How Child Support Works in Ontario: A Simple Guide (2025 Update)

By Charles Lund, J.D.

If you’re a parent going through a separation in Ontario, you likely have questions about child support. In plain terms, child support is money one parent pays to the other to help support their children financially after a separation or divorce.

The law expects both parents to contribute to their kids’ upbringing, and this responsibility continues even after you part ways.

In fact, child support is considered the right of the child, meaning it’s not something either parent can just opt out of – it’s about making sure the child is taken care of. This friendly guide will walk you through the basics of child support: who pays it, how the amount is decided, what it’s meant to cover, and how it’s enforced.

Who Pays Child Support?

In most cases, the parent who spends less time with the children pays child support to the parent who takes care of the children most of the time. This paying parent is often called the “payor” parent. The idea is that the parent the kids live with does a lot of the day-to-day spending on the children, so the other parent contributes money to balance things out. Even if parents share time with the kids equally, the parent with the higher income may still have to pay some child support to the other parent. This ensures that both households can provide for the children’s needs more equally. The key point is that both parents have a financial duty to support their children, regardless of custody arrangements or whether you were married or just living together.

How Are Child Support Amounts Decided?

Child support amounts in Ontario aren’t just pulled out of thin air – they’re usually based on official guidelines to keep things fair and consistent. The government provides Child Support Guidelines, including tables that set out the basic monthly amount of support. These tables are based on the payor parent’s gross income (before taxes) and the number of children who need support.

In other words, once you know the payor’s income and how many kids you have, you can look up (or calculate) the standard amount from the Ontario child support tables. This system helps parents and courts figure out a fair payment without a lot of back-and-forth bargaining.

It’s worth noting that the table amount is meant to cover the base cost of raising a child, but it’s not the whole story. The standard child support (table amount) covers everyday expenses like clothing, groceries, school supplies – essentially the child’s basic needs.

It’s the paying parent’s share of what it costs to raise the child, as if that parent were still living with the child and contributing directly

On top of that, there can be additional “special” or “extraordinary” expenses for things that go beyond day-to-day necessities. For example, child care (daycare), medical or dental expenses, and extracurricular activities are often handled separately if they are necessary and reasonable for the child. Parents usually share these special expenses in proportion to their incomes. In practice, this means you might pay the table amount plus a share of specific costs like daycare or braces, depending on your situation. The goal is to ensure the child has everything they need without one parent bearing all the extra costs alone.

(Keep in mind this is a general overview – there are occasional exceptions or adjustments, for instance in very high-income cases or if a parent is facing undue hardship, but for most families the guidelines apply straightforwardly.)

What Does Child Support Cover?

Child support is meant to cover the child’s basic living expenses and everyday needs in the home of the parent who receives the support. This includes things like food and groceries, clothing, school supplies, and other routine costs of caring for the child. Essentially, it helps pay for the household necessities that keep the child fed, clothed, and looked after. Think of it as contributing to the child’s share of rent or housing costs, groceries, electricity, and so on – all the basics you’d spend money on if the child were under your roof full-time. The idea is that the child shouldn’t suffer financially just because their parents are separated. Child support ensures that both parents pitch in so the child has a stable, caring environment in both homes. It’s important to remember child support is for the child’s benefit – it’s not “spending money” for the other parent, but rather goes toward the expenses of raising the child. By paying child support, the payor parent is doing their part to make sure their child has a decent standard of living, no matter which parent’s home the child is in.

(Note: Basic child support usually doesn’t automatically cover big extra costs like post-secondary tuition or extravagant activities – those might be negotiated separately. But for day-to-day living costs, child support is the key.)

How Is Child Support Enforced?

Once child support is set (either by a court order or a separation agreement filed with the court), Ontario has a system to make sure the payments actually get made. The heavy lifting here is done by the Family Responsibility Office, often called the FRO. The FRO is a government agency that enforces child support orders and agreements. In practical terms, the FRO collects the support payments directly from the payor parent and then sends that money to the parent who is supposed to receive it. This takes some pressure off the parents, because you don’t have to personally chase your ex for payments – the FRO handles the money flow and keeps records of what’s paid.

Now, what if the payor parent doesn’t pay up? Ontario takes missed child support very seriously, and the FRO has strong tools to enforce payments if someone falls behind. If payments are not made as required, the FRO can step in and take action. For example, the FRO can:

  • Garnish wages or bank accounts – this means they can legally take the owed support money from the payor’s paycheck or bank account directly.

  • Suspend the payor’s driver’s licence – losing a driver’s licence can be a consequence of not paying support. This is a way to push parents to fulfill their obligations by impacting their privileges.

  • Report the missed payments to credit bureaus – unpaid child support can affect the payor’s credit rating, which can make it harder for them to get loans or credit.

  • Seize federal payments or passports – the FRO can intercept federal money (like tax refunds) and even cancel the payor’s passport in some cases of persistent non-payment.

  • Initiate a court process that could lead to jail time – in extreme cases, if someone continually refuses to pay, the FRO can ask the court for a default hearing, and a judge can even jail a parent for willfully not paying support. This doesn’t happen often, but it’s there as a last resort.

As you can see, there are serious consequences for ignoring a child support order. The system is designed this way because, again, the right to support belongs to the child – so the law will step in to make sure that support is provided. The good news is, as long as you keep up with the payments (or, if you’re the recipient, as long as the other parent does), you won’t have to worry about these enforcement measures. The FRO will simply act as a middleman, ensuring payments are processed and keeping an official record. And if you ever have trouble receiving payments, you can contact the FRO to help enforce the order.