Child and spousal support when one person lives outside of Ontario

Overview

In Ontario, when a person is ordered by the court to pay child or spousal support payments, the support order is automatically filed with the Family Responsibility Office (FRO).

FRO is a program of the Government of Ontario that helps families get the support they are entitled to by collecting, distributing and enforcing child and spousal support payments.

FRO can enforce support orders when either the payor or recipient lives in Ontario and the other person lives in a reciprocating jurisdiction.

Reciprocating jurisdictions are provinces, territories, states and countries that Ontario has enforcement arrangements with. Ontario has enforcement arrangements with:

• every Canadian province and territory
• every state in the United States of America
• more than 55 other countries

If you live in Ontario and the other person lives in a reciprocating jurisdiction, you can:

• get a support order
• change an existing support order
• register and enforce a support order (without having to travel to that area).

If the reciprocating jurisdiction is part of the Hague Convention, you can find information on what forms to use if you want to have a support order made or changed. This page gives you a list of the jurisdictions that are part of this treaty.

If the other person lives outside Ontario but does not live in a reciprocating jurisdiction and you want to make a support order or change an existing support order you will need to talk to a lawyer about your options. Here’s how you can find a lawyer if you don’t already have one.

Register a support order

Reciprocating jurisdictions in Canada

A support order made in a Canadian reciprocating jurisdiction must be registered for enforcement in the Ontario court.

Once registered in court, the support order will be automatically sent to FRO for registration. If you do not want FRO to collect, distribute and/or enforce your support payments, you can contact us to withdraw from the program.

Reciprocating jurisdictions outside of Canada

A support order made in a reciprocating jurisdiction outside of Canada must be registered for enforcement in the Ontario court.

In these situations, the court serves the support payor a notice of the registration. The notice advises the payor that they have 30 days to ask the court to set aside the registration. This means that they can ask the court to decide that the support order cannot be enforced in Ontario.

Change a support order when one person lives outside of Ontario

If you want to change a support order and the other person lives in a reciprocating jurisdiction under the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act, 2002, you must fill out a Support Variation Application under the Interjurisdictional Support Orders (ISO) Act.

If you want to change a support order made under the Divorce Act and you are divorced and the other person lives in Canada, you must fill out an Interjurisdictional Support Variation Application under the Divorce Act form.

You can also get the form from the courts, Family Law Information Centres and Legal Aid offices.

If the reciprocating jurisdiction is part of the Hague Convention, you can find information on what forms to use if you want to have a support order made or changed. This page gives you a list of the jurisdictions that are part of this treaty.

Forms required for interjurisdictional proceedings under the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act, 2002 and the Divorce Act

If you live in Ontario and the other person lives outside Ontario, you’ll find links to all the forms and guides that relate to interjurisdictional proceedings under the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act, 2002 and the Divorce Act below.

There are two different laws that provide for interjurisdictional support processes.

First, the process under the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act, 2002 allows you to get or change an order in a reciprocating jurisdiction where the other person lives.

Second, the Divorce Act also has an interjurisdictional support process. If you are a former spouse (person already divorced in Canada), this process allows you to get or change an order made under the Divorce Act in another province or territory, within Canada, where the other former spouse lives.

Form A.1: Support Application under the Interjurisdictional Support Orders (ISO) Act

Use this form to apply for a support order in a reciprocating jurisdiction.

The information you include in the form tells the court what you are asking for and who you are.

In the form, you will:

• give a brief summary of any court action involving support
• outline a history of your relationship with the person who lives in the other jurisdiction, also known as the respondent
• list all other forms you are including

Download form A.1 and guide A.1: Support Application under the Interjurisdictional Support Orders (ISO) Act.

You must also complete the Additional Locate Information Form

This form helps the court in the reciprocating jurisdiction:

• identify the person who lives in the other jurisdiction, also known as the respondent
• give the respondent notice that you have applied for an order

Form A.2: Support Variation Application under the Interjurisdictional Support Orders (ISO) Act

Use this form to apply to change a support order in a reciprocating jurisdiction.

The information you include in the form tells the court what you are asking for and who you are.

In the form, you will:

• give a brief summary of any court action involving support
• outline a history of your relationship with the person who lives in the other jurisdiction, also known as the respondent
• list all other forms you are including

Download form A.2 and guide A.2: Support Variation Application under the Interjurisdictional Support Orders (ISO) Act.

You must also complete the Additional Locate Information Form

This form helps the court in the reciprocating jurisdiction:

• identify the person who lives in the other jurisdiction, also known as the respondent
• give the respondent notice that you have applied for an order

Form A.3: Interjurisdictional Support Application under the Divorce Act

Use this form to apply for a support order under the Divorce Act in another Canadian province or territory. This form can only be used if you are divorced and the other person lives in Canada.

The information you include in the form tells the court what you are asking for and who you are.

In the form, you will:

• give a brief summary of any court action involving support
• outline a history of your relationship with the person who lives in the other jurisdiction, also known as the respondent
• list all other forms you are including

Download form A.3 and guide A.3: Interjurisdictional Support Application under the Divorce Act.

You must also complete the Additional Locate Information Form

This form helps the court in the reciprocating jurisdiction:

• identify the person who lives in the other jurisdiction, also known as the respondent
• give the respondent notice that you have applied for an order

Form A.4: Interjurisdictional Support Variation Application under the Divorce Act

Use this form to apply to change a support order under the Divorce Act in another Canadian province or territory. This form can only be used if you are divorced and the other person lives in Canada.

The information you include in the form tells the court what you are asking for and who you are.

In the form, you will:

• give a brief summary of any court action involving support
• outline a history of your relationship with the person who lives in the other jurisdiction, also known as the respondent
• list all other forms you are including

Download form A.4 and guide A.4: Interjurisdictional Support Variation Application under the Divorce Act.

You must also complete the Additional Locate Information Form

This form helps the court in the reciprocating jurisdiction:

• identify the person who lives in the other jurisdiction, also known as the respondent
• give the respondent notice that you have applied for an order

Form B: Parentage

Use this form if you are applying to get child support. The form, once completed, helps the court in the reciprocating jurisdiction decide whether the person there (the respondent) is a parent to the child and has a duty to support the child. This form would only be used, if applicable, in an application under the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act, 2002.

Download form B and guide B: Parentage.

Form C: Child Support Claim

Use this form if you are making a claim for support for a child or children and you do not already have a child support order or written agreement. If you already have a child support order, use form K instead of this form.

Download form C and guide C: Child Support Claim.

Form D: Request for Support Order (If Respondent Does Not Provide Financial Information)

Use this form if the respondent (the person in the reciprocating jurisdiction/province/territory) fails to go to court or fails to provide the information the court asks for to respond to your claim. In that situation, you can fill out this form to provide the information you know about the respondent’s finances. The court in the other jurisdiction could then make an order based on the information you provide.

Download form D and guide D: Request for Support Order (If Respondent Does Not Provide Financial Information).

Form E: Request for Child Support Different than Child Support Table Amount

Use this form along with form C when you have checked the box in form C that says you are claiming a child support amount that differs from the amount in the Child Support Guidelines. Form E, once completed, tells the court the reasons why the amount should be different.

Download form E and guide E: Request for Child Support Different than Child Support Table Amount

Form F: Special or Extraordinary Expense Claim

Use this form if you are making a claim for child support and you want the court to decide whether the respondent (the person in the reciprocating jurisdiction/province/territory) should also pay for special expenses, such as childcare, health-related expenses, extraordinary expenses for extracurricular activities and postsecondary education expenses.

Download form F and guide F: Special or Extraordinary Expense Claim

Form G: Request to Pay Child Support Different than Child Support Table Amount

Use this form if you are the payor and you want the court in a reciprocating jurisdiction/province/territory to decide whether you can pay an amount that differs from the amount in the Child Support Guidelines.

Download form G and guide G: Request to Pay Child Support Different than Child Support Table Amount.

Form H: Support for Claimant/Applicant

Use this form if you are making a claim for support for yourself rather than for a child in a reciprocating jurisdiction/province/territory. The information you provide in the form is about you and will help the court decide if you should receive support, how much you should receive and for how long you should receive it.

Download form H and guide H: Support for Claimant/Applicant

Form I:  Financial Information

You use this form to provide the court in the reciprocating jurisdiction/province/territory information about your financial situation.

Download form I and guide I: Financial Information.

Form J: Child Status and Financial Statement

Use this form if you are filing a claim for support in a reciprocating jurisdiction/province/territory for a child who is 18 years old or older, as the Child Support Guidelines are for children under 18.

Download form J and guide J: Child Status and Financial Statement.

Form K: Evidence to Support Variation of a Support Order

Use this form if you want to change a support order in a reciprocating jurisdiction/province/territory. The form, once completed, will explain why you want to change the support order. This will help the court in the reciprocating jurisdiction/province/territory make a decision.

Download form K and guide K: Evidence to Support Variation of a Support Order.

Form L: Respondent's Response to Application

Use this form if you live in Ontario and you are responding to a claim for support from a person in a reciprocating jurisdiction/province/territory.

Download form L and guide L: Respondent’s Response to Application.

Form M: Affidavit

To be used by the applicant or respondent as additional evidence in support of either their application to establish or vary support or in support of their response to the application to establish or vary support. The form is also used by either party in response to a request for further information or documents from the court hearing the application.

Download form M: Affidavit.

After you fill out the forms

Many of the forms are sworn documents. This means you must sign them under oath in front of a Commissioner of Oaths or Notary Public. Once completed, please mail us your forms:

Family Responsibility Office
Interjurisdictional Support Orders Unit
PO Box 600, Steeles West Post Office
Toronto, Ontario
M3J 0K8
Canada

We will then forward the forms to the jurisdiction where the other person lives.

A court hearing is held in the other person’s jurisdiction. The respondent (the person in the other jurisdiction) must go to court and file a matching set of forms. The judge should then have a full picture of the family situation and can make an order or change an existing one. If the judge grants the support order, the Family Responsibility Office will send a copy to you.

Changing an Ontario support order when one person lives in the United States

To change an Ontario support order when one person lives in the United States and the other person on the support order still lives in Ontario, you will need to follow a different process than the one set out in the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act, 2002.

This is due to a Unites States’ legal concept called continuing exclusive jurisdiction. Under this concept, if one of the people on the support order still lives where the order was made, then the jurisdiction that made the order has the authority to change it. Other jurisdictions do not have the authority to change the order.

To learn more about this, you’re advised to seek legal advice. Here’s how you can find a lawyer if you don’t already have one.

Lawyers who handle family support cases involving the United States may wish to consult Canada’s Department of Justice website for more information.

When a provisional order is needed

Some jurisdictions require a provisional order to make or change a support order. A provisional order is a temporary order that has no legal effect until it has been confirmed by a court in the reciprocating jurisdiction.

The following jurisdictions require provisional orders:

• Australia (only for spousal support, not child support)
• Bermuda
• Cayman Islands
• Hong Kong
• Quebec
• New Zealand
• Republic of South Africa

If you or the other person live in one of these jurisdictions, contact the Ontario court nearest to you for more information.

Currency exchange rates

Changes in currency rates may affect your support payments.

If your support order was made outside of Canada and then registered in Ontario, the order is converted to Canadian currency using the exchange rate that was in effect on the date of the order was registered in Ontario

The converted amount is the amount that the Family Responsibility Office can enforce.

Listing of reciprocating jurisdictions

Canada

Canada’s reciprocating jurisdictions include:

• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Manitoba
• New Brunswick
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Northwest Territories
• Nova Scotia
• Nunavut
• Prince Edward Island
• Québec
• Saskatchewan
• Yukon

Outside Canada

There are two lists below showing what countries and jurisdictions Ontario can work with, under:

• a law in Ontario called the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act
• an international treaty referred to as the 2007 Hague Convention that Canada is part of

FRO can work the countries listed below to enforce support orders.

If you want to obtain or change a support order involving someone in a jurisdiction under the 2007 Hague Convention, there is a special process FRO can help you follow.

Some countries are listed under both the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act and the 2007 Hague Convention. You can contact FRO for more information if your case involves one of these countries.

Jurisdictions listed under the Interjurisdictional Support Order Act

Jurisdictions part of the 2007 Hague Convention

The Hague Convention

The 2007 Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance is a treaty that allows people to have child or spousal support orders made, changed, and enforced internationally. It works when the people involved live in countries that are part of the treaty. Canada is part of this treaty.

Through the 2007 Hague Convention, Ontario has arrangements with countries that are contracting parties, meaning they can work together when someone wants to establish, change or enforce a support order.

Obtaining or changing a support order under the 2007 Hague Convention

If you want to obtain or change a support order under the 2007 Hague Convention, complete the applicable forms:

• Application for Establishment of a Decision
• Application for Modification of a Decision
• Financial Circumstances Form

Contact FRO if you need more information about obtaining or changing a support under the 2007 Hague Convention.

Contact us

For more information about paying or receiving interjurisdictional support, please contact us.

You may send a message through FRO Online if you have a case registered, or call:

Toronto: 416-240-2410
Toll-free: 1-800-463-3533

You may also send a letter to:

Family Responsibility Office
Interjurisdictional Support Orders Unit
PO Box 600, Steeles West Post Office
Toronto, Ontario
M3J 0K8
Canada

Do not send payments to this address.

Fax: 416-240-2405

Mailing us payments

Mail payments to:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 2204, Station P
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 3E9

All payments must:

• be payable to “Director, Family Responsibility Office”
• include your case number and first and last name

This address is for payments only. Do not send correspondence to this address.

For additional contact information for FRO, visit the paying and receiving child and spousal support page.