Once each parent has the children at least 40% of the time, the ordinary table amount stops applying and section 9 takes over. The set-off is where the analysis starts, not where it ends.
Federal Child Support Guidelines s. 9 and Contino v. Leonelli-Contino. Table amounts from the Ontario table already verified in support-calc.js. Reviewed 28 August 2026.
Section 9 only engages where each parent exercises parenting time of not less than 40% of the year. That sounds arithmetic and rarely is. Parties argue about whether to count overnights or hours, how school days split, what happens to holidays, and whether time the child is at school counts to the parent who delivers them.
The difference between 39% and 41% changes the entire framework, which is why the counting method is negotiated as hard as the money.
Section 9 lists three: the table amounts for both parents, the increased costs of shared parenting, and the condition, means, needs and other circumstances of each parent and each child.
The Supreme Court in Contino confirmed there is no presumption that the simple set-off is the right number. Shared parenting genuinely costs more in total — two bedrooms, two sets of clothes, two of everything — and those costs do not fall evenly. Courts regularly order more than the set-off, particularly where the two households have very different standards of living.
Section 7 expenses sit on top of whatever figure is reached, shared in proportion to income.
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; the question is how much.
Not necessarily. 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.
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.
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