Does the Family Responsibility Office automatically enforce every support order, or must it be registered first?

Enforcement through the Family Responsibility Office is automatic by default in Ontario: once a court makes a support order (or a support-related domestic contract is filed with the court), it is filed with FRO for enforcement without any extra step, unless both parties have jointly opted out of FRO involvement. Once registered, FRO takes on responsibility for collecting and enforcing the support obligation using its available tools, and it tracks payments and arrears against that registered order.

This matters practically because the automatic route runs on court orders: a recipient relying on a private agreement that was never filed with the court may still need to take a step to get it registered, rather than assuming it happens in the background. Some agreements can be structured so they aren't automatically filed with FRO, in which case enforcement may fall to the parties themselves unless and until registration happens. If support isn't being paid and the recipient isn't sure whether their order is registered with FRO, confirming that status is a sensible first step, since it directly affects what enforcement options are actually available and how quickly they can be used.