What expenses does the base child support table amount cover in Ontario?

The base monthly child support amount from the Guidelines tables is designed to cover a child's ordinary, day-to-day expenses. These include food, clothing, shelter costs attributable to the child, routine transportation, school supplies, basic recreational activities, and general household expenses related to raising the child. The premise is that these costs are predictable and scalable to the payor's income, so a table amount provides a reliable starting point.

What the base amount does not cover are extraordinary or special expenses, which fall under the separate "section 7" framework. Section 7 expenses — such as childcare, uninsured medical and dental costs, post-secondary education, or exceptional extracurricular programs — are shared in addition to the base amount because they are variable, large, and child-specific rather than predictable household costs.

The base amount also does not cover extraordinary costs that were well above what a family of that income level would typically spend — for instance, elite competitive sports programs costing many thousands of dollars per year might qualify as a section 7 expense rather than being absorbed by the base. If you are unsure whether a particular expense is covered by the base or should be shared as a special expense, discussing it with a lawyer can help you avoid both underclaiming and overclaiming in your support arrangement.