario law treats child support as a legal obligation rather than an optional payment. Both parents share financial responsibility for their child, and a parent cannot bargain that responsibility away in a separation agreement.
The payor parent is usually the parent with less parenting time. The recipient parent has primary care of the child and receives the money. Where parenting time is close to equal, the higher earner normally pays the difference.
Marital status changes nothing about the obligation. It decides which statute applies: the federal Divorce Act for divorcing spouses, and Ontario’s Family Law Act for common-law partners and parents who never lived together.
Who Counts as a Dependent Child in Ontario
A dependent child is a child who still relies on their parents financially. Under the Family Law Act, that generally means an unmarried child who is a minor, or an adult child enrolled in a full-time program of education. Under the Divorce Act, the equivalent test is whether the child remains a child of the marriage.
A step-parent can also be ordered to pay. Ontario’s Children’s Law Reform Act and the Divorce Act both reach a person who has settled into the role of parent, so a step-parent who acted as a parent for years may carry a support obligation after the relationship ends.
Table Amount, Extracurricular Activities and Special or Extraordinary Expenses
Basic child support, the table amount, is the monthly child support figure meant to cover the everyday cost of raising a child:
- Housing and utilities
- Food and clothing
- School supplies and basic transportation
- Ordinary recreational and extracurricular activities
Section 7 of the guidelines adds a second layer on top. Special or extraordinary expenses are shared between the parents in proportion to their incomes, not split down the middle.
Qualifying expenses commonly include:
- Childcare costs so a parent can work or study
- Medical and dental expenses not covered by insurance
- Orthodontics
- Post-secondary education
- Private school tuition where it is justified
- Extraordinary extracurricular activities such as competitive sport
An expense qualifies only if it is necessary in the child’s best interests and reasonable against both parents’ means.
How Child Support Is Calculated Under the Federal Child Support Guidelines
The calculation starts with one number: the paying parent’s gross annual income. The Federal Child Support Guidelines then set a monthly table amount based on that income, the number of children, and the province where the payor lives. Ontario has its own table because provincial tax rules feed the formula.
Courts are required to apply the table. Judges depart from it only in narrow circumstances, which is why accurate income figures and complete financial disclosure matter more than negotiating skill.
The 2025 Ontario Child Support Tables: What Changed on October 1
SOR/2025-166 replaced the child support tables on October 1, 2025, the first revision since 2017. The Department of Justice Canada ran the existing formula against more recent tax rules, so amounts moved in both directions rather than rising across the board.
The income floor at which a table obligation begins rose to $16,000: a parent genuinely earning at or below that has a base table amount of $0.
Monthly base child support under the 2025 Ontario table:
| Gross annual income | 1 child | 2 children | 3 children |
|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $334 | $609 | $828 |
| $60,000 | $554 | $911 | $1,182 |
| $80,000 | $743 | $1,220 | $1,602 |
| $100,000 | $932 | $1,517 | $1,984 |
| $150,000 | $1,327 | $2,135 | $2,781 |
Figures are monthly base amounts from the 2025 Simplified Federal Child Support Tables (Ontario) and exclude section 7 expenses.
Above $150,000, section 4 applies a base amount plus a percentage of the income over the threshold. To calculate child support between the rows, the Department of Justice Canada look-up tool returns the exact figure.
Existing orders did not change on October 1, and no recalculation happens on its own. Yours stays where it is until someone applies to vary it.
Determining Income: Line 15000, Financial Disclosure and Imputed Income
Guideline income normally starts at Line 15000 of the payor’s income tax return, the total income line before deductions. A Notice of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency, recent pay stubs and, for business owners, business income and a corporation’s pre-tax income round out the picture.
The CRA documents matter because child support amounts move with income. Ontario’s Family Law Rules require both parties to file a Financial Statement, Form 13 for support-only cases and Form 13.1 where property is also in issue.
A court can order imputed income where the declared figure does not reflect what a parent can actually earn. Judges impute income when:
- a parent is intentionally underemployed
- self-employment income is understated
- a parent deducts personal spending as business expenses
- income is diverted through a corporation. Investment income, rental income, dividends, and capital gains all count.
Incomplete disclosure is the most common reason a child support file becomes expensive.
The 40% Rule and the Set-Off Calculation for 50/50 Parenting Time
Equal parenting time does not cancel child support. Section 9 of the guidelines applies once each parent has the child at least 40% of the time, and it directs the court to consider the table amounts for both parents, the increased cost of two households, and the circumstances of each parent and child.
In practice, courts start with a set-off: run each parent’s table amount, then have the higher earner pay the difference. If Parent A’s table amount is $932 and Parent B’s is $554, Parent A pays $378 a month. The Supreme Court of Canada confirmed in Contino v. Leonelli-Contino that the set-off is a starting figure rather than an automatic answer, and that a judge can adjust it on the evidence.
Sole custody, shared parenting and split custody each produce a different calculation, so the parenting schedule drives the child support amount as much as the income does. Equal parenting time does not equalize incomes, so it rarely produces a zero.
If you are negotiating a parenting time and decision-making arrangement, the support consequences belong in the same conversation. Our guide to shared custody in Ontario goes further into how the 40% threshold is counted.
Speak With an Ottawa Child Support Lawyer About Your Table Amount
A confidential, no-obligation consultation gets you a real number instead of a guess. We will walk through your income documents and the guidelines with you.
Book a ConsultationWhen Does Child Support End in Ontario?
In Ontario, child support payments usually continue while the child is a dependant, which for most families means until the child turns 18 and finishes high school. Support can end earlier if a child of 16 or older withdraws from parental control, and it can run years longer where the child stays dependent.
Neither parent gets to decide unilaterally that the obligation has ended. Where a court order or separation agreement is in place, the payments continue until the order or agreement is changed.
Support Past 18: Post-Secondary Education, Disability and the Child of the Marriage
Two situations commonly extend child support past the age of majority.
- The first is full-time post-secondary education: courts ask whether the program is reasonable in length and whether the student is making genuine progress, and support for a university student often continues into their early twenties.
- The second is disability or illness that prevents a child from becoming self-sufficient, which can extend the obligation indefinitely.
The amount often changes even when the obligation continues. A court can order something other than the table amount for an adult child, particularly where the student lives away from home, holds summer earnings, or receives loans and grants.
If your child is finishing high school this year, our guide on stopping child support at 18 in Ontario sets out the court forms and the process.
Book a Confidential Consultation About Your Support Obligation
Assumptions about an end date cause arrears. Confirm where you stand before you change what you pay.
Talk to a LawyerChanging or Enforcing a Child Support Order in Ontario
A child support order is durable, not permanent. Ontario gives both parents a route to adjust the amount, and it gives the recipient real enforcement tools when payments stop.
Material Change in Circumstances and the Motion to Change a Court Order
Varying support requires a material change in circumstances. For example:
- a meaningful move in either parent’s annual income
- a change in parenting time, a new section 7 expense
- a child ceasing to be dependent
Where both parents agree, they can sign an amended agreement or file a consent motion. Where they do not, the route is a Motion to Change in the Ontario Court of Justice or the Superior Court of Justice, supported by an updated Financial Statement. Parents who exchange income tax returns every year usually avoid this step entirely.
How the Family Responsibility Office Enforces Payment
The Family Responsibility Office enforces most Ontario support orders. Court-ordered child support is filed with the FRO automatically, and a domestic contract can be filed with it too. Wage garnishment is its most-used tool, and family court backs the rest.
The FRO’s powers are broad:
- Garnish wages directly from an employer
- Intercept federal payments, including tax refunds and employment insurance
- Suspend a driver’s licence, and suspend or refuse to renew a Canadian passport
- Seize bank accounts and place liens on property
- Report the payor to the credit bureau, or bring a default hearing that can end in jail
Arrears accrue interest, and a judge can order the defaulting parent to pay the other side’s legal costs. Our article on licence and passport suspension for unpaid support explains how those two tools work in practice.
Retroactive Child Support, Arrears and Undue Hardship
Retroactive child support is a claim for amounts that should have been paid earlier. Courts generally look back up to three years from the date effective notice was given, and the Supreme Court’s framework in D.B.S. v. S.R.G. weighs the reason for the delay, the payor’s conduct, the child’s circumstances, and hardship to the payor. Blameworthy conduct, such as hiding a raise, can push that window further back.
If you cannot pay, act early. Section 10 of the guidelines allows an undue hardship claim where the table amount would leave a household worse off than the other, though the threshold is high and rarely met on a first attempt.
Stopping payments without an order does not reduce the debt. It converts it into arrears with interest attached.
Speak With RPB Family Law About Child Support in Ontario
Our focus is family. Call (613) 216-5044 or send us a note, and we will look at your child support question in confidence, with no obligation.
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