Child support arrears in Ontario

Child support arrears in Ontario are unpaid amounts that build up when a payor falls behind on a court order or a filed separation agreement. Arrears do not disappear with time, and the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) has strong enforcement tools — driver's licence suspension, federal-passport hold, bank-account garnishment, federal tax-refund interception, credit reporting. If you are falling behind, the worst response is to go quiet. The right response is to act early, document the change, and use the legal process to vary the order — because until a court changes the amount, the original order stands and arrears keep accumulating.

The Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996 gives the FRO its enforcement authority — the Director's mandate is in sections 5 and 6, with the tools spread through the Act. Section 17 of the Divorce Act (or section 37 of the Family Law Act for non-divorce orders) governs how support amounts can be changed.

When this does apply

Arrears apply whenever there is a support order — or a separation agreement filed with the court — and payments fall behind. The FRO does not wait long: missed payments trigger enforcement steps quickly — payroll deduction usually operates from the start, and further tools escalate from there. An early escalation is a Support Deduction Notice to the payor's bank. After that come the heavier tools — driver's licence suspension directed by the FRO under the FRSAEA (it starts with a 30-day notice), passport hold under federal regulations, federal-tax garnishment. Arrears compound: postjudgment interest under the Courts of Justice Act is set quarterly (4.0% in mid-2026) and applies where the order provides for it. A $500/month shortfall builds to $6,000 in arrears in a year, plus interest, plus enforcement consequences.

When this doesn't apply

Arrears do not apply if the order amount was changed by a court before payments fell behind — the new amount applies retroactively to the date the change was effective. They also do not apply if both spouses formally agreed in writing to a different amount, registered the change, and the agreement was modified through proper channels. Informal "we agreed I'd pay less" arrangements do not work — the FRO enforces what the court ordered, not what the spouses said over coffee. If you want to pay a different amount, you must change the order. Arrears can sometimes be cancelled or reduced retroactively by a court if you can show you brought the variation application promptly when circumstances changed, you could not have paid the full amount, and the recipient was on notice — but courts are reluctant to cancel arrears that built up while you stayed silent.

What to do

The instant your circumstances change — job loss, a real income drop, a serious health issue — three steps in order. First, write to the FRO explaining the change. The FRO cannot reduce the order, but informing them slows the enforcement escalation and creates a documented timeline. Second, write to the other parent (the support recipient) the same day. Propose an interim arrangement in writing. Third, file a Motion to Change (Form 15) or apply to the Ontario Child Support Service for an administrative recalculation if your case qualifies. Run the free child support calculator before you file so you know the correct Federal Child Support Tables amount to ask for. The Child Support Service is faster than court and handles routine income-based updates for Federal Child Support Tables amounts. If the income drop is genuine rather than a choice, the court looks at whether income should be imputed — which is why documenting the real change matters.

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