Federal Child Support Guidelines Updated

Summary#

These are final changes to the Federal Child Support Guidelines (registered November 23, 2020) that update the Guidelines to match the modernized language and rules in the amended Divorce Act. The changes introduce clear parenting-time thresholds and clarify how out‑of‑court provincial child support calculations and recalculations work. They take effect with the related Divorce Act provisions (scheduled to come into force March 1, 2021).

What it does#

• Adds a definition of majority of parenting time as more than 60% of parenting time over a year.
• Replaces older custody/access wording with parenting‑time language:
  • "Custodial parent" becomes "spouse with the majority of parenting time."
  • "Shared custody" and "split custody" become "shared parenting time" and "split parenting time."
• Sets a test for shared parenting time: each parent exercises at least 40% of parenting time over a year.
• Changes how child support tables are chosen — based on where a spouse is habitually resident at the relevant time.
• Updates a child‑care expense rule to refer to the spouse who has the majority of parenting time.
• Clarifies that the discretionary powers in the Guidelines do not apply when a provincial child support service does a calculation or recalculation under the Divorce Act.
• Adds a rule allowing courts to consider if a non‑resident parent faces much higher foreign tax rates when setting that parent’s income for support purposes.
• Allows a spouse or an order assignee to appoint a provincial child support service to request and receive income information for recalculation purposes.
• Makes a few technical edits (repealing or replacing outdated definitions, and small French‑language fixes).

Who's affected#

• Parents who are separating or divorcing and their children — especially those negotiating child support or parenting time.
• Provincial child support services that calculate or recalculate support outside court.
• Family law courts and judges, and family law lawyers who handle divorce and child support cases.
• People living abroad whose tax situation may affect how their income is measured for support.
• It is unclear from the text whether any other specific groups are directly affected.

Why it matters#

• The Guidelines now match the updated language and rules in the Divorce Act, reducing confusion from mixed terms like "custody" and "access."
• The new parenting‑time thresholds (more than 60% = majority; at least 40% = shared) give clearer guidance for when different child support rules apply.
• Provincial child support services get clearer authority to calculate or recalculate support without a court hearing, which can speed up and simplify updates to payments.
• Courts can take very different foreign tax rates into account when a parent lives outside Canada, which may change how support is calculated in those cases.
• Overall, the changes are intended to make child support calculations more consistent, more administrative (less automatically court‑based), and clearer for parents and officials.