Arranging child support

How to arrange child support between yourself and the other parent or caregiver.

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Set up or update your child support online

You can set up child support or adjust the amount of child support you currently receive or pay online.

Use the link below to access the Child Support Service, then select Start or Respond to an Application.

If you have questions about your online application or how to set up or update child support online, contact the online Child Support Service Contact Centre at 1-866-656-7753 or toll-free TTY in Canada at 1-800-263-7776 .

Respond to letter in mail

If you’ve received a letter in the mail from the Ministry of the Attorney General, it’s to let you know the other parent or caregiver of your child/children has started to set up or update child support online.

You must respond online within 25 calendar days from the date of the letter. Keep the letter on hand because you’ll be asked to enter the identification number printed at the top of the page.

Use the link below to access the Child Support Service, then select Start or Respond to an Application.

If you don’t respond, the ministry may recalculate the child support amount based solely on the income information provided by the other parent or caregiver.

How to arrange child support

You can set up, update and enforce child support in one of three ways:

• Online: you and the other parent or caregiver both enter information to arrange child support
• Written agreement: you and the other parent or caregiver write an agreement yourselves, or with the help of a lawyer or mediator, to arrange child support
• Court: you and the other parent or caregiver arrange child support by filing documents in court

Calculate your child support amount

Child support payments are based on:

• the number of children
• the province or territory where the paying parent lives
• the paying parent’s annual income

Get a rough estimate of the child support amount to be paid/received using this simple calculator from the federal government.

These updates could result in a small change to the child support amount required to be paid.

How to pay and receive child support

When child support is set up online or in court, it is automatically filed with the Family Responsibility Office ( FRO ). It helps families get the support they are entitled to by collecting, distributing and enforcing child and spousal support payments. It also determines how the money is to be paid and received ( e.g. monthly through direct deposit).

If you arrange child support through a written agreement (also known as a domestic contract), you can still have FRO determine how support is paid and received.

To do this, you must:

1. Submit a copy of your written agreement and a completed affidavit (a form that shows the date the agreement was submitted – and by whom) to the courthouse nearest you
   • submit by mail or in person
   • find a courthouse in your community
2. Send a copy of your written agreement only to FRO :
   • by mail:
     Family Responsibility Office
     Ministry of Community and Social Services
     PO Box 200 STN A
     Oshawa, Ontario L1H 0C5
   • by fax:
     416-240-2401

If you’re paying child support

If you’re receiving child support

Enforce child support

If child support payments are not made, the Family Responsibility Office has the authority to collect the money owed from the parent or caregiver who’s supposed to be paying. The FRO can use different methods such as:

• reporting the parent or caregiver who’s supposed to be paying to the credit bureau
• suspending the driver’s licence, Canadian passport or federal licence ( e.g. a pilot’s licence) of the parent or caregiver who is supposed to be paying
• garnishing bank accounts

Provide proof of income

The parent or caregiver paying child support must provide the other parent or caregiver proof of income every year – and within 30 days of the original court order or agreement date.

You and the other parent or caregiver may agree to another timeframe. In that case, the paying parent or caregiver must provide the other parent or caregiver with a copy of the following:

• their last income tax return
• their last notice of assessment or reassessment for that tax return

If your order or agreement includes special expenses ( e.g. orthodontics, prescription drugs, club and sports fees or child care), both you and the other parent or caregiver must provide:

• information about the status and amount of the expenses
• any loan, scholarship or bursaries the child has received or will receive in the coming year that will affect the expenses, if applicable

Withdraw child support

If you and the other parent or caregiver decide you no longer want payments to go through the Family Responsibility Office you can withdraw your support order.

Related information

Set up or update child support through a written agreement