Once each parent has the children at least 40% of the time, the ordinary table amount stops applying and section 9 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines takes over. The set-off is where the analysis starts, not where it ends.
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Enter each parent's gross annual income and the number of children. The set-off updates instantly, using the same verified Ontario table as our child support calculator.
This is the set-off only. For the ordinary (non-shared) table amount, see our child and spousal support calculator →.
It sounds arithmetic. It rarely is.
Section 9 only engages where each parent exercises parenting time of not less than 40% of the year. That sounds like simple arithmetic and rarely turns out to be — parties argue about whether to count overnights or hours, how school days split, what happens over holidays, and whether time the child spends at school counts toward the parent who does drop-off and pickup.
There is no single prescribed counting method, which is exactly why it gets litigated so heavily. The difference between 39% and 41% changes the entire framework that applies, so the counting method is often negotiated as hard as the dollar figure that follows from it.
Contino confirmed there is no presumption in its favour.
Section 9 lists three factors: the table amounts each parent would owe the other, the increased costs of shared parenting, and the condition, means, needs and other circumstances of each parent and each child. The Supreme Court of Canada in Contino v. Leonelli-Contino confirmed there is no presumption that the straight set-off is the right number.
Shared parenting genuinely costs more in total — two bedrooms, two sets of clothes and equipment, duplicated routines — and those costs are rarely split evenly between two households with different means. Courts regularly order more than the set-off, especially where the households have very different standards of living. Section 7 special expenses — child care, health premiums, extracurriculars — sit on top of whatever figure is reached, shared in proportion to income.
Parent A earns $110,000 a year and Parent B earns $70,000, with two children splitting time 50/50. Each parent's own Ontario table amount is looked up as if they were the paying parent, then the two are set off against each other:
That $574 is the starting point a court works from, not the final word — the increased-cost and circumstances factors can move it up. Run your own incomes in the calculator above.
Where each parent has the children at least 40% of the time, section 9 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines applies. The starting point is the set-off — the difference between what each parent would pay the other under the table — but the court must also consider the increased costs of shared parenting and the circumstances of each parent and child.
No. It changes the method, not the obligation. The higher-earning parent almost always still pays something; the question section 9 answers is how much.
Not necessarily. Contino v. Leonelli-Contino held there is no presumption in favour of the straight set-off. Courts often order more, because shared parenting increases total costs and those costs are rarely borne equally between two households.
There is no single prescribed method, which is why it is so heavily litigated. Overnights are the most common measure, but hours of care and responsibility during the day are also argued, and the choice of method frequently decides whether section 9 applies at all.
Yes. Child care, health and dental premiums, uninsured medical costs and similar section 7 expenses are shared on top of whatever base amount the section 9 analysis produces, usually in proportion to each parent's income.
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