The other parent lives or earns income outside Canada: how is child support set in Ontario?

With the same child support guidelines used for any Ontario family. If the paying parent lives outside Canada and you live in Ontario, the court uses the Ontario table and works out that parent's income as if they lived in Canada. It can impute a higher income where the parent lives in a country with significantly lower tax rates or does not disclose. Collecting the money is a separate question, and it depends on the country: Ontario has enforcement arrangements with many countries, but not with Iran.

This page covers what is different when one parent is abroad. For how the guideline amount is worked out in an ordinary case, see our page on child support in Ontario. It belongs to our set of guides for Persian-speaking families in Toronto, because a parent who has returned to Iran, or who works in Türkiye, the Gulf or the United States, is a common situation.

How does a child support claim work when the other parent is abroad, step by step?

Where a support-only case is heard in Toronto depends on your provincial electoral district; our guide to which Toronto family court handles your case explains the split between the Superior Court and the two Ontario Court of Justice locations.

Which guidelines and which table apply?

In a divorce, child support is ordered under the Divorce Act using the Federal Child Support Guidelines. If the parents were never married, or are not divorcing, the claim is under Ontario's Family Law Act and the Ontario Child Support Guidelines (O. Reg. 391/97). Both use the same federal tables, plus a share of special or extraordinary expenses under section 7. For children who are 18 or older, see whether child support stops at 18.

The table normally follows the paying parent's province. When that parent lives outside Canada, or nobody knows where they live, both sets of guidelines switch to the table for the province where the receiving parent lives: for a parent in Toronto or York Region, the Ontario table.

How is the income of a parent abroad worked out?

Section numbers are the same in both sets of guidelines. The court does not need a perfect picture of earnings in another currency or tax system to make an order; the imputation powers exist precisely for parents whose income is hard to see from Canada.

What income documents must a parent abroad provide, and by when?

Section 21 of the guidelines lists the documents: the last three years of tax returns and assessments, a current statement of earnings or employer letter, and business, partnership, corporate or trust records where they apply. A parent served with a support claim must provide them within 30 days if they live in Canada or the United States, or within 60 days if they live anywhere else, unless the court sets another time.

If they do not, the other parent can ask for the case to go to a hearing or for an order to produce the documents, and the court can award full costs (section 22). At that hearing the court may draw an adverse inference and impute income in the amount it considers appropriate (section 23). Documents from Iran or elsewhere that are not in English will need translation before the court can rely on them. The forms themselves are explained in which financial statement to file.

Can an Ontario court make the order if the other parent lives in Iran?

In a divorce filed in Ontario, the court that hears the divorce can also order child support. Once spouses are divorced, an Ontario court can hear a later support claim if either former spouse is habitually resident in Ontario when it starts (Divorce Act, section 4). Service on a parent outside Canada or the United States gives them 60 days to answer, and the case can continue if they do not (Family Law Rules, rule 10). Our page on divorcing in Ontario after a marriage in Iran explains service abroad, including substituted service when a spouse cannot be reached. For parents who were never married, the claim is under the Family Law Act, and whether an Ontario court can make an order against a parent who has never lived here depends on the case's connection to Ontario.

Can the order be enforced where the other parent lives?

For reciprocating jurisdictions, a parent in Ontario sends the support application to Ontario's designated authority, which forwards it to the other jurisdiction, and orders made there can be registered and enforced here (Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act, sections 5, 6 and 19). Ontario's International Recovery of Child Support and Family Maintenance Convention Act, 2023 gives the 2007 Convention force of law in Ontario and works through a Central Authority in the same way.

With Iran, there is no treaty route. Enforcement there would be a matter of Iranian law, which this guide does not cover. The Government of Canada's travel advice also notes that Iran does not automatically recognize the orders of Canadian courts in family law matters.

What if the parent abroad has income or property in Ontario?

Then Ontario's own enforcement tools apply, whatever the parent's home country. Every support order made by an Ontario court is enforced by the Director of the Family Responsibility Office unless the parties withdraw it (Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, section 9). The Act lets the Director use support deduction orders against an Ontario income source, garnishment of bank accounts, registration against land, and driver's licence suspension. A court can also restrain the disposal or wasting of assets that could defeat enforcement (section 48), and the Ontario Court of Justice or the Family Court can issue a warrant for the arrest of a payor who is about to leave Ontario intending to evade the order (section 49).

That is why it matters to identify, early, any Canadian salary, rental property, bank account or business the other parent has. If the same parent may also take the children out of the country, read what an Ontario court can order about travel and passports.

What changes the answer?

• Whether you are divorcing. That decides whether the federal or Ontario guidelines apply, and which court hears the claim.
• Where the paying parent lives. It decides the enforcement route, and the tax rates there can lead the court to set or impute a different income (guidelines, ss. 19(1)(c) and 20(2)).
• Whether the parent discloses. Without documents, the court may impute income and draw an adverse inference (ss. 19(1)(f) and 23).
• Whether the parent has income or property in Ontario. If so, the Family Responsibility Office can use its Ontario tools whatever the parent's country.
• Undue hardship. A court may order a different amount if either parent or a child would otherwise suffer undue hardship (Ontario guidelines, s. 10).
• The child's age. Support for a child over 18 follows separate rules; see the guide linked above.

A worked example

For example, imagine a mother in North York with two children. Their father moved back to Tehran after the separation, works there, and still owns a rented condominium in Toronto. They are not divorcing yet. The mother starts a Family Law Act claim for child support at the Ontario Court of Justice for her riding, which for many North York families is the family court at 47 Sheppard Avenue East. The father is served in Iran by a method the court approves and has 60 days to answer. He sends no tax documents. At the hearing the court determines his income as though he lived in Canada, uses the Ontario table, and imputes income where his records are missing. The order goes to the Family Responsibility Office, which can register it against the Toronto condominium. Collecting from his salary in Iran is a different matter, because Iran is not a reciprocating jurisdiction. This is a hypothetical walk-through, not a prediction of any result.

What mistakes do parents make?

1. Waiting for the other parent to return before claiming support. There is no limitation period for support under the Family Law Act (Limitations Act, s. 16(1)(c)), but every month of delay is a month without an order.
2. Assuming nothing can be done because the parent is in Iran. An order can still be made, and Ontario assets can be reached.
3. Not listing the other parent's Canadian assets and income sources early, when they are easiest to find.
4. Accepting informal cash payments without an order or agreement that can be enforced.
5. Sending untranslated documents from Iran to the court.
6. Agreeing to a trip abroad for the children without travel terms, when the same parent is not paying support.

What to do this week

1. Write down everything you know about the other parent's work, employer, income and bank accounts, in Canada and abroad.
2. List any property, business or rental income they have in Ontario.
3. Collect your own income documents and receipts for childcare, health and activity costs.
4. Gather every address and contact you have for the other parent, for service.
5. Check the first-week separation checklist for the other early steps.

Frequently asked questions

Can the court order support if I do not know the other parent's income?

Yes. The guidelines let the court impute income, including where a parent fails to provide information, and draw an adverse inference at a hearing (ss. 19 and 23).

Does a lower cost of living in Iran reduce the amount?

The table amount is based on income, determined as though the parent lived in Canada (s. 20(1)). A different amount is possible only under specific rules, such as undue hardship (Ontario guidelines, s. 10).

Is there a deadline to claim child support?

There is no limitation period for a support claim under the Family Law Act (Limitations Act, s. 16(1)(c)). Other family claims do have deadlines; see the deadlines in an Ontario family case.

What if the other parent lives in the United States or Türkiye?

Both have a treaty route. The United States is a reciprocating jurisdiction and a 2007 Convention party; Türkiye is a 2007 Convention party, and the Convention has applied in Ontario since February 1, 2024.

Can the Family Responsibility Office stop the parent leaving Ontario?

The Ontario Court of Justice or the Family Court can issue a warrant for the arrest of a payor who is about to leave Ontario intending to evade the order (FRSAEA, s. 49).

Can a support order from Iran be enforced here?

Iran is not a reciprocating jurisdiction under Ontario's Act and is not a 2007 Convention party, so the treaty registration route does not apply to an Iranian order.

Related questions

Support claims often sit alongside property claims; if the other parent owns property in Iran, read whether property in Iran counts in an Ontario equalization.

Sarbazevatan Law acts for parents on child support claims, in English, Persian (Farsi) and French. Call +1 (416) 628-2041 or reach us through the contact page.