Can Your Driver's Licence Be Suspended for Child Support Arrears?

A notice that your driver's licence may be suspended over child support arrears can be alarming, especially if you need to drive for work or to get your children to appointments. The key point is that the notice comes with a deadline, and there are ways to act before it passes.

This article explains the process in Ontario, what you can do to stop a suspension, and what happens afterward. It is general information, not advice on your own file.

How the process works

Licence suspension is one of the enforcement tools used by the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) when support goes unpaid. The payor receives a notice with a deadline. Read your notice carefully and treat the date on it as firm.

Under the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, the Director may direct the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to suspend the licence, and the Highway Traffic Act requires the Registrar to do so. The exact time limits and steps are set out in the notice and the legislation, so confirm them against your own documents.

How to stop a suspension before the deadline

Before the deadline passes, a payor can do one of three things:

• Pay all the arrears.
• Enter a voluntary payment plan.
• Get a court refraining order.

The timing matters. A refraining order cannot be obtained after the deadline. If you think you need one, speak to a lawyer immediately rather than waiting.

FRO says to contact them right away if you fall behind, and it offers a voluntary arrears payment schedule, which involves a proposal form and a financial statement. A plan only helps if you can keep to it, so be honest about what you can afford before you propose one.

If your licence is already suspended

After suspension, the licence can be reinstated through a payment plan, for a fee. Missing the terms of a plan can lead to further action, so only agree to payments you can realistically keep up.

Other consequences to know about

Licence suspension is not the only step. FRO can also work with the federal government to suspend passports and pilot's or maritime licences, and reinstating them requires a payment plan. Other tools include bank garnishment, deductions from federal payments, credit bureau reporting, liens and writs of seizure and sale.

• Bank garnishment: 100% of a sole account and no more than 50% of a joint account, held for 30 days.
• Federal payments: up to 50% of income-type payments such as EI and CPP, and 100% of tax refunds and savings bond interest, can be taken.
• Federal administration fee: the federal government charges an annual administration fee until FRO tells it to stop.
• Credit reporting: if no payment has been made in more than 60 days, the payor gets a notice of intent and must respond within the 15-day deadline in it. The report stays on the credit history for six years from the date it was reported, even after the arrears are paid.

A default hearing is another possibility. A payor has 10 days to act on a notice of default hearing and must attend even without filing anything. The judge may order payment plans, a payment by a set date, a change to the order, or jail for up to 180 days. A $400 administrative fee may be charged when FRO takes enforcement action.

Changing the order or the arrears

Only a judge can change the amount of support in an order; FRO cannot. FRO also cannot reduce or forgive arrears itself, because it enforces the order as written. Reducing or cancelling arrears requires a court to vary or rescind the order, or a written agreement from the recipient filed with FRO.

In a divorce case, the Divorce Act lets a court vary, rescind or suspend a support order retroactively or prospectively, and before varying child support it requires a change of circumstances as provided for in the applicable guidelines. For a table-based order, a change in circumstances is any change that would result in a different child support order.

Ontario laws do not set automatic end dates for child or spousal support. Support may end on a date or terminating event in the order, and otherwise both parties must agree or a judge must decide. Whether a change is available to you depends on your order and your circumstances, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer.

What to do next

• Find the deadline on your notice today and mark it.
• Gather your income records, bank statements and a list of your expenses.
• Contact FRO and ask about a voluntary payment plan.
• If you need a court refraining order, speak to a lawyer before the deadline passes.
• If your income has dropped, ask a lawyer about changing the order. FRO cannot change it; only a judge can.
• Keep copies of all notices, plans and proof of payment.

Frequently asked questions