Do the Child Support Guidelines apply if the child's parents were never married?

Yes. Children of unmarried parents have the same right to support as children of married parents. In Ontario, the Ontario Child Support Guidelines (which mirror the Federal Guidelines) apply to applications brought under the Children's Law Reform Act and the Family Law Act. The fact that the parents were never married does not reduce or eliminate the support obligation.

The identity of the legal parent matters more than the parents' marital status. Any person recognized as a legal parent — by birth registration, acknowledgment of paternity, adoption, or a court order declaring parentage — owes support to that child. The process for establishing support is slightly different for unmarried parents (they use Ontario courts and provincial legislation rather than the Divorce Act), but the Guidelines tables and income rules are the same.

Unmarried parents can formalize support through a separation agreement, a domestic contract, or a court order under the Family Law Act. If there is no prior relationship or the parents never lived together, one parent can still bring an application to the court for child support, and the Guidelines will govern the calculation. A lawyer can help establish parentage if that is in dispute, and then proceed to set support on the correct income figures.