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This article explains child support in Ontario as of 2026 and is general information, not legal advice. The amounts come from the Federal Child Support Tables (Ontario), 2025 edition, in force since October 1, 2025, made under the Federal Child Support Guidelines, SOR/97-175. Ontario applies the same tables to unmarried parents through the Family Law Act and O. Reg. 391/97. Your situation may differ, and a family lawyer can advise on it.
Child support Ontario parents pay is set by a published government table, not negotiated from scratch, and the figure turns mostly on two things: the paying parent's gross income and how many children are involved. That makes it one of the few parts of a separation where you can get a realistic number in about a minute. The harder questions, shared time, extra expenses, a parent who is self-employed, sit on top of that base figure rather than replacing it.
Ontario Child Support Calculator
Uses the current 2025 Federal Child Support Tables for Ontario (in force since October 1, 2025). About 20 seconds.
This guide shows how that number is built and then works through the parts a table can't capture. If you are mapping out the wider separation, our pillar on the family-law situations where a lawyer earns their fee gives the overview, and Olanur can match you with an Ontario family lawyer for free if you would rather not work it out alone.
Child support Ontario: the quick answer
Child support Ontario is calculated from a federal table that converts the paying parent's income and the number of children into a set monthly amount. Here is the short version, expanded below.
- It follows the table, not a negotiation. The basic amount comes straight from the Federal Child Support Tables for Ontario, so two parents on the same income with the same number of kids owe the same base figure.
- Only the payor's income drives the base amount. The receiving parent's income matters for shared expenses and shared parenting, but not for the basic table figure.
- The 2025 tables are current. They came into force on October 1, 2025, the first update since 2017, so older online calculators may quote stale numbers.
- There is a $16,000 floor. A paying parent earning at or below $16,000 has a basic table amount of $0; above that, the amount climbs with income.
- Extras are added on top. Section 7 expenses such as daycare, braces, and post-secondary tuition are shared in proportion to income, separate from the table amount.
- Shared time changes things. When each parent has the children at least 40% of the time, the calculation shifts to a set-off between the two table amounts and a closer look at each household.
How child support is calculated in Ontario
Child support in Ontario starts from a single table look-up: find the paying parent's income, read across to the column for the number of children, and that monthly figure is the presumptive amount. Everything else adjusts it.
The table is part of the Federal Child Support Guidelines, the regulation that governs child support across Canada. Each province has its own table, and the one that applies is the table for the province where the paying parent lives, under section 3 of the Guidelines. The amount is based on that parent's gross annual income, the figure on line 15000 of their tax return, before deductions. For most employed parents that number is straightforward; for a parent who is self-employed or paid in dividends, working out the real income is where disputes start, and where a family lawyer's read of the numbers tends to pay for itself.
Under the hood, each table is a set of income bands. The Department of Justice describes the method plainly: each band has a basic amount plus a percentage applied to the income above the band's floor. You do not have to do that arithmetic by hand, which is exactly what the calculator at the top of this page does: it runs the verified 2025 Ontario tables for one to six children and returns the base figure in seconds.
What the Ontario table amounts look like
Across the income range, support rises steadily with income and with each additional child, but never as a flat percentage. The curves below, drawn from the 2025 Ontario tables, show the real shape, and the slider reads the exact monthly figure off each line.
Ontario child support by income and number of children
Basic monthly table amount as the paying parent’s income rises. Drag the slider to read each curve.
Paying parent’s income: $70,000
1 child
$648/mo
2 children
$1,072/mo
3 children
$1,395/mo
4 children
$1,648/mo
A few reference points make the pattern concrete. A paying parent earning $60,000 owes $554 a month for one child, $911 for two, and $1,182 for three. Lift that income to $100,000 and the figures become $932, $1,517, and $1,984. The table keeps climbing to its top row at $150,000, after which a different rule takes over (covered below). The snapshot table gathers a handful of common incomes in one place.
| Paying parent's income (Ontario, 2026) | 1 child | 2 children | 3 children |
|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $334 | $609 | $828 |
| $60,000 | $554 | $911 | $1,182 |
| $80,000 | $743 | $1,220 | $1,602 |
| $100,000 | $932 | $1,517 | $1,984 |
| $120,000 | $1,091 | $1,768 | $2,310 |
These are monthly basic amounts from the Federal Child Support Tables for Ontario (2025 edition), and they are the same whether the parents were married or common-law, because Ontario adopts the federal tables for unmarried parents through O. Reg. 391/97 under the Family Law Act. The amount you actually see in an agreement or order can still differ once expenses and parenting time are added, which is the next piece.
Section 7: the expenses the table doesn't cover
The table amount covers a child's ordinary day-to-day costs. Bigger or special costs sit outside it, under section 7 of the Guidelines, and they are normally split between the parents in proportion to their incomes, on top of the base figure.
These are called special or extraordinary expenses, and they are not automatic: a court adds them where they are reasonable given the family's means and the spending pattern before separation. The categories come straight from section 7 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines.
| Section 7 expense | Typical examples | How it is shared |
|---|---|---|
| Child care | Daycare or care needed because the parent works, studies, or is ill | Proportionate to income |
| Medical and dental premiums | The child's share of insurance premiums | Proportionate to income |
| Health costs over $100/year | Orthodontics, prescriptions, counselling, glasses, physiotherapy | Proportionate, net of insurance |
| Extraordinary school expenses | Special-needs programs, tutoring, justified private school | Proportionate to income |
| Post-secondary education | Tuition, residence, books | Proportionate, after the child's own contribution |
| Extraordinary extracurriculars | Competitive sports, music, or activities beyond the ordinary | Proportionate to income |
Proportionate sharing is simpler than it sounds. Picture a parent earning $95,000 and a co-parent earning $55,000, a combined $150,000. The higher earner's share of any section 7 cost is about 63%, so on a $6,000 course of braces they would cover roughly $3,800 and the other parent the rest. The base table amount is paid separately, every month, regardless of these extras.
Shared and split parenting: when the table amount changes
Parenting time can change the math entirely. Once each parent has the children at least 40% of the time over the year, the straight table amount stops being the answer and section 9 of the Guidelines takes over.
At that 40% threshold the law looks at three things: the table amount each parent would pay, the increased cost of running two homes, and each household's overall situation. In practice the usual starting point is a set-off: calculate the table amount for each parent's income, then the higher earner pays the difference. It is only a starting point, though. The Supreme Court and the Guidelines are both clear that a court can move off the set-off, so it is not the guaranteed result.
Consider two parents in Ottawa sharing three children close to equally. One earns $95,000, which is a $1,890 table amount; the other earns $55,000, a $1,085 amount. The set-off difference is $805 a month, the figure the higher earner would likely start from. Whether the final number lands there depends on the added costs of two households and how the children's time really splits, which is exactly the kind of detail that gets argued over.
A different rule, section 8, covers split parenting, where there are two or more children and each parent has the majority of time with at least one of them. There the support is the difference between what each parent would owe for the child or children in the other's care. The table below sets the three arrangements side by side.
| Parenting arrangement | How the amount is set | Guidelines section |
|---|---|---|
| Children mainly with one parent | The paying parent pays the full table amount for their income | s. 3 |
| Shared (each parent 40%+ of the time) | Both table amounts are weighed; a set-off is the usual starting point | s. 9 |
| Split (each parent has the majority of different children) | The difference between what each would pay for the children in the other's care | s. 8 |
Because parenting time can tip the result by hundreds of dollars a month, it is one of the first things worth nailing down, often in a separation agreement in Ontario that records the schedule and the support figure together, before either becomes a fight. How that schedule and the decision-making are actually set is a separate question, which our guide to child custody in Ontario walks through under the current parenting-time and decision-making-responsibility terms.
Incomes the table doesn't fit neatly
The table works cleanly for a salaried parent in the middle of the range. At the edges, and for income that is hard to pin down, the rules get more involved.
At the low end there is the $16,000 floor: a paying parent at or below that income has a basic table amount of $0, and the amount rises gradually from there. At the high end, once income passes the table's top row of $150,000, section 4 applies. For the first $150,000 the table amount stands; for the income above it, a court can either keep applying the table or set a different figure if the straight table amount would be inappropriate, looking at the children's actual needs and each parent's means. A parent earning $200,000 with two children, for instance, has a presumptive amount of about $2,745 a month on the extended table, but the portion over $150,000 is open to adjustment.
Self-employment is the other common wrinkle. A parent who runs a business may report a low net income after expenses, and the Guidelines let a court add back personal benefits or unreasonable deductions to reach a fairer income. There is also a narrow undue-hardship provision in section 10 for genuinely exceptional situations, such as unusually high access costs or significant debts from supporting the family. Both are fact-heavy arguments where the official Department of Justice child support guidance is a useful starting read, and where many parents decide whether they need a lawyer rather than guess.
Two scenarios, and the numbers behind them
A pair of concrete cases shows how the pieces fit. Take a parent in London, Ontario earning $82,000 whose two children live mainly with their co-parent. The 2025 table puts the basic amount at $1,251 a month. If the children are in after-school care costing $400 a month and the paying parent earns a bit more than half the household total, they would also cover a little over half of that care cost under section 7. The base figure is fixed by the table; the extra is shared by income.
Now take the Ottawa couple from earlier, three children split close to evenly, incomes of $95,000 and $55,000. Here the straight table amount is the wrong tool. The set-off points to $805 a month from the higher earner as a starting figure, but the real number depends on how the time and costs actually divide. The contrast is the whole point: the same three children produce very different math depending on where they sleep. Across the Ontario family-law requests we see at Olanur, disagreements over shared-time percentages and a self-employed parent's true income are the two things that most often turn a simple table look-up into a negotiation.
How to change or enforce child support in Ontario
Child support is not frozen once it is set. Either parent can ask to change it when there is a material change in circumstances, a lost job, a big raise, or a shift in the parenting schedule, and parents are generally expected to exchange updated income information each year so the amount keeps pace.
Enforcement of a child support Ontario order runs through the Family Responsibility Office (FRO), a provincial body that collects support under a court order or a filed agreement and pursues payments that fall behind. Its tools include garnishing wages, redirecting tax refunds, and suspending a driver's licence. If support is set out only in a private agreement, filing it with the court is what lets the FRO step in, and the Ontario government's support enforcement pages explain how that works. When payments stop or an income is hidden, that is usually the point where parents look for help, sometimes alongside how to find a lawyer in Canada who handles enforcement.
Spousal support works nothing like this. There is no table, entitlement has to be established before any formula runs, and the result is a range rather than a figure, which our guide to spousal support in Ontario sets out in full.
When it helps to talk to a family lawyer
Plenty of child support questions resolve with the table and a calm conversation. Others carry enough money or conflict that a professional read pays for itself. The closer your situation is to the points below, the more that tends to be true.
- One parent is self-employed, paid in dividends, or has income that is hard to pin down
- Parenting time is near or above the 40% line, so a set-off and section 9 come into play
- There are significant section 7 expenses, such as private school, braces, or therapy
- The paying parent earns well over $150,000, where section 4 opens the amount to argument
- Support has been agreed informally and you want it enforceable through the FRO
- Payments have stopped, or you suspect income is being understated
Cost is usually the hesitation here, and it helps to separate two things: support itself is an obligation set by the tables, while the price of sorting it out is a separate, much smaller number, which our itemized guide to how much a divorce costs in Ontario prices line by line. If several of these fit, a short consultation is often the highest-value step available, and many family lawyers offer a free initial review. Our guides on whether you need a lawyer in Canada and how to find a trustworthy lawyer can help you decide, and if a divorce is also on the horizon, the walkthrough of how to file for divorce in Ontario sets out where support fits into the wider process.
How Olanur helps you find a family lawyer in Ontario
We built Olanur to take the guesswork out of the first step: working out which lawyer actually fits your situation. Rather than cold-calling firms, you describe what you are dealing with once, and our matching system connects you with verified Ontario family lawyers who handle child support, parenting, and the income arguments that come with them. There is no cost, no sign-up wall, and no obligation.
For child support specifically, that often means a lawyer who can pressure-test a self-employed income, confirm whether a set-off is being applied correctly, or get an informal arrangement turned into an enforceable order. If you want to see how the matching works first, our walkthrough of how Olanur works explains it step by step, and lawyer lookup in Ontario covers the Ontario-specific ways to find vetted help.
Frequently asked questions
Child support Ontario amounts come from the Federal Child Support Tables for Ontario. You take the paying parent's gross annual income and the number of children, and the table gives a set monthly amount. Special or extraordinary expenses under section 7, such as daycare or braces, are then shared in proportion to each parent's income on top of that base figure.
It depends entirely on the paying parent's income. Under the 2025 Ontario table, one child draws a basic amount of about $334 a month at a $40,000 income, $554 at $60,000, $743 at $80,000, and $932 at $100,000. Section 7 expenses are added separately, and shared parenting can change the figure.
Yes. Once each parent has the children at least 40% of the time, section 9 of the Guidelines applies instead of the straight table amount. The usual starting point is a set-off: each parent's table amount is calculated and the higher earner pays the difference, though a court can adjust it for the added cost of two homes and each household's means.
The basic table amount is based only on the paying parent's income. The other parent's income matters for two things: sharing section 7 special expenses in proportion to income, and shared-parenting situations where both table amounts are weighed. For an ordinary primary-residence arrangement, only the payor's income sets the base figure.
There is a $16,000 income floor in the 2025 Ontario tables, below which the basic table amount is $0. A parent earning above that pays a gradually rising amount, for example about $128 a month for one child at a $20,000 income. Section 7 expenses are still shared in proportion to income where they apply.
Support set out in a court order or a filed agreement is enforced by Ontario's Family Responsibility Office. The FRO can garnish wages, intercept tax refunds, and suspend a driver's licence to collect arrears. A purely private agreement has to be filed with the court first for the FRO to enforce it, which is why many parents formalize the arrangement.
Before you settle a number
Child support Ontario outcomes reward getting the inputs right more than anything else: the paying parent's real income, an honest count of parenting time, and a clear list of section 7 expenses. Nail those down and the table does most of the work, which is why the calculator above gets most parents a realistic figure in under a minute. The arguments, when they happen, are almost always about the inputs, not the table.
A short conversation with a family lawyer before you sign anything is often the most valuable half hour of the whole process, especially where self-employment, shared time, or high income is in play. If you would like a professional to confirm the number or formalize an arrangement, Olanur can match you with a verified Ontario family lawyer, free and with no pressure. You can also read the rules directly in the Federal Child Support Guidelines and check the current figures with the Department of Justice child support tables.
Priya Kapoor
Family, Real Estate & Criminal Law Contributor
Priya focuses on family law, real estate transactions, criminal defence, and civil disputes, guiding Canadians through some of the most consequential legal moments in their lives.
