Child custody and support in Ontario: what the law actually says

Most parents still say custody, and everyone knows what they mean. The law moved on in March 2021, though: the Divorce Act and Ontario’s Children’s Law Reform Act now speak of decision-making responsibility and parenting time instead. If you are separating with children in Ontario, here is what those terms mean, how child support gets set, and what a judge will actually weigh.

Since March 1, 2021, both the federal Divorce Act and Ontario’s Children’s Law Reform Act have dropped “custody” and “access.” The current terms are decision-making responsibility, the authority to make major decisions about a child’s education, health care, and religion, and parenting time, the time the child spends in each parent’s care. Older orders written in the old language remain valid, but new orders and agreements use the new terms.

The arrangements themselves will look familiar:

• Sole decision-making responsibility: One parent makes the major decisions. The other parent usually still has parenting time and a right to information about the child.
• Joint decision-making responsibility: Both parents make major decisions together. It only works where the parents can actually communicate.
• Shared parenting time: The child spends at least 40% of the year with each parent. This changes the child support math, because each parent’s obligation to the other is taken into account.
• Split parenting time: With two or more children, each parent has the majority of parenting time with at least one of them.

Decision-making responsibility is about the big calls, not the daily ones. The Divorce Act spells out the categories: health, education, culture, language, religion and spirituality, and significant extracurricular activities. Whoever has the child during their parenting time still decides the ordinary stuff, what to eat, bedtimes, weekend plans, without checking in.

It also does not have to be all or nothing. A court can divide decision-making by topic. One parent might have the final say on health care while the two of you decide schooling together, or each of you takes the lead in a different area. That kind of split shows up where parents cooperate on some subjects but hit a wall on one, often religion or a medical issue.

A parenting plan is a written agreement setting out how you will parent after separation. Courts encourage them, and the Divorce Act says a judge shall include a plan the parents agree on in the order unless it is not in the child’s best interests. In practice, a plan you write together usually beats a schedule a judge imposes, because you both know what your family’s weeks actually look like.

A good plan covers:

• The regular schedule, plus holidays, birthdays, school breaks, and summer
• Who makes which major decisions, and how you will share school and medical information
• How the parents communicate, and how the child stays in touch with the parent they are not with
• How you will resolve disagreements before anyone files anything, whether that is mediation or another route

Child support follows the Federal Child Support Guidelines. The basic amount comes from a table based on the paying parent’s gross income and the number of children. Those tables were updated effective October 1, 2025, the first revision since 2017, so check the current numbers rather than an old chart. Our child support calculator reproduces the current Ontario table if you want the monthly figure for a given income.

• Table amount: Covers ordinary living costs and is fixed by the payor’s income and the number of children.
• Special or extraordinary expenses: Child care, medical and dental costs not covered by insurance, and some extracurricular activities. Parents typically share these in proportion to their incomes.

Section 7 expenses, in plain terms

Those special or extraordinary expenses come from section 7 of the Guidelines, which is why lawyers call them section 7 expenses. The usual categories are:

• Child care you need in order to work or study
• Medical and dental insurance premiums for the child, and health costs insurance does not cover, like orthodontics, counselling, glasses, or prescriptions
• Post-secondary education
• Extraordinary school expenses and extraordinary extracurricular activities

Two filters apply: the expense has to be necessary in the child’s best interests, and reasonable given what the parents earn and how the family spent money before the split. Rep hockey might qualify in one household and not in another. Whatever qualifies is shared in proportion to each parent’s income, on top of the table amount.

There is one test: the best interests of the child. A judge will look at, among other things:

• The child’s physical, emotional, and psychological safety and well-being
• Each parent’s ability to care for the child, and their willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent
• The child’s relationships with each parent, siblings, and extended family
• The child’s own views and preferences, weighed against their age and maturity
• Any history of family violence, abuse, or neglect

Parenting and support orders can be changed, but you need a material change in circumstances to reopen one: a real shift in income, a move, or a significant change in the child’s needs. A parent who wants to relocate with the child generally has to give the other parent at least 60 days’ written notice first.

Support orders made by Ontario courts are filed automatically with the Family Responsibility Office, the provincial agency that collects from the paying parent and passes the money on. You do not have to chase the payments yourself, and the parents can jointly withdraw from FRO if they would rather handle it directly.

When a payor falls behind, FRO has real teeth. It can deduct support straight from wages, garnish bank accounts, intercept federal money such as income tax refunds, suspend a driver’s licence, and register liens against property. It is a collection agency with statutory powers, not a court, so it enforces the order as written. If the amount itself is wrong, you still need to go back to court to change it.

Plenty of parents work out a schedule between themselves, and that is usually the best outcome for everyone. A lawyer earns their fee when the two of you cannot agree, when an income is hard to pin down, or when an agreement needs to hold up in court years from now.

If you need help with parenting arrangements or child support in Ontario, Telesh Law Firm Professional Corp can tell you where you stand.

• For families
• Ontario courts

This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not create a solicitor-client relationship. It is current as at its publication date and is not revised as the law changes. For advice on your specific situation, book a consultation or call 416-639-0887.

Written by

Caleesis Telesh

Founder & Principal Lawyer

LL.B. · B.A., York University · Member, Law Society of Ontario

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