The Federal Child Support Tables — adopted by Ontario for child support calculations under the Federal Child Support Guidelines — were re-issued effective October 1, 2025. Every separation agreement and court order entered into after that date should be running off the updated tables, and existing orders may be eligible for variation if the recalculated table amount differs materially from what was originally set.
The most consequential change is structural. Parents earning at or below approximately $16,000 gross annually now have a $0 base table amount, reflecting the updated federal basic personal amount. For low-income paying parents, this materially changes the analysis on imputation of income and on how courts approach undue hardship claims under section 10 of the Guidelines.
All other amounts were recalculated using current tax data. The recalculation is small in most income bands — typically tens of dollars per month — but on a long-running file it adds up, and on a high-income file (where the table is supplemented by section 7 expenses for daycare, post-secondary tuition, or extraordinary medical and extracurricular costs) the underlying pro-rata math also shifts.
What this means in practice. For an existing order that pre-dates October 1, 2025: the order remains in force on its existing terms. A material change in circumstance is required to vary it, but a recalculation under the updated tables can support a variation application alongside an income change, parenting-time change, or other recognized triggering event. For a separation in process: every draft separation agreement currently on the table should be running off the new table amounts. For shared parenting cases (each parent has the child at least 40% of the time), the section 9 set-off math now operates on the new figures on each side.
Spousal support remains under the 2008 Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines as supplemented by the 2016 Revised User's Guide. The SSAGs are not binding but are routinely applied to give a range; the actual amount and duration are negotiated within that range or determined by the court. The 2025 child-support update does not change the SSAG framework.
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