Child support is the child's right, not the parent's. That single principle explains most of what follows — including why it cannot simply be bargained away.
Enter the paying parent’s gross annual income and the number of children. This applies the Ontario table from the Federal Child Support Guidelines — the same table a court uses — and shows the arithmetic, so you can check it.
It also tells you what the table does not cover, which is where most of the money in a real file ends up.
Switch to the second tab for spousal support.
Ontario has its own table because the tables are built province by province, reflecting differences in provincial tax rates. It runs in $1,000 bands from an income of $16,000 up to $149,999, and each band carries a base amount plus a percentage of the income above the bottom of that band. Above $150,000 a final band continues the same way.
That is why the number is exact once the income is known — and why so much turns on establishing the income. Section 19 lets a court impute income where a parent is intentionally under-employed, where income is diverted, or where it is sheltered inside a corporation.
It is not the total. Section 7 expenses — child care, health and dental premiums, uninsured medical costs, post-secondary, and extraordinary education or activity expenses — are shared in proportion to income on top of the table amount.
It assumes one home. The table is built for children who live primarily with the other parent. Shared parenting time under section 9 and split parenting under section 8 are calculated differently.
It assumes the income is agreed. In most contested files it is not.
It is the table amount, which is where a court starts. It moves if the payor's income is disputed or imputed, if parenting time is shared or split, or if income is over $150,000. Most arguments in real cases are about the income figure, not the table.
Guidelines income. Section 16 determines it from the sources listed under “Total income” on the T1 General, adjusted by Schedule III — not simply take-home pay. For a self-employed payor, a business owner, or someone paid partly in bonuses or dividends, working out that number is the case.
No. Those are section 7 special or extraordinary expenses. They are shared on top of the table amount, in proportion to the parents' incomes, and the court weighs whether each expense is necessary and reasonable.
If each parent has the children at least 40% of the time, section 9 applies: the table amounts for both parents, the increased cost of a shared arrangement, and each household's circumstances are all considered. A straight set-off of the two table amounts is a starting point, not the answer. Where each parent has the majority of time with different children, section 8 applies instead.
The table has a final band that keeps going, and section 3 applies it. But section 4 lets a court order a different amount for the portion above $150,000 if the table figure would be inappropriate, having regard to the children's circumstances and each parent's ability to contribute.
You can agree, but the agreement is measured against the child's interests. Support is the child's right, and terms leaving a child without appropriate support are the ones most likely to be set aside.
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