How do you change a child or spousal support order in Ontario?

You ask the court with a motion to change: on consent if the other parent agrees, or a contested motion if they do not. For child support only, Ontario's online Child Support Service can recalculate some orders from updated income. Until a judge or the service changes the amount, the old order stays in force and the Family Responsibility Office keeps enforcing it.

Support orders are not frozen. Incomes change, children grow up, and parenting schedules shift. The law lets a court change a support order when circumstances change, but it does not let either parent change it alone, and an informal side deal does not change what the Family Responsibility Office enforces. This page explains the routes and the tests for both kinds of support. For how child support is calculated in the first place, see our page on child support in Ontario. Our page on spousal support covers entitlement and amount.

Which route fits your situation?

If the current terms are in a court order, a new agreement on its own does not change the order. The usual way to make an agreed change binding is a consent motion to change, so the court can make a new order and a new support deduction order.

How does a motion to change work, step by step?

1. Check the legal test. For child support, there must be a change of circumstances as defined in the child support guidelines (Divorce Act, s. 17(4); Family Law Act, s. 37(2.1)). For spousal support, there must be a change in the condition, means, needs or other circumstances of either spouse (Divorce Act, s. 17(4.1)) or, under the Family Law Act, a material change in circumstances (s. 37(2)).
2. Choose the court. A motion to change starts in the same place a new case would under rule 5, normally the municipality where a party lives (r. 15(4)). For a Divorce Act order, an Ontario court can hear the variation if either former spouse is habitually resident in Ontario when it starts (Divorce Act, s. 5(1)).
3. Prepare the documents. The motion to change (Form 15) is filed with all required attachments, including a copy of the existing order or agreement (r. 15(20)). A party asking for a support amount that is not in line with the tables files the evidence the guidelines require, such as the income information in section 21 (r. 15(21)). The government's court guide adds the financial statement (Form 13 or 13.1) and the certificate of financial disclosure (Form 13A).
4. Serve it properly. The motion to change is served by special service, together with a blank response (Form 15B) and a blank consent (Form 15C) (r. 15(6) and (7)), and the person who delivers it must be someone other than the party (r. 6(4.1)). If support has been assigned to an agency, the agency is served as well (r. 15(11)).
5. Wait for the response. The other party has 30 days to respond if they live in Canada or the United States, and 60 days if they live anywhere else (r. 15(10)). They can disagree with Form 15B or agree by signing Form 15C (r. 15(9)).
6. If there is no response. The party who brought the motion can file a motion form (Form 14B) asking the court to make the order requested in the materials (r. 15(15)).
7. First appearance before a judge. In a contested motion, the judge at the first attendance decides the next step and, where possible, the most appropriate process to reach a quick and just conclusion (r. 15(24.1)).
8. The new order. When a support order is changed, the court also makes a new support deduction order to reflect the change (Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, s. 10(2)).

If you live in Toronto, our guide to which Toronto family court handles your case explains where support cases are heard.

When can the online Child Support Service recalculate the amount instead?

Section 39.1 of the Family Law Act created an administrative recalculation service. A party to a child support order who believes the income information behind the order has changed can apply for a recalculation, and the service applies the child support guidelines to the updated income. Ontario's page on the service sets out who can and cannot use it. You can use it if one parent or caregiver lives with the child 60 per cent of the time and the parents live separate and apart. You cannot use it if, among other things, either parent or any child lives outside Ontario, a child is over 17.5 years old or married, there is split or shared parenting time, the order was based on undue hardship or imputed income, or the paying parent is self-employed, earns more than $150,000 or less than $12,000, earns cash income, or is a partner or majority shareholder of a business. It also cannot recalculate an amount that includes post-secondary expenses.

When one parent applies, the other is notified by mail and must respond online within 25 calendar days from the date in their letter. If the other parent does not respond, the service may update support based on the information provided, in limited cases. Each use costs a non-refundable $80, and a fee waiver may be available for low-income households. A notice of recalculation goes to the Family Responsibility Office, and the recalculated amount is due from the first payment date in the order that follows the 31st day after the notice is given (Family Law Act, s. 39.1(10)). It is then deemed to be the amount payable under the order (s. 39.1(16)). A parent who disagrees with a recalculation can still bring a motion to change; rule 15 applies whether or not the order has been recalculated (r. 15(2.1)).

Can a change go back in time, and what about arrears?

Both statutes allow retroactive changes. Under the Divorce Act, a court may vary, rescind or suspend a support order "retroactively or prospectively" (s. 17(1)). Under the Family Law Act, the court may discharge, vary or suspend a term of the order "prospectively or retroactively", and may relieve the paying party from part or all of the arrears or interest owing (s. 37(2) and (2.1)). Whether a court will do so, and from what date, depends on the facts of the case.

Arrears do not stop growing while you wait. The Family Responsibility Office enforces the order as written and says that only a judge can change the amount of support in an order; payors are told to keep paying until the office tells them in writing that they can stop. If a payor is already behind and faces enforcement, our page on what the Family Responsibility Office can do explains the notices and the refraining order, which is tied to a motion to change.

What changes the answer?

• Child or spousal support. Child support follows the guidelines' definition of change: any change that would result in a different order where the table applies (guidelines, s. 14). Spousal support needs a change in condition, means, needs or other circumstances (Divorce Act, s. 17(4.1)).
• A divorce order or a Family Law Act order. The Divorce Act governs orders made in a divorce; the Family Law Act governs other orders and filed agreements. Their tests and powers are close but not identical.
• Timing. Under the Family Law Act, no application to vary may be made within six months after the order or the last variation, except with the court's permission (s. 37(3)).
• Time-limited spousal support. If a spousal support order under the Divorce Act ended at a set time or event, it can be resumed only on the conditions in section 17(10).
• Special expenses and shared time. A new or ended section 7 expense can change the amount. So can a parenting schedule that moves to or from shared parenting time.
• A child turning 18 or finishing school. Support does not end automatically at 18; see whether child support stops at 18.
• A parent outside Ontario. The online service is not available, and other rules may apply; see child support when a parent lives abroad.

A worked example

For example, imagine Farhad and Mina, who divorced three years ago. Farhad lives in Vaughan and pays child support for their two children and spousal support to Mina, who lives in Richmond Hill. The order is enforced by the Family Responsibility Office, which deducts the payments from his salary. This year Farhad's employer closed its Toronto office, and his new job pays much less.

Because he wants to change both child and spousal support, the online service is not enough even if he otherwise qualified. He first asks Mina to agree; she will not, because she believes he will soon find a better-paid job. He has the motion to change (Form 15), his financial statement, his last three years of tax returns and notices of assessment, his termination letter and a copy of the divorce order served on Mina by special service, using a friend to deliver the papers. Because they both live in York Region, the motion would usually be heard at the family court in Newmarket. Mina has 30 days to respond. Meanwhile Farhad keeps paying the full amount through the Family Responsibility Office, because the old order is still in force. At the first appearance the judge sets the next steps. The court will look at whether the drop in income is a change under the guidelines, whether he is intentionally under-employed, and whether spousal support should change too. This is a hypothetical walk-through, not a prediction of any result.

What mistakes do people make?

1. Paying less without a new order. The old order stays in force, arrears build up, and the Family Responsibility Office can enforce them.
2. Relying on a side agreement. An agreement that changes a court order informally does not change what the office enforces.
3. Waiting too long. A retroactive change is possible but not automatic. Act when the change happens.
4. Serving the papers yourself. A motion to change must be served by special service by someone other than the party (r. 6(4.1)).
5. Leaving out income documents. Missing disclosure delays the case and can lead the court to impute income.
6. Using the online service when it does not fit. It cannot handle spousal support, shared or split time, imputed income or post-secondary expenses, among other limits.

What to do this week

1. Find your current order or agreement and note the date, the amounts and who pays.
2. Write down exactly what has changed and when: income, job, parenting time, a child's schooling.
3. Gather your last three years of tax returns and notices of assessment, plus proof of the change; our guide to which financial statement to file lists the rest.
4. Send the other parent a written request for their updated income information; the guidelines allow one request a year (s. 25).
5. Check Ontario's eligibility rules for the online service before paying the fee.
6. Keep paying, or keep receiving through the Family Responsibility Office, under the current order until it is changed.

Frequently asked questions

Can the Family Responsibility Office change my support amount?

No. The office enforces the order. Its guidance says it cannot change the amount of support and only a judge can change the amount in a support order.

Do I need a lawyer to file a motion to change?

No. People can file one themselves, and Ontario's guide to updating child support in court lists the forms. A lawyer can help with the evidence, the legal test and any negotiation, especially in a contested motion.

What if the other parent lives in Iran or elsewhere outside North America?

They have 60 days, not 30, to respond to the motion (r. 15(10)), and the online service cannot be used. Service abroad needs care; our guide to Persian-speaking family law help in Toronto explains how we work with Iranian-Canadian families.

Can I change support if I lose my job?

A loss of income can be a change in circumstances, but the court will ask whether the drop is real and whether income should be imputed, for example if a parent is intentionally under-employed (guidelines, s. 19(1)(a)).

How often can the other parent ask for my income information?

On written request, not more than once a year after the order. The documents are due within 30 days if you live in Canada or the United States, or 60 days if you live elsewhere (guidelines, s. 25(1) and (5)).

Can an agreed change be made without going to court?

If the support is in a court order, the usual route is a consent motion to change, which a judge can decide on the filed papers (r. 15(25)). If the support is in a domestic contract, the parents can sign a new agreement.

Sarbazevatan Law acts for parents and spouses on motions to change child and spousal support, in English and Persian (Farsi). Call +1 (416) 628-2041 or reach us through the contact page.