Consider a hypothetical Brampton family. The table support was settled months ago and arrives on time. Then the orthodontist’s quote lands at several thousand dollars, the competitive hockey fees are due, and the daycare’s rates go up. One parent forwards the bills. The other replies that they already pay child support. Who is right?
Often the answer depends on section 7 of the child support guidelines, which deals with costs that the monthly table amount is not designed to absorb. Section 7 is one of the most argued-over parts of child support, partly because it is discretionary and partly because the bills keep coming long after the original order is signed. Knowing how it works can prevent a good deal of friction.
Please treat this as general information about Ontario law rather than legal advice. Whether a particular expense will be shared depends on your income, your child, and the wording of any order or agreement you already have.
Two sets of rules exist, and they are almost identical on this topic. Married parents who are divorcing use the Federal Child Support Guidelines under the Divorce Act. Parents who never married, or who are separated and not yet in a divorce case, generally use Ontario’s Child Support Guidelines under the Family Law Act. Both contain a section 7 that lists the same categories and applies the same sharing principle. For most readers the difference will not change the analysis, and this post describes them together.
The six categories
Section 7 is a closed list. If a cost does not fit one of these categories, it is usually treated as something the table amount is meant to cover:
- Child care costs incurred because of the employment, illness, disability, or education or training for employment of the parent with the majority of parenting time.
- Medical and dental insurance premiums, for the portion attributable to the child.
- Health-related expenses that exceed insurance reimbursement by at least $100 a year, including orthodontic treatment, counselling, physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapy, prescription drugs, hearing aids, glasses and contact lenses.
- Extraordinary expenses for primary or secondary school, or for other educational programs that meet the child’s particular needs.
- Post-secondary education expenses.
- Extraordinary expenses for extracurricular activities.
Everyday clothing, school lunches, a regular dentist’s cleaning that insurance fully covers, and ordinary school supplies generally sit inside table support. A second family’s costs are not section 7 expenses at all.
The word “extraordinary” does a lot of work
Two of the categories, school programs and extracurricular activities, must be “extraordinary.” The guidelines define this in section 7(1.1). An expense is extraordinary if it exceeds what the requesting parent can reasonably cover, taking into account that parent’s income and the table amount they receive. If that test does not fit, the court looks at the amount of the expense relative to the requesting parent’s income, the nature and number of programs, any special needs and talents of the child, the overall cost, and any other similar factor.
So there is no list of approved activities. A $400 house league season may be easily managed by a household with one income and yet not by another. Private school tuition may qualify for a child with a documented learning need and be refused in a family that never planned for it and cannot afford it. Tutoring, an elite cricket academy, or competitive dance each stand or fall on the same questions.
Necessary, reasonable and affordable
Falling within a category is only the first step. Section 7(1) then asks a court to consider whether the expense is necessary in relation to the child’s best interests, and whether it is reasonable in relation to the means of the parents and child and to the family’s spending pattern before separation.
That last phrase often comes up in Brampton families where one parent wants to keep up a pre-separation routine and the other says money is now tighter. If the children have been in private music lessons since they were five, it is easier to argue that continuing them is reasonable. If a parent signs a child up for an expensive travel team after separation with no discussion, the other parent has a stronger argument against paying. Neither result is automatic. Courts also recognize that two households cost more than one, and a level of spending that once worked may no longer be possible.
How the split is calculated
The guiding principle in section 7(2) is that an expense is shared in proportion to the parents’ incomes, after deducting any contribution from the child. It is a guiding principle, so a court may depart from it, but it is the usual starting point.
Suppose, purely as an illustration, that one parent earns $90,000 and the other $60,000. Their combined income is $150,000, so they would share in a 60 and 40 split. If braces cost $6,000 after insurance, the split would be $3,600 and $2,400.
Before the division, section 7(3) requires the court to account for subsidies, benefits and income tax deductions or credits related to the expense, and to consider eligibility to claim them. This has the greatest effect on daycare, where the Child Care Expense Deduction can substantially change the true cost. A net figure, not the amount on the invoice, is often the number actually being shared. Many people skip that step, so it can make sense to have a lawyer or accountant check the calculation for larger amounts.
Adding it to the order the right way
Parents commonly use one of three approaches:
- A fixed monthly amount for known, predictable costs such as daycare, adjusted when the cost changes.
- A percentage of each expense, with the parents’ shares stated, for costs that vary from year to year.
- A description of agreed activities with a cap, where parents agree on a set list and budget and require consent for anything beyond it.
The wording matters when something goes wrong. The Family Responsibility Office generally enforces sums that are clearly stated in an order. A clause saying “the parents shall share section 7 expenses in proportion to income” may leave no number to enforce, and you may find yourself going back to court to fix an amount. A clause that names the expense, the percentage and the timing for reimbursement is much easier to use.
Good agreements also say what happens with consent. A typical clause requires the parent proposing a major expense to ask in writing and the other parent to respond within a set number of days, with consent not to be unreasonably withheld. Any cost beyond a modest threshold then has a paper trail.
Keeping receipts, and asking before you spend
A large share of section 7 fights come down to evidence. Whichever side of the bill you are on, some simple practices help:
- Before committing to a significant expense, send a short written message with the program name, the cost and the reason it benefits the child.
- Keep receipts and invoices in one folder, and record insurance reimbursements so the net cost is clear.
- Send copies to the other parent regularly rather than dropping a year’s worth in one envelope.
- Share your income information each year. If the shares are percentage-based, they are only as accurate as the income figures behind them.
Silence is not always agreement, and a parent’s failure to consult does not automatically prevent recovery. Courts can still order a share of an expense incurred without consent, if the expense meets the test. The lack of consultation will still weigh on how the judge views reasonableness, especially when the other parent had no warning.
Claims for past expenses
If you paid for years without being reimbursed, you may still have a claim, but delay is a risk. In its child support decisions, including D.B.S. v. S.R.G. and Michel v. Graydon, the Supreme Court of Canada has discussed how courts should approach claims going back in time, weighing reasons for delay, the conduct of the parent who should have paid, the child’s circumstances, and any hardship. Those cases concern child support generally, and judges consider them where past special expenses are in dispute. The practical lesson is to raise an unpaid expense promptly and in writing, rather than waiting until a larger dispute breaks out.
Equally, if you have been paying a fixed section 7 amount for something that has ended, such as daycare once a child starts school, do not just stop. Agree on the change in writing, and ensure that the order is updated. If the Family Responsibility Office is enforcing the order, it will generally go on collecting what the order says until the order changes.
Online recalculation and its limits
Ontario has an administrative service that can calculate or recalculate child support in some cases without a court hearing. Under O. Reg. 190/15, the calculation service may include amounts for only the first three section 7 categories, namely child care, insurance premiums and health-related expenses. School, post-secondary and extracurricular expenses are excluded. Whether a particular order is eligible for recalculation is a question of its terms, and many files need a negotiated change or a court motion instead.
When a dispute needs more than a conversation
Where the parents cannot agree, mediation is often worth a try, and a mediator can work through a list of specific expenses faster than a court process can. When the disagreement is about income, or a parent refuses all contribution, a motion or an application to change the order may be necessary. The Brampton courthouse at 7755 Hurontario St. hears these cases, and the Superior Court of Justice or Ontario Court of Justice may be the right place depending on how the original order was made and whether a divorce is involved.
Section 7 issues rarely stand alone. They tie into income disclosure, parenting schedules and the base support amount, so it often makes sense to review the whole arrangement at once. Our child and spousal support page sets out the kinds of support matters a lawyer can help with, and the wider family law practice deals with the agreements and orders those issues sit within.
If you are holding a pile of receipts and are unsure whether they count, begin by sorting them into the six categories above, adding up the net cost of each, and writing down what your order says. That simple exercise tends to show quickly whether you have a small misunderstanding to clear up or a larger problem worth getting advice on.