Can a court order costs specifically as a penalty for failing to give financial disclosure?

Yes. Financial disclosure obligations are taken seriously in Ontario family court, and a party who fails to provide required financial disclosure, provides it incomplete or late, or is found to have been evasive about their finances, can face a costs order specifically tied to that non-compliance, separate from whatever costs might follow from the outcome of the case as a whole. This reflects how central honest, timely financial disclosure is to fairly resolving support and property issues — cases can't be properly assessed without it, and delay caused by non-disclosure imposes real, avoidable costs on the other party.

Courts have specifically signalled that non-disclosure is treated as a serious matter, not a minor administrative lapse, and repeated or deliberate failures can result in more significant costs consequences than a single, promptly corrected oversight. Beyond costs, persistent non-disclosure can also affect how a court views that party's credibility and conduct more broadly in the case. Anyone struggling to gather required financial disclosure should communicate proactively with their own lawyer and the other side about delays, rather than simply missing deadlines and hoping it goes unnoticed.