Ontario Child Support Tables in 2026: What Actually Changed

Quick Answer

Why Separated Parents Are Suddenly Recalculating Child Support

Thousands of Ontario parents have opened the federal child support calculator this year, typed in their income, and found a number that does not match the one in their court order. That gap is not an error, and it does not mean your payments have changed.

On October 1, 2025, the Federal Child Support Tables were replaced. These tables are the schedules of monthly child support amounts, set by regulation, that determine what a paying parent owes based on gross annual income, the number of children, and the province where the paying parent lives. The 2017 version had been in place for nearly eight years.

Understanding what changed, and what it means for an order already in place, is the difference between a productive conversation with a co-parent and a costly misunderstanding.

Pick Your Path

Most people arrive here for one of four reasons. Find yourself below, then read the sections that apply.

For the underlying framework, see our overview of child support in Ontario.

What Actually Changed On October 1, 2025

This is the point most coverage gets wrong. The revision was administrative housekeeping, not an inflation adjustment. The tables are built from a formula that accounts for federal and provincial tax rules, and those rules had drifted since 2017. Refreshing the tax inputs refreshed the output.

One change is easy to see. The basic personal amount, the level of income at which federal tax obligations begin, rose considerably over that period. The income floor at which a table obligation begins climbed from $12,000 to $16,000. A parent genuinely earning at or below $16,000 now has a base table amount of zero.

Between $16,000 and roughly $45,000 of income, many amounts came down. Above that, movement is generally slight.

Whether Your Existing Order Changes On Its Own

To change a table amount, a parent typically needs to show a change in circumstances. Under section 14 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines, where the current amount came from a table, a change in circumstances means any change that would produce a different child support order than the one in place.

Here is the nuance most articles skip. SOR/2025-166 replaced the tables. It did not amend section 14. Whether a table revision on its own amounts to a change in circumstances is a question a court decides on the facts, and the size of the gap matters. A difference of a few dollars a month may not persuade a judge. A meaningful difference may.

Treat the update as a reason to look, not as a decision already made.

How The Three Routes To A New Amount Compare

Ontario offers three ways to land on a new amount, and they are commonly confused with one another.

The Ontario Child Support Service is an administrative service, not a court. It can issue a Notice of Calculation or a Notice of Recalculation setting a table amount from income information both parents provide. Notices issued on or after October 1, 2025 use the 2025 tables. The service does not handle every situation.

A consent agreement or consent motion is available when both parents agree on the new number. This is typically the fastest and least expensive route.

A Motion to Change is a court application asking a judge to alter an existing family court order, including the amount of child support. It is the route when parents cannot agree.

One correction worth holding onto: the Family Responsibility Office, or FRO, enforces support orders. It does not recalculate your amount.

Reviewing Your Child Support Order, Step By Step

Working through this in order tends to save both money and argument.

1. 1
   Find your order or agreement and check its date.Anything made before October 1, 2025 was built on the 2017 tables.
2. 2
   Gather income documents for the most recent tax year.Your Notice of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency is the anchor. Child support is calculated on gross annual income, generally Line 15000 of the T1 return, not take-home pay.
3. 3
   Run the 2025 table look-up.Do it for both parents if parenting time is shared.
4. 4
   Compare the result against your order.Write down the monthly difference. That figure, not the fact of the update, is what a court considers.
5. 5
   Choose your route.Agreement points toward a consent motion. Disagreement points toward a Motion to Change. Ontario’s online court filing portal handles much of the paperwork.
6. 6
   Get advice before you file.As Qasim Ali, Principal Lawyer at Nihang Law often tells clients, the table lookup is the simple part. Establishing income, particularly for a self-employed parent or a newcomer with earnings abroad, is where these files are decided. Our step-by-step guide to how child support is calculated walks through that groundwork.

If You Were Never Married

Married parents seeking a divorce fall under the federal Divorce Act. Unmarried and common-law parents fall under Ontario’s Family Law Act, and specifically the Child Support Guidelines, O. Reg. 391/97, a regulation that applies the federal tables with necessary modifications.

Same numbers, different statute, different forms. Our comparison of common-law relationships and marriage in Ontario sets out where else the two paths diverge.

Which Table Applies To Arrears And Earlier Periods

Retroactive claims, meaning claims to change support for a period already past, follow a separate framework the Supreme Court of Canada set out in Colucci v Colucci. Courts typically look back up to three years from the date the other parent received effective notice, though that presumption can shift where a payor has hidden income.

No one can promise a retroactive outcome. What can be said is that the date you raise the issue often matters as much as the merits.

Common Mistakes Parents Make With The New Tables

• •Assuming support rose because prices rose. The revision followed tax rules, not grocery bills. Many lower-income amounts fell.
• •Assuming an old order updated itself. It did not. An order made before October 1, 2025 holds its amount until someone applies to change it.
• •Using take-home pay. Table amounts are based on gross annual income, generally Line 15000 of the T1 return.
• •Treating the table amount as the whole obligation. It is the base. On top of it sit section 7 expenses, the special or extraordinary costs such as childcare, orthodontics, or certain activities, which parents share in proportion to income rather than splitting evenly.
• •Calling the FRO to recalculate. The FRO enforces. The Ontario Child Support Service recalculates.
• •Reducing payments on your own. A payor who lowers a payment before an order or agreement changes can accumulate arrears and face enforcement, whatever the look-up tool says.
• •Applying the 2025 table to an earlier period. Match the table to the dates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where To Go From Here

Three facts carry the weight. The child support tables Ontario uses in 2026 took effect on October 1, 2025. They reflect updated tax rules rather than inflation, so amounts moved in both directions. And no existing order changes until a parent asks for it to change.

That last point is reassuring rather than alarming. You have time to run the numbers, talk to your co-parent, and decide whether an application makes sense.

About the author

Qasim Ali

Principal Lawyer · Nihang Law Professional Corporation · Toronto & Scarborough, Ontario · Law Society of Ontario

Qasim Ali is the Principal Lawyer at Nihang Law Professional Corporation, serving clients across Toronto, Scarborough, and the broader Greater Toronto Area. He provides full-service legal representation across immigration, real estate, family law, criminal law, civil litigation, employment law, wills and estates, and business law.

Nihang Law is particularly recognized for its depth in immigration and real estate law — a combination that serves newcomers and growing families navigating both legal systems simultaneously.

Learn more about Qasim Ali →

Sources and references

1. Guidelines Amending the Federal Child Support Guidelines, SOR/2025-166, P.C. 2025-623, Canada Gazette, Part II, Vol. 159, No. 19. gazette.gc.ca
2. Federal Child Support Guidelines, SOR/97-175, section 14 and Schedule I as amended. laws-lois.justice.gc.ca
3. 2025 Update to the Federal Child Support Tables, Department of Justice Canada. justice.gc.ca
4. 2025 child support table look-up, Department of Justice Canada. justice.gc.ca
5. 2017 and 2025 Simplified Federal Child Support Tables, Ontario, one to four children, Department of Justice Canada. justice.gc.ca
6. Child Support Guidelines, O. Reg. 391/97, under the Family Law Act (Ontario). ontario.ca
7. Arranging child support, Government of Ontario. ontario.ca
8. Colucci v Colucci, 2021 SCC 24, Supreme Court of Canada, on retroactive variation of child support.