How Federal Child Support Tables Work in Canada

How Federal Child Support Tables Work in Canada

Child support in Canada does not start from a blank page. For most families, the starting point is a single number called the "table amount," set by the Federal Child Support Guidelines from three inputs: the paying parent's income, the number of children, and the paying parent's province or territory. This guide explains how those three inputs combine, what changed when the tables were updated on 1 October 2025, and where the table amount stops being the full picture.

Information last verified on 19 July 2026. This article covers the federal model that applies under the Divorce Act and, in most provinces and territories, under equivalent provincial legislation. Quebec applies a different model when both parents live there. This is general legal information, not legal advice.

What actually sets the table amount

The Federal Child Support Guidelines (SOR/97-175) set out tables, one for each province and territory, that convert an income figure into a monthly child support amount. Courts do not calculate this amount from scratch in the ordinary case. Instead, the Guidelines direct that the table amount is presumed to be the correct amount, and a judge who wants to depart from it needs a specific reason recognized by the Guidelines, such as undue hardship.

This presumptive-amount design is deliberate. It was built to make basic child support predictable and to reduce the amount of litigation needed to set it, since two families with the same income, number of children, and province should land on the same table figure.

The Guidelines apply to married parents through the Divorce Act. Every province and territory except Quebec has also written the same federal tables into its own family law legislation, so the same three-input calculation generally applies to unmarried parents too. Quebec is the exception, and it is covered separately below.

Input 1: the paying parent's gross annual income

The first input is the annual income of the parent who is to pay support, sometimes called "Guidelines income." This is usually the starting point on that parent's income tax return, adjusted under the Guidelines' own income rules where a specific adjustment applies, so it is not always identical to salary alone.

The tables list amounts in $1,000 income increments, so the look-up tool (or a table amount calculation) rounds to the nearest bracket rather than requiring a penny-exact figure. A higher income produces a higher table amount, but the relationship is not a flat percentage; it follows the province's own tax-adjusted formula.

Input 2: the number of children

The second input is the number of children the order covers, generally up to age of majority or as otherwise defined for the family. Each provincial table has separate columns for one child, two children, three children, and so on up to six or more.

Adding a child does not simply multiply the one-child amount. Each column in the table is its own calculated figure, reflecting that supporting more children from the same income has a different cost structure than supporting one.

Input 3: the paying parent's province or territory

The third input is which provincial or territorial table applies, and this is where the calculation surprises people who assume child support is a single national number. Because each province and territory sets its own income tax rates, the Guidelines build a separate table for each one, so the same income and the same number of children can produce a different monthly amount in different provinces.

The applicable table is normally the one for the province or territory where the paying parent habitually resides at the time the application is made, not where the child lives or where the other parent lives. If the paying parent lives outside Canada, or their residence is unknown, the table for the other parent's province is used instead.

The tables were updated on 1 October 2025

The Federal Child Support Tables were replaced effective 1 October 2025 under the Guidelines Amending the Federal Child Support Guidelines, SOR/2025-166, published in the Canada Gazette. This was the first table revision since 2017, and it exists to keep the tables in step with tax rules, not to change the underlying formula. The Department of Justice describes it as running the same calculation method against more recent (2023) federal and provincial tax rules, so the tables continue to reflect a paying parent's real after-tax capacity to contribute.

One visible effect of the update is that the income floor, the point below which no table amount is payable, rose from $12,000 to $16,000. Amounts moved in both directions across the income range as a result of the tax-rule refresh, and the Department of Justice has noted that payers in the roughly $16,000 to $45,000 range commonly see a lower table amount than the 2017 tables produced.

The update does not automatically change an existing child support order. An order made before 1 October 2025 keeps its existing amount unless a parent applies to vary it, although a meaningful gap between the old order and the new table figure can itself support an application to vary. For retroactive periods, the 2017 tables remain the correct reference for the period from 22 November 2017 to 30 September 2025, and the 2025 tables apply only from 1 October 2025 forward. Any older calculation should never be run against the current tables, and a current calculation should never be run against the 2017 tables.

Using the federal look-up tool

Rather than reading a table amount off a printed schedule, the Department of Justice hosts an online child support table look-up built on the current 2025 tables. It asks for exactly the three inputs described above: the paying parent's gross annual income, the number of children, and the province or territory of residence, and returns the monthly table amount.

The look-up tool is a convenience, not a legal document. It states the base amount only and does not account for special expenses, shared custody, or income over $150,000, all of which are covered below. Because it reflects the updated 2025 tables, running an older bookmarked version of the tool, or a printed 2017 schedule, will not produce the correct current figure.

When income is over $150,000

The standard tables run to $150,000 of annual income. Above that figure, section 4 of the Guidelines changes how the amount is set. The first $150,000 of the paying parent's income is still run through the table in the ordinary way. For the portion of income above $150,000, the Guidelines do not extend the table mechanically; instead, the amount for that portion is whatever the court considers appropriate, having regard to the children's condition, means, and needs, and each parent's ability to contribute.

In practice, the table amount for the full income is still the presumptive starting point, and a parent who wants a lower amount for the portion above $150,000 carries the burden of showing that the straight table calculation would be inappropriate for that income level. This is decided case by case rather than through a published formula, so a family in this income range should expect the amount to involve more analysis than a look-up tool can provide.

The table amount is the base, not the total

The table amount answers one question: what is the presumptive basic monthly amount for this income, this many children, and this province. It does not capture everything a court can order.

Two common additions change the final number. Special and extraordinary expenses under section 7 of the Guidelines, things like child care, health-related costs, or extraordinary extracurricular expenses, are typically added on top of the table amount and shared between the parents. Separately, where a parent has the child in their care at least 40 percent of the time over the year, the shared custody 40 percent rule can change how support is calculated, moving away from a simple one-directional table payment.

Quebec uses a different model

When both parents live in Quebec, the federal tables described in this guide do not apply. Quebec has its own framework, the Quebec child support model, which works differently: it is an income-shares approach based on both parents' disposable incomes, using a mandatory determination form, rather than a table keyed only to the paying parent's income and province.

The federal Guidelines still apply to a Quebec case where one parent lives outside Quebec. For a full picture of how child support rules vary across the country, see Canada child support laws, part of our broader guide to Canadian law by province.

Disclaimer

This article provides general legal information about how the Federal Child Support Guidelines set the table amount for child support in Canada, verified against Department of Justice Canada and Justice Laws Website sources current to 19 July 2026. It is not legal advice and does not account for the facts of any individual case. Child support outcomes depend on income determination, special expenses, custody arrangements, and provincial variations that a lawyer or a provincial family justice service can assess for a specific situation. Readers should consult a family law lawyer licensed in their province or territory, or Quebec's own resources where applicable, for advice about their circumstances.