Enforcing child and spousal support payments
Learn how Ontario enforces child and spousal support payments. Find out what enforcement actions the Family Responsibility Office can take if you fall behind on your payments.
Overview
Support payments in Ontario
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), a program of the Government of Ontario. FRO helps families get the support they are entitled to by collecting, distributing and enforcing child and spousal support payments.
We do this under the authority of the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996 and the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act, 2002.
FRO does not:
- make payments to a recipient when the payor misses a payment
- change the terms of support orders or domestic contracts, including the support amount
- get involved in child custody or access issues
Enforcing support payments
Most people willingly pay their support in full and on time.
Unfortunately, sometimes people fall behind on their support responsibilities.
If you fall behind in your support payments, contact our office right away.
Send a message through FRO Online or call:
Agents are available Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
You can also send a letter to:
Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 200, Station A
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 0C5
Together, we can work out a payment plan.
The best way to avoid enforcement actions is to pay the support you owe in full and on time each month. If you do not meet your support responsibilities, we have the legal authority and responsibility to take enforcement action to recover the money that you owe.
If we take enforcement action against you, we may charge you a $400 administrative fee.
Information for Indigenous peoples
The Indian Act limits a provincial government's ability to pass laws that affect property or income held by Status Indians living on reserves.
This means that our ability to enforce support orders is affected by whether the support payor and the support recipient are Status or Non-Status Indians.
Enforcing support orders for Status Indians
We will register and enforce your support order. How we collect support payments will depend on the Indian status of the people entitled to support.
The Indian Act protects your property and income held on reserve unless the person entitled to support is also a Status Indian.
If the payor and recipient are both Status Indians
If the support payor and the support recipient or children are Status Indians, the Indian Act does not limit our enforcement actions.
If the payor falls behind in support payments and does not enter into a payment plan, the payor will be subject to all enforcement actions outlined on this page.
If the recipient is not a Status Indian
If the support recipient or children are not Status Indians, we cannot take enforcement action against any of the payor’s property or income held on reserve.
We can take other enforcement actions, including:
- issuing a support deduction notice for off-reserve income
- placing a lien on, or issuing a writ of seizure and sale for, off-reserve property
- suspending the payor’s driver’s licence
- ordering the payor to attend court for a default hearing, which could result in up to 180 days of jail time
Garnishing your bank account
If you fall behind in making support payments, FRO can garnish your bank account. This means we can ask your bank to take the money you owe from your bank account and send it to us.
If the account is only in your name, 100% of the money you owe can be taken to pay arrears.
Garnishing joint accounts
When it’s a joint account, no more than 50% of the account’s holdings can be taken to pay arrears. If it’s a joint account, the financial institution must:
- tell the other account co-holder(s) about the garnishment
- tell FRO that the money is from a joint account
When money is taken from a joint bank account, FRO holds it for 30 days.
Within that 30-day period, the account co-holder(s) can file a dispute with the court claiming ownership to all or part of the money. If a dispute is filed, we are required to hold the money until the dispute is resolved.
If the co-holder(s) of the account does not file a dispute within 30 days, we will give the money to the support recipient.
Deducting support from federal government payments
If you fall behind in making support payments, FRO can have the federal government (Government of Canada) deduct outstanding support payments from money it owes you and then send it to us.
If we ask the federal government to deduct support, we will send you a copy of the support deduction notice that we sent to the federal government. This notice will be addressed to “His Majesty the King in Right of Canada,” which is the legal name for the federal government.
The law allows support deductions on many kinds of income the federal government may owe you, including:
- tax refunds (income, HST/GST)
- Employment Insurance benefits
- federal training allowances
- Canada Pension Plan benefits
- Old Age Security payments
- interest on Bank of Canada savings bonds
The federal government may deduct up to:
- 50% of many income-type funds, including Employment Insurance and Canada Pension Plan benefits
- 100% of tax refunds and interest on Bank of Canada savings bonds
The federal government will charge you an administration fee each year until we instruct the federal government to stop collecting from you.
Credit bureau reporting
If you fall behind in your support payments, FRO can report you to the credit bureau. This could make it harder for you to get a job, loans or other credit in the future.
If you haven’t made a support payment in more than 60 days, we will send you a notice that we intend to report you to the credit bureau. If you receive this notice, please contact us before the 15-day deadline stated in the notice.
If you miss the deadline in the notice of intent, please contact us immediately.
If you pay the outstanding arrears after being reported to the credit bureau, we will update the credit bureau file. However, the report will stay on your credit history for six years from the date it was reported. This is the timeframe used by the credit reporting industry.
Driver's licence suspension
If you fall behind in your support payments, FRO can have your driver’s licence suspended. If you are caught driving with a suspended driver’s licence, police can impound the vehicle you are driving even if you do not own the vehicle.
Avoid a suspension
We will send you a notice to tell you your driver’s licence is at risk of being suspended. You will be given a deadline to do one of three things to avoid this:
- immediately pay all the arrears owing
- enter into a voluntary arrears payment plan with FRO
- ask the court for a refraining order
Get a refraining order
A refraining order is a court order that prevents us from suspending your driver’s licence for a temporary period. You cannot get a refraining order after the deadline provided in the notice.
To get a refraining order:
- fill out a refraining order form
- complete a financial statement form
- go to court and make a motion to the court for a refraining order
A refraining order may require you to:
- change your existing support order
- provide financial information to FRO
- make ongoing payments
- make payments on the arrears
Contact the court as soon as possible to ensure the refraining motion is heard before the deadline written on the notice.
If the court agrees with you, the judge will order us not to suspend your licence. Please contact us with the results of this hearing immediately.
To learn more about obtaining a motion for a refraining order, you could visit a Family Law Information Centre. They are located in provincial courts across Ontario.
Get your licence reinstated
You may enter into a payment plan with us to reinstate your driver’s licence. If you do not meet the terms of your payment plan, we will suspend your licence again and could take other enforcement actions.
There is a fee to reinstate a driver’s licence.
Learn about how get your driver’s licence reinstated if it has been suspended.
Federal licence suspension
If you fall behind in making support payments, FRO can work with the federal government to suspend your federal licences, including your:
- passport
- pilot’s licence
- maritime and navigational licences and certificates
Getting federal licences reinstated
If we suspend your federal licence(s), you should contact us right away.
Send a message through FRO Online or call:
Agents are available Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
You can also send a letter to:
Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 200, Station A
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 0C5
You can set up a payment plan with us to have your federal licences reinstated. If you do not meet the terms of your payment plan, we will take other enforcement action(s).
What to do if your passport is suspended and you are in another country
Contact us to make payment arrangements. You can still make payments through telephone or online banking, or if necessary, by courier or international mail.
If you are not planning to pay the total amount owing, we may also ask for financial documentation and wait to receive a payment before we allow you to get a new passport.
If we agree with your payment plan, we will notify the Government of Canada that we no longer request that your passport be suspended. This does not mean that your suspended passport will be valid. You must contact the Government of Canada to make sure you get a valid passport. You may also wish to contact the Canadian consulate in the country you are in, or, if there is none, the British consulate may be able to assist.
Putting a lien on your property
If you fall behind in your support payments, FRO can put a lien on your property (for example, your home, vehicle, boat or trailer) for the full amount of arrears you owe.
If the amount you owe increases or decreases substantially, we can change the lien to reflect the new amount.
To put a lien on your property we register your outstanding arrears (the amount you owe) under the Personal Property Security Act. If you attempt to sell your property, a property search will indicate that there is a registration against it. You will have to pay any arrears owing before you can sell the property or transfer its ownership.
The lien will stay in place until:
- you pay the arrears in full
- you sell the property and pay the arrears out of the proceeds of the sale
- your support order or domestic contract is no longer registered with us
Writ of seizure and sale
If you fall behind in making support payments, FRO can file a writ of seizure and sale against assets you own, such as a home, land, a car or a boat. A writ of seizure and sale is a document the court issues to help collect money that is owed.
We file writs with the sheriff in the jurisdiction where you own land and assets. Writs stay in effect until they are withdrawn or until the arrears are paid in full.
If you attempt to sell or refinance the land or asset, the writ will require you to use any profit to pay the support arrears. A writ may also be used to require the sheriff to seize and sell property to pay support arrears.
The sheriff could seize and sell your property if FRO determines:
- you owe significant arrears
- the property to be seized is valuable
- you are the owner of the property being seized
- other enforcement actions taken to recover the money you owe don’t work
If you believe a writ has been placed on your property in error because someone has the same name as you, please fill out a confirmation of identity letter request form and mail or fax it to us with a copy of the writ, if possible:
Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 622
Steeles West Post Office
Toronto, Ontario
M3J 0K8
We will review your form to make sure that you are not the FRO client on file, then issue you a confirmation letter. It will take us five business days to review your completed form. If information is missing, our review will take longer. To avoid delays, please make sure you fill out the whole form.
When the support payor’s name changes
Court rules require that the name on the writ be the same as the name on the support order.
If the payor is using a name that is different from the one listed on the support order, the payor and the support recipient must notify us to update the writ.
We will notify the sheriff of the name change and request that the writ include all names and aliases, including spelling variations. This will ensure that the writ reflects the new name and will be found when the payor is selling or refinancing a property.
Reporting you to your professional or occupational organization
If you fall behind in making support payments, FRO may report you to any professional or occupational organization(s) you belong to.
If you haven’t paid support in three months, we will send you a notice. You have 30 days to respond to the notice. If we don’t get a response, we may begin the process of reporting you to your professional or occupational organization(s).
If you miss the 30-day deadline, please contact us right away. Send a message through FRO Online or call:
You can also send a letter to:
Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 200, Station A
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 0C5
Fax: 416-240-2401
Agents are available Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
We can help you set up a payment plan. We will update your professional or occupational organization(s) when you pay the arrears.
What we can tell your professional or occupational organization
We may tell the organization:
- your name
- the date of the support order
- the amount and frequency of your payment obligation under the order
- the amount of arrears owing
We may also send the organization additional information, such as a copy of the order.
What your professional or occupational organization could do
It varies from one organization to another, but once you have been reported, you may face an internal review process that could lead to disciplinary action. We do not have any control over the actions of your professional or occupational organization(s).
Seizing lottery winnings
If you fall behind in your support payments, FRO can tell the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) about any money you owe. If you try to claim a lottery prize, we can seize the winnings to pay support you owe.
We take prizes that exceed $1,000
We may seize any single prize winnings over $1,000 to pay the support you owe. And we will take as much of the winnings as needed to pay off outstanding arrears.
We can also take lottery prizes that you win as part of a group of people if your share of the winnings exceeds $1,000.
We can’t take lottery prizes of less than $1,000, whether they are collected at the OLG office or a retail store.
Default hearings
If you fall behind in your support payments, FRO may send you a notice of default hearing. A default hearing is a hearing in family court, before a judge, where you must explain why you are behind in your payments.
You may want to have a lawyer represent you, but you do not have to. You can get help finding a lawyer if you don’t have one.
At the hearing, the judge will decide what you need to do. They may make a default order that requires you to:
- pay all or part of the money you owe through regular payments over time
- pay all of the money you owe by a certain date
- change your support order or domestic contract
- go to jail for up to 180 days
At a default hearing, the judge may also decide to make a third-party default order. This can happen when the judge finds that you are using another person (a third party) to hide or shelter your income. This type of order requires the other person to pay the money you owe.
Avoiding a default hearing
You can avoid having a default hearing by:
- paying everything you owe
- making a voluntary payment that we agree to
Receiving a notice of default hearing and what to do
If you receive a notice of default hearing, you have 10 days to act.
Your notice of default hearing will come with a:
- statement of arrears
- default dispute form
- financial statement form
If your notice did not include these three documents, contact FRO right away. You can send a message through FRO Online or call:
Agents are available Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Please have your seven-digit case number ready.
There are seven steps you need to follow:
- Find out when and where your hearing will be. This will be listed on your notice of default hearing.
- Gather the information and forms you will need, as outlined in the notice.
- Fill out the forms.
- Send copies of your forms to FRO’s Legal Services Branch before the deadline on the notice. Use only the following mailing address, number, or email address:
FROLegalService@ontario.ca
Legal Services Branch
Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
7th Floor-125 Sir William Hearst Avenue
North York, Ontario
M3M 0B5
Do not bring or send payments to this address. There is no counter service at this location. Get information about ways you can make payments.416-240-2402 Fax: 416-240-2402
Please write ‘Legal Services Branch’ on the envelope or fax so that it gets properly delivered.
- File your forms with the court before the deadline on the notice.
- Go to court on your hearing date. You should arrive at the court at least 30 minutes before the time of your hearing. On the day of your hearing, be sure to bring copies of all the documents and forms you gathered and filled out in steps two and three. At the end of your hearing you should ask the court clerk for a copy of the judge’s decision.
- Follow what the court orders. The court may order you to pay or take certain actions by specific dates, in waht is called a 'default order'. If you do not meet the terms of your default order, the court can order that you be arrested and put in jail for as long as six months.
How you can contact us
If you fall behind in your support payments, please contact us to work out a payment plan. You can use FRO Online to send a message and documents to your case worker. You may also call:
Agents are available: Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
You can also send a letter to:
Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 200, Station A
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 0C5
For additional contact information for FRO, including mailing addresses for correspondence and payments, visit the paying and receiving child and spousal support page.