Calculating child support
Canadian law requires that both parents contribute financially to their children’s support when parents separate. This usually means the parent who spends less time with a child pays child support<p><span lang="EN-US">The money one parent pays to another parent to help support the children if the parents do not live together. </span><span> </span></p> to the parent who spends more time with the child.
Who pays
Both birth parents and adoptive parents are required to pay child support. In some circumstances, a step-parent may be required to pay. A person who is a guardian<p><span lang="EN-US">A guardian is responsible for their child’s care and upbringing. A parent is generally a guardian of their child, unless they have never lived with the child.</span><span> </span></p> of the child under the Family Law Act<p>The main provincial law that deals with family law issues in BC.</p> can also be required to pay child support.
A recipient is a person receiving child support
A payor<p><span lang="EN-US">The person paying child and/or spousal support.</span><span> </span></p> is a person paying child support
Legal definition of parent and guardian (Family Law Act)
How long
In BC, parents and guardians must support a child until the child turns 19, and sometimes after that if the child is still dependent on their parents. This can include where the child is unable to care for themselves due to an illness, disability or for other reasons.
How much
Federal Child Support Guidelines<p>Guidelines used to calculate child support in divorce and family law cases. Includes tables of support amounts for each province.</p> provide tables that set out the basic amount of support a parent or guardian should pay in each province and territory in Canada. The amount is based on that person’s income and the number of children to be supported. You use the table for the province where the person paying support (the payor) lives.
Child support<p><span lang="EN-US">The money one parent pays to another parent to help support the children if the parents do not live together. </span><span> </span></p> is based on the payor’s income so it is important to have accurate and complete information about that parent’s income. That is why the law requires the person paying support to complete a Financial Statement using Form 4 and provide income tax returns, pay stubs and other documents before a judge makes a child support order<p><span lang="EN-US">A court order that specifies how much child support a parent must pay. It may be a separate order or may form part of an order dealing with other issues.</span><span> </span></p>.
Guide to filling out Form 4 (Legal Aid BC)
Simplified child support tables
Use the link below to see a simplified copy of the child support tables. Under the heading for the province where the person who will pay support lives, click the number of children that person is required to support (one to four children or five or more children). That will take you to a specific Child Support Guidelines Table.
Look for the support payor’s income on the left of a row and the number of children at the top of a column. The column and row will intersect at a number, and that’s the monthly amount of basic child support. It's sometimes called "the table amount". For example, the table amount for 2 children when the payor's income is $23,00 is $362 in July 2024.
Income Revenue ($) | Monthly Award Paiement mensuel ($) |
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|
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| No. of Children Nbre d'enfants |
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
23000 | 193 | 362 | 496 | 532 |
If the children live with each parent at least 40% of the time, you use the table in a different way. The parent with the higher support amount will pay some support to the parent with the lower support amount.
Child support calculator
You may find it easier to use the Child Support Calculator. If you fill in the payor’s income, the number of children and province of residence, the calculator shows the basic amount of child support to be paid.
Paying higher amounts
In addition to this basic amount, a payor may be required to pay more to contribute to special or extraordinary expenses<p><span lang="EN-US">An amount of child support added to the basic guidelines table amount to pay for certain kinds of special or extraordinary expenses specified in the </span><span lang="EN-US">Federal Child Support Guidelines </span><span lang="EN-US">such as dental expenses. May be abbreviated to "s. 7 expenses". </span><span> </span></p>. You may hear it called section 7 expenses<p>An amount of child support added to the basic guidelines table amount to pay for certain kinds of special or extraordinary expenses specified in the Federal Child Support Guidelines such as dental expenses. May be abbreviated to "s. 7 expenses".</p>, referring to section 7 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines where the law about these expenses is set out.
These types of expenses can include things like childcare, post-secondary schooling and medical expenses. Calculating the contribution to special expenses can be complicated. If there are special expenses in your case it is a good idea to talk to a lawyer to learn about the law.
A judge may also order a parent or guardian to pay more than the basic table amount for their reported income if there is evidence that the payor is intentionally unemployed or under-employed. In that case the judge can base child support payments on a higher income than the payer earns. This is called "imputing income".
Imputing income Federal Child Support Guidelines
Paying lower amounts
If the payor has a lower household standard of living than the parent receiving child support and paying the basic table amount of child support would cause them undue hardship, a judge may be able to lower the amount. However, “undue” means “exceptional, excessive or disproportionate” hardship. Problems like having a lower standard of living or having to support a new family are not enough to justify paying a lower amount of child support.
Getting help
Calculating the income of the person paying support, the amount of support that should be paid and whether any exceptions can apply can be complicated. It is important to speak to a lawyer or a family justice counsellor<p><span lang="EN-US">A government employee who works out of a Family Justice Centre or Justice Access Centre in BC. Family justice counsellors are accredited family mediators. They are trained to help families with matters like parenting arrangements and support issues.</span><span> </span></p> to get more information.