What does child support cover in Ontario?

Under Ontario law, child support is intended primarily to cover a child’s basic needs, which refer to items such as housing, food and clothing, and medical care. However, aside from these true essentials, it also covers a large array of additional items, such as transportation costs, school-related expenses (including tuition, fees for reasonable extracurricular activities, etc.), reasonable amounts for toys, entertainment, sporting equipment, books, etc.These items are covered under the “Table Amount” of Support that is set out in the provincial Child Support Guidelines.

Child support also encompasses “special and extraordinary expenses”, which include less-customary expenses such as private school costs, and extraordinary / uncommon costs related to medical or health-related items or child care fees. As the name suggests, these are not run-of-the-mill costs.

In either case, the nature of this “basic” and “extraordinary” child support can vary somewhat according to the individual needs of the child, his or her age, and the lifestyle of the particular family.