Family Law

Child Support in Canada: How It's Calculated

Updated October 20, 2026LawyerDirectoryCanada.ca Editorial Team

Child support in Canada is calculated mainly from the paying parent's income, the number of children and the province where the paying parent lives, using the Federal Child Support Guidelines tables. Every province and territory except Quebec uses these tables. Special expenses such as child care, uninsured medical costs and post-secondary education are added on top and usually shared in proportion to each parent's income. Updated tables took effect on October 1, 2025, the first update since 2017.

This article is part of the guide to family law in Canada.

The short version

Child support is the child's right. Parents generally cannot waive it.
It applies whether parents were married, common-law or never lived together.
The basic amount comes from a table based on the paying parent's gross income and number of children.
Section 7 special or extraordinary expenses are added and shared by income.
Different rules apply when each parent has the child at least 40% of the time, when each parent has at least one child, or when income is over $150,000.
The 2025 tables apply to support owed from October 1, 2025 onward, and do not automatically change existing orders.
Quebec uses its own model and tables.

Who Must Pay Child Support

Both parents have a legal duty to support their children. In practice, the parent with whom the child spends less time usually pays the other. This obligation exists regardless of marital status, and in some cases a step-parent who treated a child as their own can also be required to pay.

The Federal Child Support Guidelines apply to divorcing and divorced parents under the Divorce Act. Each province and territory has its own guidelines for unmarried and separated parents, and outside Quebec these use the same tables. In Ontario, for example, the Child Support Guidelines regulation under the Family Law Act adopts the federal tables.

Step 1: Determine Income

Income usually starts with the total income on line 15000 of the parent's tax return, with some adjustments set out in the Guidelines. Courts can impute a higher income in situations such as:

a parent being intentionally under-employed or unemployed
unreasonably deducting expenses from self-employment income
diverting income, for example into a corporation
failing to provide income information when required

Both parents usually must exchange income information, including tax returns and notices of assessment, and update it each year if the order or agreement requires it.

Step 2: Find the Table Amount

The table amount is the basic monthly child support. It depends on:

the paying parent's annual income
the number of children the support is for
the province or territory where the paying parent lives

Justice Canada publishes an online table look-up tool and simplified tables in PDF format. Under the 2025 tables, a table amount generally applies once the paying parent's income reaches $16,000, up from $13,000 under the 2017 tables.

Step 3: Add Section 7 Special or Extraordinary Expenses

Section 7 of the Guidelines covers expenses beyond the table amount, such as:

child care costs related to a parent's work, illness, disability or education
the portion of health or dental insurance premiums attributable to the child
health-related costs over $100 a year not covered by insurance, such as orthodontics, therapy, prescription drugs or glasses
extraordinary costs for primary or secondary education
post-secondary education costs
extraordinary costs for extracurricular activities

The expense must be reasonable and necessary given the child's best interests and the family's means. These costs are usually shared in proportion to each parent's income after accounting for tax benefits or subsidies.

Example: if one parent earns $90,000 and the other earns $30,000, the parents' combined income is $120,000. The first parent pays 75% of approved section 7 expenses and the second pays 25%.

Special Situations

Situation	How support is calculated
Shared parenting: each parent has at least 40% of parenting time over a year	The court considers both parents' table amounts, the increased costs of shared parenting and each household's circumstances. A set-off of the two table amounts is a common starting point but not automatic
Split parenting: each parent has at least one child living mainly with them	Each parent's table amount for the children in the other's care is calculated, and the difference is paid
Income over $150,000	The table amount applies to the first $150,000. For income above that, the court can use the table amount or set a different amount if it considers the table amount inappropriate
Child at or over the age of majority	Support can continue if the child is still dependent, such as in full-time education or because of illness or disability. The table amount may be used or adjusted, and the child's own resources may be considered
Undue hardship	Either parent can ask for a different amount if the table amount would cause undue hardship, such as unusually high debts or high costs of parenting time. The test is strict and rarely met

Quebec's Different Model

Quebec has not adopted the federal tables for most cases. Quebec's model calculates support based on both parents' combined incomes and the child's time with each parent, using Quebec's own tables and forms. The federal 2025 table update does not apply to Quebec calculations.

The 2025 Table Update

The updated Federal Child Support Tables came into force on October 1, 2025, using more recent tax rules. Key points from Justice Canada:

Use the 2017 tables for support owed between November 22, 2017 and September 30, 2025.
Use the 2025 tables for support owed from October 1, 2025 onward.
The new tables do not automatically apply to orders made before October 1, 2025.
A change in the table amount may be a reason to recalculate or vary support, by agreement, through a provincial recalculation service where available, or through the court.

How Child Support Is Set Up and Changed

Agreement

Parents can agree on child support in a separation agreement, but the amount should generally follow the Guidelines. Courts can set aside agreements that provide less without good reason. See what to include in a separation agreement.

Court order

If parents cannot agree, either can ask the court for an order. The court must include specific information in the order, such as the income used and the table amount.

Administrative services

Some provinces offer services that set or update child support without going to court. In Ontario, the online Child Support Service can calculate or recalculate support in some situations. A Notice of Calculation or Recalculation must be followed as if it were a court order. If a parent disagrees with a recalculation, they generally must ask the court to change it.

Changes in circumstances

Support can be varied when circumstances change, such as a job loss, a new income, a change in where the children live or a child finishing school. Payments continue at the old amount until the agreement or order is formally changed, so act quickly.

Enforcement

Each province and territory has a maintenance enforcement program that collects and enforces support orders. In Ontario this is the Family Responsibility Office. These programs can garnish wages and bank accounts, intercept federal payments such as tax refunds, and suspend driver's licences and passports for unpaid support.

Taxes

Child support paid under a written agreement or court order made after April 30, 1997 is generally neither deductible for the payer nor taxable for the recipient. Spousal support is treated differently. See spousal support in Canada.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can parents agree to no child support?

Generally no. Child support belongs to the child, and courts are not bound by agreements that provide inadequate support. In a divorce, the court must be satisfied that reasonable arrangements have been made for child support before granting the divorce.

Does child support change if the paying parent remarries or has new children?

A new partner's income does not usually change the table amount. Obligations to children in a new family can, in rare cases, support an undue hardship claim, but the test is difficult to meet.

Is child support linked to parenting time?

Parenting time and child support are separate issues. A parent cannot withhold parenting time because support is unpaid, and a parent cannot stop paying support because parenting time is being denied. Both issues have their own remedies.

How far back can child support be claimed?

Courts can order retroactive child support, often going back several years in some cases, especially where the paying parent did not disclose an increase in income. Delay in asking can reduce what is awarded.

What if the paying parent lives in another province or country?

Inter-jurisdictional support laws allow support orders to be made and enforced across provinces and with many other countries. The table for the province where the paying parent lives is usually used.

Need help with child support? Search LawyerDirectoryCanada.ca for family lawyers by province and city.

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